The producer
Founded in 1822 when Manuel Pedro Guimaerens acquired control of the Fonseca estate, and as a condition of the sale insisted his name was retained. The property now comprises just over 76 hectares of which 44 are vineyards, and all grapes are food trodden in traditional stone troughs, called lagares, on the estate. Much of the fruit for the Vintage Ports comes from Fonseca’s Quinta do Panascal, purchased in 1978, and Quinta do Val dos Muros, purchased in 1985.
The wine
Fonseca’s Vintage Ports represent the finest grape material and know-how of a given year and is sourced from Fonseca’s own estates, Cruzeiro and Santo Antonio in the Pinhao Valley and the Tavora Valley estate at Panascal. These, Fonseca’s flagship wines, consistently achieve great scores from the world’s leading wine critics and, while giving opulent luscious fruit concentration while young, can easily age for up to 100 years.
