Van Zellers & Co VZ 40 Years Old Tawny Port
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The NV 40 Years Very Old Tawny Port is a field blend from vines averaging 35 years in age. It was bottled in November 2019 with a long cork and 105 grams of residual sugar. This was juicier and more expressive than the relatively stern 30 Year this issue on the first pours, but they came closer together. The 30 Year has good acidity too. This 40 Year does eventually show a bit more maturity and complexity to go with its lively demeanor, but it seems almost as fresh as the 30 Year and a bit less austere. Delicious at the same time, it touches all the bases. That includes the very long finish, of course. There is plenty of power as well. This is a big winner in its somewhat mouthwatering style. This does have a small edge over the 30, but they both are great and reasonable minds might differ.
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Wine Enthusiast
This old Port is extremely intense and full of acidity as well as richly sweet textures. Concentrated and beautifully ripe, the wine bears its age well. It is the sort of wine that has to be drunk slowly and meditatively. Like all aged tawnies, it can be drunk now.
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F.
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.