Van Zellers & Co - 20 Years Old Tawny Porto

James Suckling

Light to medium amber hue with a subtle tawny edge. Subtle walnuts, dried apricots, dates, sweet papayas and blackcurrants. Mellow, round and sweet on the palate with a medium to full body and a svelte, almost unctuous palate. Rounded tannins and a lengthy, sleek finish. Complex and fine. A joy to drink now.

Wine & Spirits Magazine

Grandes Escolhas

Wine Enthusiast

Wine Spectator

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The NV 20 Years Old Tawny Port, which was only marginally darker than the 30-year-old one I tasted next to it, is a little sweeter, with 113 grams of sugar. It is substantially nuttier than other 20-year-olds I tasted next to it, and it's intensely spirity and nuanced and has a touch of varnish and a hint of volatility. It's a blend of younger and older Ports with an average age of 20 years. It has notes of youth and evolution, freshness and complexity and very good balance. It's quite elegant. This is also bottled to order, so I tasted an unbottled sample.

Van Zellers & Co. is the new project from Cristiano Van Zeller and his family after he sold Quinta do Vale Dona Maria. It's an old company that was created in 1780 by his ancestors. They resumed the family tradition of making unfortified and fortified wines. They have 15 hectares of vines, owned and rented, and make around 80,000 bottles of unfortified wines and Port. The CV wines are always from the same vineyards, but for the rest, they use a diversity of terroirs. There's a wide range of négoce Ports, some very old; I received unbottled samples of them, as they are bottled to order.