Since 2008, we have brought some of the world’s finest spirits to connoisseurs and collectors. In the same spirit of discovery, Ben Howkins – a renowned authority on Port –long maintained that a truly fine old Tawny Port could command a place alongside such esteemed spirits. In 2016 we therefore journeyed to one of the oldest wine regions in the world: the Douro Valley in northern Portugal.
Our 11th release comprises two very old Tawny Ports, from 1870 and 1970. Whilst the older was made from grapes on pre-Phyllorexa vines, the younger came from vines grafted onto American root stock after the louse wiped out huge swathes of Europe’s vineyards. As such, the two extraordinary bottles offer a rare opportunity to sample two dramatically different chapters in the history of Port.