Vintage
DENSE AND FIRM IN THE MOUTH, STILL REVEALING A FRESH, YOUTHFUL FRUITINESS, VINOUS FLAVOR COUPLED WITH WARM LICORICE AND BLACK COFFEE FLAVORS.
Fonseca has been part of the first category of Vintage Port wine producers since the mid-19th century. Fonseca Vintage Port wines are known for their lush fruitiness that develops great opulence and complexity with age. Their wines appeal to the enthusiast and connoisseur, perhaps more than the Vintage Ports of any other house, because they are the result of inspired production and a deep knowledge of viticulture and terroir.
Vintage Port wines represent the best of the products of an exceptional year. Unlike Port wines that age in wood, Vintage Port wines will continue to age and improve in bottle for decades, inscribing in their character both the characteristics of the vineyard and the influence of the winemaker.
The company's Vintage Port wines come from its own estates: Cruzeiro and Santo António in the Pinhão valley, which have contributed to the company's Vintage Port blend for 100 years, as well as the Panascal estate in the Távora valley.
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BOTTLE LAIN DOWN
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DECANTING RECOMMENDED
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VEGAN
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16ºC - 18 ºC
The Port continues to improve for decades after bottling. The bottle should be kept lain down in a cool place, ideally at a temperature below 16ºC.
Should be decanted before being served. Stand the bottle upright a few hours before decanting to allow the sediment to fall to the bottom of the bottle. Pour the wine in a slow, steady stream into a decanter, ensuring that only the clear wine is poured, leaving the sediment behind.
This Port wine is Vegan friendly
The wine benefits from being served between 16ºC to 18ºC.
The Port continues to improve for decades after bottling. The bottle should be kept lain down in a cool place, ideally at a temperature below 16ºC.
Should be decanted before being served. Stand the bottle upright a few hours before decanting to allow the sediment to fall to the bottom of the bottle. Pour the wine in a slow, steady stream into a decanter, ensuring that only the clear wine is poured, leaving the sediment behind.
This Port wine is Vegan friendly
The wine benefits from being served between 16ºC to 18ºC.
Tasting Notes
Reddish brown rim around a brick red colored center. The nose is elegant and restrained, with dark red fruit in the center, still linear and undeveloped. The fruit is wrapped in a subtle aura of floral aroma and aromatic wood notes.
Dense and firm in the mouth, still revealing fresh, youthful fruitiness, vinous flavor coupled with warm licorice and black coffee flavors. Still reserved and showing wonderful balance and delicacy, the Fonseca 1966 is undoubtedly one of the best Port wines of this exceptional year.
Notes on Viticultural Year
The Winter of 1965/6 was very wet, and generally rather warm. The Summer was very hot and dry, the month of May being one of the hottest on record. There was a good berry set in all districts. The vines were very backward till early September when a few days of extremely hot weather brought the fruit on considerably.
The vintage started generally on the 26th September. The grapes were fully ripe and sugar degrees were fairly high, 13o being fairly common. Rain from the 30th September was beneficial to the grapes and helped to keep fermentation temperatures down. The musts took a lot of work and samples examined during the first week of the vintage had very deep colour. Bunches were healthy and completely free of disease.
