Van Zellers & Co - 30 Years Old Tawny Porto [3pac]

Wine Spectator

Decanter World Wine Awards

Grandes Escolhas

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

I tasted an unbottled sample of the NV 30 Years Very Old Tawny Port, which, like the majority of Ports here, is only bottled to order. It aged throughout its life in very old oak casks and was blended with an average age of 30 years and 104 grams of sugar. Despite the similarities in color with the 20-year-old, the nose is higher pitched, nuttier and a little more volatile, open and expressive. The wine very polished and sleek, integrated, with bittersweet notes and a long and clean finish.

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.

James Suckling

Attractive notes of walnut and toffee, with dried figs and orange blossom. Toasted almonds, too. Very polished, almost creamy. Clean and fresh with moderate sweetness and a linear finish. Bottled in February 2023. Drink or hold.