A Bit of Fortification: Port and Madeira New ReleasesBY NEAL MARTIN |&nbsp;JULY 8, 2025This
short article covers new releases of Port and Madeira I’ve tasted in recent
weeks. I am long overdue trips to both regions to compose a more in-depth
report on fortified wines. Like many wine categories, it’s a tough market out
there for these wines, though both benefit from tourists flocking to the
exquisite cities of Porto and Funchal. The Douro is experiencing additional
strife in terms of the beneficio system that was designed to regulate
production in the valley, the lei do terço rule stipulating that growers
can sell only one-third of their fruit per year. In 2022, the number of pipes
(550-liter barrels) produced was the lowest since 1993, and declining sales
have put immense pressure on Douro’s viability. Winemaking can be unprofitable
and vines too costly to replant, all against a backdrop of younger generations
drifting away from the Douro Valley to the cities. Nevertheless, Managing Director
Christian Seely, accompanied by Technical Director Carlos Agrellos, was as upbeat
as ever during this tasting. The pair presented a clutch of recent releases
from Quinta do Noval and Passadouro in London.



Currently,
around half of Quinta do Noval’s production is fortified. Of the dry cuvées,
85% is red and 15% is white. “Two thousand twenty-four was set up to be a
fantastic year,” Seely offered as the 2024 Branco from Passadouro was
poured. “It was a wet and rainy winter and then a rainy spring, so production
was slightly above average at Quinta do Noval. There is always a hot summer in
the Douro, and it all went perfectly for us. Excluding two rainy spells during
harvest, the picking went well. At Noval, we made 35 different cuvées.”<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1751296085674-noval+bottles+EDITED.JPG">The
main focus of this tasting was the 2023 vintage. "Two thousand twenty-three
is not a General Declaration,” Seely continued, “but that does not mean it was
a bad year. It was a warm and wet winter, but overall, it was a warm year.
There were some problems with severe thunderstorms in May and June, though we
were spared. We experienced the third-highest rainfall in the last 24 years and
had to navigate that during the picking, waiting out the rain and selecting exactly
where the good grapes were located. The Noval Vintage Ports are made entirely
in lagares and matured in old, 2,500-litre chestnut and acacia
vats."My
tasting notes speak for themselves, although my advice is not to overlook the
Vintage Port from Quinta do Passadouro, which is probably the best
value-for-money.We also
briefly discussed the 2022 growing season.











“The 2022 vintage was
exceptionally dry, which meant there was low disease pressure. From our
experience in 2020 when some grape varieties shrivelled, we started picking
quite early, so unusually in August we were picking fruit for the dry whites, reds
and Ports. One key point in 2022 was the sorting. Just 0.5% of the
grapes were deselected—a sign of the healthy fruit."<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1751296102255-blandy%27s+1965+bottle+EDITED.jpg">Staying
in the Douro, I also received samples of both dry and fortified releases from Symington
and Taylor Fladgate, the latter sending a miniature test tube of
quite remarkable 80-year-old Victory Tawny that commemorates the end of the
Second World War. Last, but not least, I include the latest releases from Blandy’s
down on the Atlantic Island of Madeira, covering both dry and sweeter styles.&nbsp;© 2025, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.<hr> You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/cellar-favorite-1808-braheem-kassab-ss-sercial-madeira-dec-2024">Vintage Madeira: 1808 Braheem Kassab “SS” Sercial Madeira</a>, Neal Martin, December 2024<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/cellar-favorite-vintage-port-in-excelsis-1924-1950-dec-2024">Vintage Port in Excelsis: 1924-1950</a>, Neal Martin, December 2024<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/blandy-s-madeira-2024-bottlings-sep-2024">Blandy’s Madeira – 2024 Bottlings</a>, Neal Martin, September 2024<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/2018-single-quinta-ports-jun-2020">2018 Vintage Port Releases</a>, Neal Martin, June 2020<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/madeira-fortified-for-all-occasions-oct-2019">Madeira: Fortified for All Occasions</a>, Neal Martin, October 2019

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