2011 Vintage Port had a incredible and wide declaration from the major Port wine brands and smaller and independent producers in the Douro valley.
The older and traditional brands have declared a full House Vintage Port, meaning that when the internationally recognized companies do it, it is obviously a classic Vintage and the market will certainly claim for these Vintages.
Most of the oenologists are amazed with the quality of this particular year, the 2011 Vintage Port shows its own identity.
In the last decade we (Port wine trade) had in general three classic Vintage declarations: 2000; 2003 and 2007.
In the field there were perfect climate conditions during the year which permitted to grow outstanding grapes; there were perfect climate conditions during the year which permitted to grow outstanding grapes; enough rainfall and equivalente hours of sun exposition to get the perfect maturation.
At our Winery, all the vinification process has been closely supervised.
2011 was followed by a year (2010) of poor and lower quality, the 2011 is the first classic Vintage of this current decade, it reminds the release of the emblematic Vintage 2000.
A Vintage declaration creates a great impact in the media, when it is released the press will write about Port, although the Vintage Port represents only 0.5% of the annual production it is crucial to increase the sales and for the image of Port in general (White; Ruby and Tawny categories).
Full of color and intense aromas, our DALVA Vintage 2011, shows an amazing elegance and freshness on both nose and palate, complexity of the fruit, raspberry conserve, floral and slightly peppered with chewy tannins.
"All harvests have their particular characteristics, but what excited us in 2011 was the maturation of the red grapes, which gave colour and tannin levels higher than I had ever seen in my 24 years of making Port in the Douro. It was an early harvest: levels of phenolic compounds in the vineyards at river level developed at least two weeks ahead of normal, with a similarly early development of sugars and aroma compounds. The wines were thus rich in color and tannin, with the best showing enormous persistence and aromas of well-matured fruit. After two years of ageing and development of our Vintage Port 2011, it has a tremendous aromatic potential, with floral notes and forest fruits dominating; its exceptional body and supple tannin structure give a long and exuberant palate.”
Jorge Dias, General Manager of C. da Silva and Gran Cruz added:
“We are very excited about the quality and potential of 2011 Vintage. This is one of those years that justify saying that Vintage Port is a gift of the Gods, reflecting the essence of the terroir of the Douro region, and it is a long time since we have seen such a classic Vintage. In the troubled times in which we live, we believe this represents great value for money.”
