Wine Enthusiast 100-point Ferreira 2018 Vintage Port from Casa Ferreirinha.

Winemaker Luís Sottomayor describes the 2018 vintage as “one of the best, if not the best, vintage years I have witnessed”.
 
Founded in 1751, five years before the Douro region was demarcated, Ferreira was the first native Portuguese Port shipper. The company thrived under the leadership of the formidable matriarch Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira. She took the helm in 1845 and oversaw a period of great expansion during which the company planted some of the most iconic Quintas of the Douro Valley including: Quinta do Porto, Quinta do Seixo, Quinta do Caêdo and Quinta do Vesúvio. The Ferreira Ports, now made by head winemaker Luis Sottomayor, are renowned for their elegance and harmony.
 
The grapes for the Ferreira Vintage Ports are sourced from the best plots on the Quinta do Porto and Quinta do Caêdo estates. Quinta do Porto is the oldest Ferreira property located in the heart of the Douro region, near the town of Pinhão. It is a prime vineyard location with excellent southerly exposure and schist soils. The Quinta do Caêdo vineyards are positioned on steep terraces on both sides of the Caêdo tributary to the Douro river. The rows of vines are terraced with supporting dry stone walls (solcalcos) and the estate boasts many vines of over 100 years of age. Both estates are sustainably farmed, and the grapes are harvested by hand.
 
Scoring a perfect 100 points from the Wine Enthusiast's Roger Voss, and supported with a score of 94-96 points from the Wine Advocate's Mark Squires, there is a lot to love about the 2018 vintage already. Deeply coloured, with intense and complex floral and baslsamic notes,  resin, cedar, tobacco, black fruits, pepper and stoney minerals on the finish. Powerful tannins and elegant, well integrated acidity frame a long, lively finish of great harmony. 2018 was challenging year in the Douro for those making dry reds but for Port production it was a dream. An extremely dry and cold winter delayed budburst and a particularly rainy spring led to increased disease pressure in the vineyards, which resulted in lower yields. Nevertheless, these lower yields and a long and steady ripening period during the hot, dry summer resulted in top-quality grapes with great concentration, creating a Ferreira 2018 that really is a "potential beauty" (Wine Advocate).

Coming from the best plots across the most iconic Ferreira and Sandeman vineyards, this 2018 is made from a blend of 45% Touriga Franca and 40% Touriga Nacional, with rest made up of an old vine field-blend and a small amount of Sousão. Showing a "perfect balance between its powerful, spicy fruits and firm tannins" (Wine Enthusiast), this is an "elegant Port" (Wine Advocate) with an impressive structure to match. "It's immensely ageworthy" (Wine Enthusiast).