QUINTA DA ROMANEIRA

The 2018 Quinta da Romaneira has a very sensual bouquet with black plum, clove, Xmas cake and liquorice scents that give the olfactory senses a big hug. The palate is medium-bodied with quite a tangy/spicy opening salvo of cracked black pepper, tobacco, black fruits and subtle tertiary notes. This is a slightly more introverted single quinta Port on the palate than the nose, but I appreciate its length and the residual allspice and 5-spice aftertaste. It constitutes one of the vintage's more cerebral offerings. Drinking range: 2030 - 2060 Rating: 93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2020)

For years this quinta upstream from Pinhão was a sleeping giant which is now reawakening under the direction of Christian Seely, managing director of Noval. Predominantly south facing which explains the dense, dark chocolate character on the nose, scented too; rich an opulent with ripe, dark cherry fruit backed by full ripe tannins and a muscular finish, verging on jammy and lacking the freshness of nearby Noval, there is real integrity here. 550 cases produced. Rating: 18 Richard Mayson, www.richardmayson.com  (Jun 2020)

The 2018 Vintage Port is mostly Touriga Nacional (70%), with the rest Touriga Franca, aged for 24 months in neutral tonels. It comes in with 91 grams of residual sugar. A very friendly 2018, this has relatively ripe tannins, reasonable depth and a tasty finish. The nose is laced with some eucalyptus (some would say "cistus," but that's a bit obscure) aromas. The fruity demeanor makes it rather delicious. Walking down the middle of the road, this is a well-constructed but very accessible Port that does everything well—but little stands out. It should age well and develop more. It is drinking fairly decently right now. Drinking range: 2025 - 2055 Rating: 90-92 Mark Squires, robertparker.com (Jul 2020)

For me, Romaneira is darker on the nose, with blackcurrant and dark chocolate aromas.
On the palate, it had more pronounced chocolate flavours, with darker damson and mulberry fruit, and a delicious twist of mint.
Keep your eye on wine merchant Lea & Sandeman’s website for availability – it imports Romaneira and is currently selling the 2008.Peter Ranscombe, The Scottish Field (Sept 2020)

We are very happy to announce the declaration of the Quinta da Romaneira 2018 Vintage Port. Romaneira is one of the major historic Port wine quintas of the Douro Valley, and great Ports have been produced here since the 18th century. The past fifteen years have marked the rebirth of Romaneira as one of the highest quality quintas in the Douro. During this time we have established a reputation as a producer of the highest quality red and white unfortified wines, but a third of the production of our 85 hectare vineyard is still devoted to Port wines, trodden in stainless steel lagares in our modern winery, construction of which was completed in 2006.

From the 2018 harvest, we selected a small proportion of our Port production to make the blend for this wine, which we consider will be a milestone in the re-establishing of Romaneira’s historic reputation for making great Vintage Port. Like 2017, 2018 was a year of low yields, but for different reasons. 2017 was a year of extreme drought, while 2018 was marked in the first part of the year by heavy rainfall. This meant that potential yields were naturally much reduced by the difficulties of the flowering period. Subsequently however, a long hot dry summer ensued. Water levels in the soil had been replenished, and the result of this excellent ripening period on a low yield is evident in the 2018 Quinta da Romaneira Vintage Port, which is magnificently ripe, with profound colour, expressive intense rich fruit, and a wonderful underlying freshness. The nose is very characteristic of Romaneira, wild and aromatic, like taking a walk through the Quinta. The finish is fine long and delicate