The 2018 Vintage Porto is mostly a 50/40 blend of Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional with Tinto C?o and Sous?o filling out the rest of the blend. It comes in with 106 grams of residual sugar. When last seen, this seemed pretty fine, but it was not yet bottled and there were some questions to answer. Let's check in. With some bottle time, this has fleshed out and shows off its concentration to balance superb structure. The structure may be the best feature. That is part of the identity of most great Ports, and this easily meets any such challenge. There is a serious backbone supporting the fruit and a big finish with appropriate grip and length. A day or two after it was opened, it was more vigorous and powerful than ever. I did have some other questions about balance the first time, though, and the answers are still not entirely clear. This is very ripe. Sometimes I thought it might cross the line to over-ripeness. That's less of a sin with Port, perhaps. Classic in its flavor profile on opening, this eventually shows more baked plums and stewed plums. If there's a question here, it is whether the fruit profile will keep up with the superb structure as it ages. Overall, it shows the ability to age for some decades and develop more complexity. I'd bet on it, but let's be a little conservative just now. There were 19,333 bottles produced.

The 2016 Vintage Porto is a mostly an equal blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, with various others comprising the last 20% of the juice. It comes in with 95 grams of residual sugar. This was in bottle about two months when tasted. Dark in color, with fine and expressive fruit, this shows intensity of flavor more than pure power. The fruit demonstrates nice lift as it opens with air. As with the Offley, this is a very nice success in this vintage, showing me fine fruit and reasonable structure. The concentration is good too, but it's not quite as impressive as the first two components. It is still excellent overall, the most exuberant of the three Sogrape Portos. We'll see how it ages and develops. For the moment, it is worth leaning up.

The 2011 Sandeman Vintage Porto has a very precise nose that is imbued with far more clarity than previous vintages: pure black cherries, minerals, creme de cassis and violets, like a super-charged Margaux. The palate is medium-bodied and beautifully balanced, the black cherries intermingling with marmalade, fig and raisin. It is seductive toward the finish, confirming its impressive showing out-of-barrel last year. This is without doubt the finest Sandeman of the modern age. Drink 2018-2040.

The Sandeman was tasted from a finished pre-bottling sample, but already it is shaping up to be one of the finest releases from the “man in black.” It is a blend of 40% Touriga Nacional, 40% Touriga Franca, 10% Tinta Roriz, 5% Sousao and 5% Tinta Cao sourced mainly from Quinta do Vau and Quinta do Seixo. It has a very pure bouquet, the Touriga Nacional the most expressive, with creme de cassis, kirsch, blueberry jam and marmalade that is well-defined and very sensual. The palate is medium-bodied with very good structure – real backbone here and very precise tannins. There is great focus and poise, with plenty of red berry fruit intermingling with white pepper and rosemary towards the long finish. This is very satisfying. Tasted May 2013.

The 2007 Sandeman Vintage Porto is much more primal and taciturn than the 2003: blackberry, juniper, licorice and cloves but all tightly constrained at the moment. The palate is well-balanced with succulent, ripe, spicy black fruit intermixed with touches of sea salt, marjoram, cloves and raisins. There is certainly very good depth to this 2007, perhaps more a sense of reserve than previous vintages, as if it is determined to hold back and reward those who cellar this for another 20 years. Very fine – a precursor to the 2011. Drink 2017-2040.