Fonseca 2012 Fonseca Guimaerens Vintage Port, Portugal

2012 Fonseca Guimaerens Vintage Port, Portugal

TASTING NOTE
Deep ruby black centre with narrow purple rim. Impressive depth and intensity of fruit on the nose. Very fine complex woodland berry aromas intertwined with discreet resiny, balsamic scents of garrigue, rock rose and wild herbs. On the palate the dark fruit flavours have a surprising freshness and a tight mesh of thick, grippy tannins provides both structure and volume. A wonderfully long finish leaving succulent flavours of raspberry and cassis. Very fine and beautifully balanced, the 2012 Guimaraens combines the depth and richness of Quinta do Panascal with the clearly delineated fruit and heady scented quality of the Pinhão Valley.

NEAL MARTIN
DECEMBER 2014 – 92 POINTS
“The 2012 Fonseca Guimaraens explodes from the glass with black plums mixed with cassis, fresh fig and prune with a touch of warm – all very in keeping with the Fonseca style (a bit unruly but a lot of boisterous fun!) The palate is sweet on the entry with fresh prune, raisins and white pepper. This is a feisty, spicy little number without the depth of peacock’s tail you would find in a declaration, yet well balanced and very pure on the finish. Excellent. Drink this over the next 20+ years or so.”

JAMES SUCKLING
SEPTEMBER 2014 – 95-96 POINTS
“This shows first class structure and length. It’s full-bodied and lightly sweet with fabulous length and power. It starts off slowly and builds on the palate with great blackberry, mineral and slate character.”

NOTES ON THE YEAR
The winter preceding the 2012 harvest was much colder and drier than usual, with only 183,6mm of rain falling at Pinhão between November and March. Bud burst occurred at the normal time towards the third week in March followed by good levels of rainfall in April and early May. At the end of May the vineyards showed low vigour, a result of the extremely dry winter and cooler than normal spring. Continued good weather during June and July led to the healthy evolution of the vines, although the smaller berries and bunches showed a low yield for the year. Vérasion occurred a little later than usual.
An initial evaluation of the grapes in mid -August showed that they were still very low in sugar, but with high levels of acidity. The canopy growth however, was in remarkable condition for the time of the year, allowing a continuous ripening of the crop to continue all the way through the harvest. As a result, picking at Quinta do Panascal started on the 20th September, Quinta do Cruzeiro on the 21st and the 2nd October at Quinta do Santo António. The vintage was briefly interrupted by some rain fall on the 24th September, but excellent weather conditions for the rest of the harvest prevailed.