Ink purple color. Complete nose, with impressive depth and background, with the concentrated and lush fruit intensity that is the hallmark of the Fonseca style. Rich aromas of blackcurrants and plums overlaid with spicy and floral notes. Full-bodied and velvety on the palate, with ripe, tart tannins that offer a firm grip to support the long fruity finish.
On the palate: taste and smell blackcurrant, redcurrant, plum, slate, licorice, soft tannins, flowers, spices, silky texture and finish. Still young this 2000, starting to ‘open up’. Very big wine, enormous length.
Storage: Bottles should lie horizontally, in a cool dark place. Matures slowly, develops and refines in the bottle for decades.
Serve: Decant and serve between 16 and 18ºC, in a suitable glass. Walnuts are an excellent complement to Vintage Port, as are various cheeses such as Stilton and Dorset Blue Vinny. So are dried fruits such as apricots or figs. Or just enjoy the unadulterated taste in a good glass with good company.
Tasting notes:
This is a beautiful port, showing lots of dried black fruit. The nose is spicy but understated, and the alcohol doesn’t seem to emanate from the glass. The palate is also pretty cool for a Port, without showing shocking and bitter alcohol. Moderately sweet, but with good counterbalancing acidity, this is a port that seems to lie on the more elegant side of the continuum.
Braised plums, dark flavors, fruit forward, blue fruit. Light spice, clove. This was still alcoholic and tight after 3 hours. The next day full of soft flavors. Soft nose and medium-length finish. Stewed plums and raisins continue on the nose, with tar in the background. The rich, young extracted and macerated fruits indicate that this is still in the young stages of its life. This vintage has at least five, if not 20+ years left to mature.
Neal MartinMay 2009 – 95 Points
Still a young pup, this millennial Fonseca has a rich blackberry, cassis and licorice nose with hints of saddle leather, fruitcake and earth. The palate has sensual access, beautifully integrated tannins, seamless and caressing with blackberry, black olive compote, fig and a touch of damask jam. Wonderful sense of natural balance, yet to make his puppy fat disappear.”
Robert Parker October 2002 – 95+
… this garland of invariably textured, full-bodied Port is one of the most concentrated of the vintage.” “… this large-scale, yet remarkably well-balanced effort is surprisingly forward and accessible (by Fonseca standards).”
James Suckling May 2002 – 92-94 Points
Full of character, with lots of plums and raisins, medium sweet and very velvety, with lots of fruit and round tannins, good grip, very harmonious for Fonseca.”
Reviews and prices:
96 points in Robert Parker;
95 points in Jamie Goode;
95 points in Stephen Tanzer;
94 points in Wine Spectator Magazine;
94 points in CellarTracker;
17 points in Jancis Robinson.
