FONSECA VINTAGE 2024

Background Information

Fonseca has announced the forthcoming release of a Fonseca 2024 Vintage Port.  Comments on this classic Vintage release are as follows:

Adrian Bridge, Managing Director

“I am happy that Fonseca will announce its decision to declare a classic 2024 Vintage release, our smallest and rarest Vintage declaration to date. It has been 7 years since Fonseca declared a classic Vintage Port and the wines from 2024 are of exceptional quality. Fonseca is sought after around the world for its opulence and fresh fruit flavours, and the Fonseca 2024 Vintage is in keeping with the style of the house. It has incredible depth, intensity, persistence and the youthful exuberance can be enjoyed today with friends or allowed to mature in the cellar, assuming bottles are still available.”

David Guimaraens, Head winemaker

“2024 had excellent water reserves for the vines to grow. We could not have asked for better growth conditions, that were typically warm throughout the summer followed by a cooler harvest period for long fermentations. This created beautiful Fonseca Vintage ports that were all made in the traditional granite lagares and with foot treading. The wines have that incredible freshness of fruit and dimension that Fonseca is famous for.”

Tasting Note

Rich, deep purple colour with a fine violet rim. The nose displays very delicate and pure black fruit, a fusion of black cherry, cassis and blackcurrant aromas. An ethereal fragrance of violets, hints of tropical fruits and crushed mint fill the glass. Outstanding refinement and purity showcase the year with complexity of fruit and an attractive minerality.

The palate is rich and luscious with taut tannins, texture and polish that coat the palate with hints of exotic wood, wild herbs and Hemingway mint. Succulent, concentrated woodland fruit, pairs wonderfully with the racing acidity and refreshing bright finish.

NOTES ON THE 2024 VITICULTURAL YEAR AND HARVEST

The winter of 2023/24 brought a welcome return of rainfall for the second consecutive year. Although temperatures were relatively mild, an early budburst on 5^th of March set the season off to an early and promising start.

Spring and early summer was cool with occasional useful light rainfalls, arriving at well-spaced intervals that supported healthy vineyard growth.

From July onwards the weather settled into a long, dry period that extended through to the end of harvest. Veraison began on 18^th of July, and the mild summer conditions encouraged a steady, even ripening cycle. As temperatures rose towards the end of July, August provided warm conditions, with consistently high night-time temperatures that put the vines under some stress.

Crucially, at the end of August temperatures moderated, with slightly cooler days and notably cooler nights throughout September. These conditions were ideal for the final stages of ripening, and to achieve full phenolic maturity.

The harvest began with very attractive fruit from varieties such as Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz, while Touriga Francesa and Tinta Cão benefited from a little additional time on the vine to achieve full perfection.

The combination of the field blends, co-fermentation, have produced ports which are going to be very complex and memorable. In general, the 2024 ports show very good freshness of fruit, lovely flavours, very fine tannins and great acidity

PRODUCTION: 3,900 Dozens (9L)

FONSECA

Established as a Port company in 1815, Fonseca is noted for the stylistic consistency of its Vintage Ports which have been made by five generations of the Guimaraens family since its foundation. Its Vintage Ports are noted for their expressive, luscious fruitiness, which develops great opulence and complexity with age, as well as a voluptuous roundness on the palate supported by velvety mouth-filling tannins. Although they are capable of ageing for decades, the exuberant fruitiness of the Fonseca Vintage Ports makes them immensely enjoyable when young. Fonseca undoubtedly belongs in the first rank of Vintage port houses.

QUINTA DO PANASCAL

One of the most highly reputed port vineyards, Quinta do Panascal occupies a west and south west facing aspect on the steep right bank of the Távora river, the important tributary which runs northwards into the Douro. In the words of an old saying, ‘From Roncão and Panascal come the finest wines of Portugal’. A supplier of grapes to Fonseca for many decades, the property was finally acquired by the company in 1978. Since its acquisition the estate has been the object of major investment intended, not only to bring new life to the vineyard, but to ensure that the estate produces wines completely consistent with the Fonseca house style. As a result the property now produces outstanding wines which today form the backbone of the Fonseca Vintage Port blend. These are recognized for their rich, voluptuous fruitiness and above all for their mouth filling density, velvety texture and aromatic complexity. Quinta do Panascal was one of the first vineyards in the Douro Valley to practice organic viticulture.

QUINTA DO CRUZEIRO

Quinta do Cruzeiro has been supplying the firm since the 1870’s, giving it the longest association with Fonseca of all the company’s properties. Cruzeiro has contributed to the Fonseca Vintage Port blend since 1912 and remains a key component today. The property is a historic one and is recorded as having been awarded feitoria status (the highest vineyard classification of the time) in 1761. It occupies a warm west facing position on the lowest slopes of the valley on the left bank of the Pinhão River. The vineyard underwent extensive renovation in the 1970’s - including the building of the first modern terraces - but still contains a large number of very old vines. The wines of Cruzeiro are noted for their fine, focused fruit and for their firm tannic grip which gives

structure and vigour to the Fonseca Vintage Port blend.

QUINTA DE SANTO ANTÓNIO

Quinta de Santo António occupies an open hillside facing westwards down the Pinhão river about a kilometre north of Fonseca’s Quinta do Cruzeiro. The estate shares Quinta do Cruzeiro’s long association with Fonseca and achieved its feitoria status in the same year. Its wines have also contributed regularly to the Fonseca Vintage Port blend since early in the last century. However, the estate is smaller in area and has recently undergone extensive renovation. As a result, Santo António is now a model estate, incorporating the latest techniques of vineyard landscaping and trellising. The estate is managed according to sustainable viticultural principles with the benefit of experience gained by Fonseca at Quinta do Panascal.

Expected in July 2026