2020 Vintage Port Declarations

[PCM]

Interesting news:

https://grandesescolhas.com/e-da-sogevi ... o-vintage/

Although the article is in Portuguese, I guess it also can be read in English, but the message is clear:
For Sogevinus Fine Wines , 2020 is the Classic Vintage year for its four brands: Kopke, Burmester, Cálem and Barros.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Yesterday Quevedo showed a cask sample of their 2020 Vintage Port.

[rich_n]

Yesterday Quevedo showed a cask sample of their 2020 Vintage Port.

I thought it showed a lot of promise. Tightly coiled with a lot of depth and plenty of fruit. Massively tannic right now. If I'd captured a full note I would have posted it in the tasting notes on here but I did think it was a very good port with lots of promise for the future.

[winesecretary]

@rich_n - I think you have more than enough for a tasting note there.

[DRT]

Posted on Instagram today...

Screenshot 2022-04-14 at 11.09.46.png (127.87 KiB) Viewed 3272 times

[PCM]

In addition: also a limited edition of Warre VP 2020 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EQVqFilNmc)

"The 2020 vintage was the smallest harvest this century and produced incredibly concentrated, well-structured, dark wines in very low quantities – with the most outstanding wines originating from the Cima Corgo. We have chosen to do an exceptional bottling and limited En Primeur release of two special edition Vintage Ports: Graham's and Warre's.

Graham’s 2020 Vintage Port – Bicentenary Edition
A unique blend of co-fermented grapes from high altitude and north-west facing vines across three of Graham’s estates: Malvedos, Vila Velha, and Tua.

Warre’s 2020 Vinhas Velhas Vintage Port – 350 Anniversary Edition
Made exclusively from the deep-rooted, horse-ploughed, 80 to 100-year-old mixed vines at Cavadinha and Retiro.

[PCM]

Vinho Grandes Escolhas reports that Symington Estates have also declared a small number (1200 bottles) of Dow's Quinta do Bomfim VP 2020

[Alex Bridgeman]

Quinta do Noval have just announced the release of a 2020 Noval and a 2020 Nacional.

Publicity photo N20

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Publicity photo NN20

Noval Nacional 2020.png (103.4 KiB) Viewed 2737 times

The press release reads:
Press release – April 21st, 2022
QUINTA DO NOVAL DECLARES 2020 VINTAGE PORT
Christian Seely, Managing Director of Quinta do Noval, comments:
“I am very happy to be able to announce the declaration of two exceptional Vintage Ports from Quinta do Noval from the 2020 vintage: Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage Port 2020 and Quinta do Noval Vintage Port 2020.
2020 was a hot and dry year, with a prolonged ripening period throughout the summer that led to an early harvest, as the grapes became fully ripe by early September. The resulting wines are extremely rich and powerful, voluminous, sensual, with great density. Tannic structure is immense, but with remarkable finesse.
We were aware from the beginning that the Nacional was outstanding, and the wine has developed wonderfully since the harvest. There are years when we know straight after the treading in lagar that we will be declaring a Nacional Vintage Port, and 2020 was one of these. The wine displays the complexity and many layered profundity that are typical of a great Nacional.
The Quinta do Noval Vintage is an unusually powerful and rich style for Quinta do Noval, but nevertheless retains the purity and freshness of Pinhão valley fruit that are typical of Noval wines. As usual, we made a strict selection of the best lots of wine from different parcels throughout the estate, with this year three different lots of wine from the Pinhão Valley and one from the Roncão valley making up the blend.
Harvest was very short, from the beginning to the 22nd of September, which is most unusual for Noval where normally the diversity of varieties, exposures and altitudes results in picking times ranging over a longer period. In 2020 the time to choose the right moment to pick each parcel was very short and the capacity of our three different lagar wineries was used to the full. The resulting wines are pure and aromatic, with remarkable density. We chose to allow slightly higher residual sugars than usual this year, and the result is a harmony and richness that is quite particular to this wonderful year at Quinta do Noval. ”
For further press information, please contact Corinne Ilić Director of Communication,
+33616498143 (c.ilic@axamillesimes.com)
Or UK PR Fiona Campbell on +441225782095 (fionaccampbell@btopenworld.com).
Gonzalez Byass UK, Quinta do Noval UK importer.
Contact: Robert Markham – T: 01707 274 790 – M: 07747 487928
Email: rmarkham@gonzalezbyassuk.com


I also have the technical data sheets if anyone would like a copy of them.

[PCM]

This afternoon, also Quinta da Romaneira declared their 2020 Vintage Port.

[Andy Velebil]

TFP announced 2020 Quinta de Vargellas, but it won't be released until some unknown year down the road.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Quinta do Portal have reported on FaceBook that they have made and bottled Portal 2020 and Quinta dos Muros 2020.

[Alex Bridgeman]

TFP announced 2020 Quinta de Vargellas, but it won't be released until some unknown year down the road.

Taylor's on FaceBook report they made 2,500 cases (presumably equating to 30,000 bottles) of the Vargellas 2020.

Interesting to compare the Symington's reports of the harvest and their belief that the best performing vineyards were in the Cima Corgo with David Guimaraens's report of the weather at Vargellas.

Two months marked the whole of 2020: February, was dry and very warm, which resulted in very low clusters and July was extremely hot (+ 3.5ºC above the average), with no living memory of such a hot July. The low volume of bunches and the repeated phenomenon of 'scorching' marked the year. The month of August was cooler than usual, but rain from the 17th to the 20th and the replacement of very hot weather caused an acceleration in the ripening of the grapes, which forced the harvest to speed up throughout the valley.