“A limited Bicentenary Edition Crusted Port” eh? Those tasting are encouraged to report.[url=http://www.fonseca.pt/en/news/fonseca-celebrates-its-200th-anniversary/]Fonseca[/url], on 12 March 2015, wrote:This year Fonseca proudly celebrates 200 years of family tradition and achievement.
An entry in the ledgers of the royal monopoly company records the firm's first trading activity, the purchase of 32 pipes of Port by João dos Santos Fonseca on 8th April, 1815.
For two hundred years, the firm's destiny has been shaped by four families. The Fonsecas and Monteiros who founded the business. The Guimaraens dynasty which led the firm for over a century and have made its wines from the 1860s to the present day. And finally the Yeatmans who have steered the company successfully through the second half of the 20th century and into the new millennium.
Vintage Port runs like a continuous thread through Fonseca's history. Since the legendary 1840, the first Vintage Port made under the Fonseca name, the firm has produced a steady stream of magnificent wines, including such landmark vintages as 1927, 1948, 1977 and 1994, all of them 100-point wines. These, among many others, have firmly established Fonseca as one of the finest 'first growth' Vintage Port producers.
James Suckling, in his authoritative book on Vintage Port, put it as follows: 'The Vintage Ports of Fonseca are perhaps the most consistently great of them all. Not only to they have a striking fleshiness and powerful richness when young, but they retain that youthfulness for decades.'
Fonseca's stature as a Vintage Port house is undisputed. But to many wine lovers it is best known as the producer of one of the most popular Ports ever made, Fonseca Bin No.27. This superb reserve blend draws on the heritage of the great Fonseca Vintages and shares their seductive fruit quality, a hallmark of the Fonseca house style. True to a tradition of craftsmanship, Fonseca produces one of the most individual range of Ports, including its unique Guimaraens Vintage Ports, an unfiltered LBV, a rare Crusted and the first ever Organic Port.
A pioneer of organic and sustainable viticulture in the Douro Valley, Fonseca maintains its close link with the vineyard and owns three of the region's finest estates, including its flagship property, Quinta do Panascal.
To celebrate Fonseca's Bicentenary, a programme of tastings and commemorations has been organised in markets around the world. The occasion will also be marked by two special releases.
A limited Bicentenary Edition Crusted Port will be made available on allocation. Bottled in 2008, it displays attractive bottle maturity and is a superb wine with which to celebrate Fonseca's 200th anniversary. However, those preferring to keep it in their cellars as a souvenir of the Bicentenary can expect it to continue improving in bottle.
As well as the Bicentenary of Fonseca, the year also marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. The defeat of Napoleon's Grande Armée on 18th June, 1815, ten weeks after Fonseca began trading, ended 26 years of conflict between France and the European powers. It was a triumph for the Duke of Wellington, who led the Anglo-Dutch forces in the battle, and will be widely commemorated in Britain during the coming months.
Wellington spent much of his career leading an allied army of British and Portuguese soldiers against the forces of Napoleon during the peninsular campaigns. What better wine in which to toast the bravery and fortitude of the Iron Duke and his men than Port, the symbol of Anglo-Portuguese friendship and alliance.
In tribute to Wellington's victory, Fonseca has created a special Waterloo Edition Port, a full-bodied, robust and vigorous reserve blend which will shortly be released in Britain
“Waterloo Edition Port”: very important for French relatives. Those tasting are encouraged to report.
