Fonseca, Vintage Port, 2003
One of the Taylor-Fladgate parternship’s flagship wines, Fonseca has been made from the Cruzeiro and Santo António vineyards since 1900. The grapes are still foot-trodden in the stone lagares of the Cruzeiro and Panascal Quintas, essential to the structure and weight of the final blend. The vintage, which started on the 16th September, has yielded a wine of power and richness. The nose bursts with opulent aromatic crushed cassis fruits, while the palate is crammed with sloe, damson and raspberry fruit, the tannic structure being dense and chewy.
critic reviews
The 2003 Vintage Port was aged for 21 months in wood and comes in at 92 grams of residual sugar. This is another oldie rereleased now. The Taylor's may be burlier and fresher, the Croft more nuanced and complex, but of the trio of 2003s in this report, this might well be the winner today. (Then again, it might not be; the comparison was certainly fun.) It has the most elegance, freshness and nuance, far younger than the Croft and more ready than the Taylor's. I can only say, I respect whatever choice you make; pick 'em. Personally, I lean to Taylor's in the longer run, but that is the least ready of the three.