430th Anniversary Reserve Ruby – Kobrand Wine & Spirits

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Portugal
Douro Valley Porto

The fruit for this Limited Edition Reserve Ruby is sourced in the traditional way, from the highest quality individual growers in the Douro Valley, where the varying altitude and aspect of the vineyards creates the potential for a complex wine of great character. In the winery, the newly developed, robotic “Port Toes” technology for treading allows the winery to maximize the quality of the fruit by imitating the traditional action of human feet and avoiding damage to the bitter grape seeds. Fermentation is halted by the addition of grape spirits before all the residual sugar has been fermented, creating a sweet, fortified wine. This vintage character Porto is blended from wines aged for three to four years in neutral oak vats to achieve greater complexity than in younger wines.

Tasting Note

The nose opens with a fine crisp fruitiness, black cherry, blackberry and cassis, and aromas of fresh plum. Delicate floral notes of rose petal and violets emerge to provide elegance and complexity. The palate is crammed with intense berry fruit and finishes with luscious flavors of strawberry and cherry.

Technical Data

GRAPES: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca

APPELLATION: Douro

PH: 3.70

ACIDITY: 3.70 g/l

ABV: 20%

AGING: Aged an average of 3 to 4 years in large, conditioned French oak vats.

RESIDUAL SUGAR: 102 g/l

Unique Selling Points

Limited Edition to Celebrate the House's 430th Anniversary
Unique bottle shape with distinctive outer tube
A vintage-character Porto blended from wines aged three to four years

“Croft is defined by an abundance of rich, plump fruit with a delicious exotic quality and a distinctive herbaceous, spicy character.”

Natasha Robertson Bridge, Chief Blender

Vineyard Details

Quinta de Vargellas

Quinta de Vargellas is the backbone of Taylor, Fladgate's declared vintage Portos, lending them consistency and defining their style. In the best undeclared years, Quinta de Vargellas stands on its own as a single-quinta vintage Porto. Vargellas was originally, in the early 1800s, three separate properties: The upper portion, Quinta do Vale; the middle portion, Quinta de Vargellas-do-Meio; and the lower portion, known by the several names of Quinta de Vargellas-de-Baixo, Quinta de Galega and Quinta do Brito. Documents substantiate that an 1808 vintage wine, possibly among those that surfaced in London in the 1820s, mentioned above, was produced from Quinta de Vargellas-do-Meio. Sometime between 1850 and 1890, the vineyards were consolidated into a single property. In 1893, on the heels of the arrival of the phylloxera epidemic, Taylor Fladgate purchased Vargellas in a state of near ruin; its yield in that year was barely 5% of current production. Today it is an A-rated vineyard, with 103 acres of vines planted on its steep, northeast-facing terraced slopes descending precipitously to the banks of the Douro.

Quinta de Terra Feita

Taylor, Fladgate's other vineyard is the A-rated, 217-acre Quinta de Terra Feita, a spectacular south-facing amphitheater on the west bank of the Pinhão River; this quinta contributes to the vintage port in declared years. Purchased in 1974, it has long been an important source of vintage quality wines for Taylor, Fladgate. It now has 126 acres planted to vines.

Quinta do Junco

Purchased in 1998, Quinta do Junco is 82 acres (48 planted to vines) located near Quinta de Terra Feita in the Pinhão River Valley. The property is being developed to include vertical planting of the classic Porto grapes, a technique that Taylor, Fladgate helped pioneer in the Douro.

Quinta do Panascal

In 1978, Fonseca acquired Quinta do Panascal, whose reputation goes back to the 18th century, when wines from the Tavora Valley in Cima Corgo, where the vineyard is located, were considered among the finest-quality wines of Portugal. The company later expanded the vineyard by acquiring the neighboring Quinta do Val dos Muros. At present, 109 of its 188 acres are planted, principally to Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz. In high-quality but non-declared vintages, fruit from Quinta do Panascal is used to produce a single-quinta vintage Porto.

About the Grape

Tinta Barroca

Used to make Port wines, this high yielding grape has very high sugar content, which makes wines with pronounced floral character, good structure and firm, ripe tannins.

Tinta Cão

This grape has blackberry, game and meaty aromas, and contributes longevity and exceptional elegance to the blend of Port wines.

Tinta Roriz

Tinta Roriz produces deep-colored grapes of moderate acidity which make bold wines with firm tannins, excellent complexity and distinctive resin-like fragrance.

Touriga Franca

This grape has high tannins and is very aromatic; it lends structure and balance to Port wines. It shows intense fresh red fruit, earth and flower aromas, and is very fruity on the palate.

Touriga Nacional

Touriga Nacional produces wine with finesse, body and warmth that is dark, concentrated, massively tannic and aromatic. It ages to show the complex aromas typically found in mature vintage port.