Fonseca - Guimaraens Vintage Port 2013
Fonseca was founded in 1822 when Manuel Pedro Guimaraens acquired control of the Fonseca & Monteiro Company. As a condition of the sale, Fonseca insisted that his name be retained. Shortly after, Manuel Pedro Guimaraens was forced to flee Portugal due to the civil war in an empty port wine cask. During this period, Fonseca grew rapidly in reputation and importance and by 1840 the firm had become the second largest shipper of Port Wine.
Fonseca Guimaraens can still be thought of as a family wine shipper since David Guimaraens, the 6th generation family member involved with the firm, makes their wine, notwithstanding that the brand is now owned by Taylor Fladgate–a group that also owns Groft Port and the Sherry brand Gonzalez Byass. These brands have kept their identities separate in an effort to serve the broader needs of the fortified wine market.
In the last 40 years, Fonseca has delivered the best wines in Vintage Port years, with resounding successes in 1963, 1970, 1977, 1985, 1992, 1994 and 1997, which has created demand and, as a result, it can command the highest prices. Long-lived, the vintage wines are renowned for their quality and intensity of fruit, sheer opulence, structure, and balance to last for decades.
Much of the fruit used for Fonseca’s Vintage Port comes from Quinta do Panascal, purchased in 1978, which then undertook a substantial program of renovation and development leading to the addition of Quinta do Val dos Muros in 1985. The property now comprises just over 76 hectares of which 44 hectares is under vine producing 858 hectolitres of Port.
Fonseca‘s estates have also made great strides in organic and sustainable viticulture in the Douro Valley. Quinta do Panascal was one of the first properties in the valley to contain areas of vineyard with organic certification. Quinta de Santo António has been completely converted to the prize-winning sustainable vineyard model developed by the firm’s viticulture team, and is certified for organic production of both grapes and olive oil.
All of the grapes are foot trodden in granite lagares situated on the property. Wines from the Tavora Valley are credited with their solid backbone and concentration seen in the Panascal Single Quinta Vintage Port that Fonseca produces when a general vintage declaration is not made.
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Description
Fonseca was founded in 1822 when Manuel Pedro Guimaraens acquired control of the Fonseca & Monteiro Company. As a condition of the sale, Fonseca insisted that his name be retained. Shortly after, Manuel Pedro Guimaraens was forced to flee Portugal due to the civil war in an empty port wine cask. During this period, Fonseca grew rapidly in reputation and importance and by 1840 the firm had become the second largest shipper of Port Wine.
Fonseca Guimaraens can still be thought of as a family wine shipper since David Guimaraens, the 6th generation family member involved with the firm, makes their wine, notwithstanding that the brand is now owned by Taylor Fladgate–a group that also owns Groft Port and the Sherry brand Gonzalez Byass. These brands have kept their identities separate in an effort to serve the broader needs of the fortified wine market.
In the last 40 years, Fonseca has delivered the best wines in Vintage Port years, with resounding successes in 1963, 1970, 1977, 1985, 1992, 1994 and 1997, which has created demand and, as a result, it can command the highest prices. Long-lived, the vintage wines are renowned for their quality and intensity of fruit, sheer opulence, structure, and balance to last for decades.
Much of the fruit used for Fonseca’s Vintage Port comes from Quinta do Panascal, purchased in 1978, which then undertook a substantial program of renovation and development leading to the addition of Quinta do Val dos Muros in 1985. The property now comprises just over 76 hectares of which 44 hectares is under vine producing 858 hectolitres of Port.
Fonseca‘s estates have also made great strides in organic and sustainable viticulture in the Douro Valley. Quinta do Panascal was one of the first properties in the valley to contain areas of vineyard with organic certification. Quinta de Santo António has been completely converted to the prize-winning sustainable vineyard model developed by the firm’s viticulture team, and is certified for organic production of both grapes and olive oil.
All of the grapes are foot trodden in granite lagares situated on the property. Wines from the Tavora Valley are credited with their solid backbone and concentration seen in the Panascal Single Quinta Vintage Port that Fonseca produces when a general vintage declaration is not made.
