Krohn Vintage 2016 Port 75cl, 20%

The spring of 2016 in the Douro Valley was unusually wet. After a year of extreme drought in 2015, this rain was much needed, and it helped to replenish groundwater stores across the region.

These chilly and damp spring circumstances, on the other hand, resulted in a late start to the ripening season. Summer was especially hot and dry after spring, and it lasted until late September. Despite the heat, development was slow and even due to significant ground water reserves and the late cycle.

Most grapes were not yet mature by the end of August, but a period of rain in mid-September helped speed up and complete the ripening process.

Vintage Ports are bottled two years after harvest and typically spend many years in the bottle developing. Vintage Ports are maintained away from the influence of the environment during the ageing process, which causes them to lose their colour slowly and preserve their characteristic fruitiness. They are not sifted or filtered in order to keep their richness and strength, thus they throw a lot of sediment as they mature.

Deep red with a tight purple rim, the 2016 is a beautiful wine. With crisp aromas of cranberry, raspberry, and cherry, as well as lively notes of plum and apricot, this wine has a wonderfully clear, vivid red fruit nose.

Spicy black pepper and nutmeg fragrances, warm notes of mocha, and scents of cedar wood and balsamic herbs emerge in turn from behind this curtain of fresh fruit.

The palate, on the other hand, is lush, with deep, mouth-filling tannins that provide body and solidity, as well as a thick coulis of dark forest fruit that runs into an unending finish.