Douro, Portugal
Oenologist: Jaime Costa
Environmental Practice: Sustainable agriculture
The Vasques family history has roots as strong as the vines they cultivate. Heavily entwined with the history of the Douro, their origins date back to the mid-nineteenth century. The family company has turned its eyes towards fortified wine ever since 1840, initially beginning by selling their stock to more well known Port houses.
In 1880, Jose Vasques de Carvalho, great-grandfather of the current administrator (António Fernando Lopes Vasques de Carvalho), decided to create port for themselves given the exceptional quality of that years crop. Amazingly they still have some stock from that year too! This wine is aged & carefully guarded in the family warehouses to the present day.
In 2000, his heirs created the company Vasques de Carvalho, Agricultural & Commercial Society Lda. Diversifying the product sold through the vinification & bottling DOC Douro wines. We are very pleased to be offering you these wonderful vintage ports with an eye in the future to import their aged tawnies (the 40 Year has a drop of the wonderful 1880 port in it)!
dedicated to tradition with a modern palate in mind
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2013 Vintage Port
VDCVP-13 - Douro Valley, Cima-Corgo - Blend of Douro valley traditional grape varieties - 20%
This was the very first vintage produced by Vasques de Carvalho & it was awarded with a gold medal soon after release. Careful selection, destemming & pressing has resulted in a beautiful vintage port. In total 6129 bottles were produced & 102 magnums. Definitely one for your collection now before it’s gone!
Tasting Notes: Elegant & dense, with notes of plums, cassis & currants, surrounded by chocolate & black coffee. Fragrant & slightly bold which shows excellent conditions for evolution in the bottle. It is an austere, powerful & solid wine. Intense red & wild fruit, with a velvety & liqueur character. Has firm tannins & a very irreverent youth. Excellent balance between acidity & sweetness, coupled with a long length, show a serious & perfect wine to evolve.
Ageing: After a brief passage through wood, aged in stainless steel until the bottling in July 2015
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2015 Vintage Port
VDCVP-15 - Douro Valley, Cima-Corgo - Touriga Nacional 70%, Tinto Cão 20%, Touriga Franca 10% - 20.5%
This wonderful vintage from Vasques de Carvalho is the result of an extremely careful selection of grapes with the optimum ripeness. Made in granite lagars the grapes were foot trodden & only 5480 bottles were produced. A fantastic example of this vintage year.
Ageing: After a brief passage through wood, aged in stainless steel until the bottling in July 2017.
Tasting Notes: Elegant, fragrant, with fresh & clean fruit. Blackberries & dark chocolate. A very concentrated port, fresh with notes of spices, ripe fruits & a huge intensity, with firm & rounded tannins. Powerful & solid wine, with an excellent final acidity. A wine good for decades to come.
Food pairing: Long aging potential & as young great with cheese, various types of fruit & chocolate, & even with some game.
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2016 Vintage Port
VDCVP-16 - Douro Valley, Cima-Corgo - Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca & Sousão - 20.5%
In 2019 Tom Cannavan gave 93 Points to this Port, along with the most resounding review. We could definitely tell you more ourselves, but Tom is a leader in his field & we trust his review to enlighten & excite you!
“Vintage Ports are made only in the best years, & Vasques de Carvalho's 2016 is a selection of their best from that harvest, matured for 12 months in 6,000-litre wooden barrels. It is bottled unfiltered & should be decanted for serving. A very deep, opaque colour, the aromas are dense, meaty & darkly vinous, blueberry & damson fruit with just a tiny floral inflection coming through in this very young wine. It strikes the palate with glorious sweetness, a ripe, creamy richness of black fruit, super-sweet & mouth-filling, the quality of spirit evident in the quiet way it supports. There's great balance here, chocolate richness & fruit, but elegant in terms of its acid, tannin & long finish. A wine that can be broached now for its sweet & charming fruit & youthful vigour, but which will also age for decades.”