Review of the 2023 portwein messe in leverkussen
The complete review of the anual portweinmesse in germany - edition 2023
In the fine world of port wine, there aren’t that many occasions where you can meet almost everybody from the port wine industry in one place. Such moments are rare and usually happen only at the Prowein exhibition, the brotherhood gatherings and in such an event, hosted by no other than Axel Probst, the Portweinmesse.
This never gets boring..
Flying towards the event, high above the alps
If you didn’t attend this in 2023 or before, I recommend you buying your tickets for the 2024 event, as it is one of the only and best places to discover both young and old Vintage port, attend Masterclasses from the main Port wine Producers and it’s an amazing place to connect to your fellow port wine lovers and ambassadors.
Preparing for the portwein messe
November 22nd - Italy. I woke up today with a smile on my face. Knowing that in 2 days I am going to be attending the portweinmesse in Leverkusen. As I woke up in Rimini and my flight was scheduled later that afternoon, I knew I was going to be spending a lot of time traveling, in order to get to the fair on the 24th of November.
I took a bus from Rimini straight to the airport of Bologna, waited a bit in the business lounge, enjoying a glass of red wine and espresso, before liftoff to Dusseldorf.
Finally after a train ride from Dusseldorf to The Netherlands, I arrived around 21:30 to prepare for a day in the office before driving to Germany again by car on the 24th.
November 24th - The Netherlands. So at 11:30 in the morning, Axel had organized a special Masterclass for invitee to join a Douro Boys lineup from young vintages starting as early as 2017 up to older wines from 1985 and finally, the grand-finale, a bottle of Very Old Tawny made by the Douro Boys (and girls) that truly brings together all the good that the top wine producers have to offer. A magnificent blend of pure love, ripping, balancing and processing to become a gem amongst port wines - only to be sold out soon as not that many have been made.
Masterclass by the Douro Boys:
While joining the masterclass, the guests attending the masterclass where carefully picked it seemed, as some of the main characters of the port wine industry attended this masterclass, all with a strong love for the nr 1 wine of portugal - our beloved port wine.
As mentioned before this event was sponsored by the Douro Boys, with their collaboration, to increase the quality of the wines, share the knowledge of working the lands, optimizing the production process and maybe most important, fighting the challenge that global warming/ climate change or creating.
The Masterclass was of course, all about tasting the wines, but also sharing some light on the challenges ahead and trying to stress out how important it is for them as solo producers, to keep working together in the Douro to increase the sales of both port and table wines so that the region is kept profitable, which seems to be an increasingly bigger threat to the already more expensive port wines.
Niepoort - One of the Douro Boys big contributors
So what did we taste and what are our tasting notes you might ask? Let’s go and find out!:
The Masterclass Flight:
Douro boys Vintage Port 2011 (from last Magnum): Being a classic vintage year and one of the best from the last century, this wine was a great beginning of the masterclass. There where only 250 bottles produced and this was the last bottle that we finished. The fruity character and some tanines showed great potential for the next decades for this wine.
Douro Boys Vintage Port 2017 (from last Magnum): Definatly a powerful wine with loads of black fruits as one could expect from the younger vintages.
Van Zellers 2017 Vintage Port: Very well balanced wine. The style is not perse mine, but maybe in 10-20 years, this wine could surprise.
Vallado Vintage Port 2012: For me a very unknown vintage but very well produced. Aging is great and has loads of potential to become a gem from 2012.
Vale Meao Vintage Port 2001 (Aged at the Quinta): This wine has almost reached it’s peak performance. So recommend to drink now and keep tracking the development over the next years.
Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port 1994: Quinta do Crasto is one of the most prestigious estates of the douro. The wine doesnt disappoint from this classical vintage year. The tannins will make this wine one to keep for some longer time. Felt a bit flat, and needs 10 years more at least
Niepoort Vintage Port 1985: High hopes of this wine, but didn’t deliver in my oppinion. High on apothecary notes and much less fruity then expected.
Douro Boys Very old Tawny: This was the highlight of the whole day. This product, that has been produced with influences from every douro boy member, is of extrodinary high quality. A perfect product that has a never ending long finish in the mouth, full of rich fruits that don’t seem to stop giving flavors.
The tasting room
After having had the masterclass it was time to join all the producers and the wines they had brought with them. To be honest - there were too many to taste. After the masterclass flight, the mouth pallet was already in heaven, not much more could change that. But drinking a lot of young and old vintages in combination with very heavy and tasty tawny’s, I struggled to keep focussed and truly enjoy all the different styles, flavors and story’s behind the wines and port producers.
Next to a lot of old and exclusive vintage wines, most producers also introduced us to their 50 year old tawny’s, a fairly new category of extraordinary port wines from the douro.
In the coming part of this review, I will focus on the different wines i’ve tasted, but also the people i’ve met. As wine is great, but sharing the experience is even better!
Tasting Notes
The following brands and bottles I tasted on the 24th of November 2023:
alves de sousa
VINTAGE PORT OLIVERINHA 2018: This vintage is
VINTAGE PORT AMPHITHEATRUM 2020: A very powerful wine, that blows away your tasting palets. I am sure this has a great potential to be stored for many decades. The overal tanins are very well balanced.
VINTAGE PORT GAIVOSA 2003: Found this wine to have high potential for storing and maturing.
Kranenmann quinta de la rosa.com
VINTAGE PORT 2018: Quit a different style then most vintage ports i’ve tasting in the past 11 years. It characterises as dry and spicy. Not what I like perse. I did however also written a great piece about their wines. Get to know everything you want to know from Kranenmann here
caves messias
VINTAGE PORT 2020: Full body, very strong, and has great potential. Already you can feel its matureness. Has incredible dark features. Maybe you are also interested in reading about this estate?
churchills Port
CRUSTED PORT BOTTLED 2007: Very empty on the nose - But the full body makes up for it.
VINTAGE PORT GRICHA 2021: A very young vintage, that has a good potential in 10-20 years.
We also have a great page about Churchills Port
confraria do vinho do porto
VINTAGE PORT 2011: To me these bottles where a bit disappointing as they didn’t fall good for my taste.
Find more about the exclusive Porto club and members on our page about Confraria Do Vinho do Porto
quinta do crasto
VINTAGE PORT 2017: A wine that is nice to drink, but for cellars keeping, not something special.
cda silva.pt (dalva)
VINAGE PORT 2019 Pure: A wine that is unique for it’s production proces. Biologically farmed. The wine it self unfortunately isn’t special. Dalva has many incredible products, such as their white colheita’s. Check them here
douro boys
VINTAGE PORT 2011: See Masterclass
VINTAGE PORT 2017: See Masterclass
VERY OLD TAWNY PORT: See Masterclass
dows port
VINTAGE PORT BOMFIM 2021: A great producer. These wines have incredible palets and nose. 2021 not the most special year, so I would say an average vintage from Bomfim.
VINTAGE PORT 1994 CELLAR RELEASE: Didn’t try this wine as it was already finished..
agri-roncao
VINTAGE PORT 2023 “cask sample”: This cask sample from the harvest just a couple of months back was very nice to taste, so young in the bottle. Incredible fruity, like ‘cassis’. Fun to drink already! Want to know more? Check this article
Sandeman sogrape vinhos
30Y OLD TAWNY PORT: Delicious wine that is really good to serve with many different diches.
50Y OLD TAWNY PORT: The price of this 50 year old port is high compared to 30 years old, but I couldn’t taste the difference. The complexity was missing.
fonseca.pt
Vintage 2000 and Singel Quinta do Panascal 2000. A not so common tasting but, as always, Fonseca delivers. For me, this embodies what Port wine is all about. It’s very specific Touriga National and Touriga Roriz find their way to the nose and body of these port wines. Interested in Port wines from the Fonseca estate? Find all you need to know and more on prtwine.com
grahams-port.com
Many people have talked about his bottle on the exhibition, and for a good reason that is. The Vintage that was open for the tasting was not just a Graham’s Vintage. No this was a Vintage from the stone terrace 2021. A rare bottle as these vines are not often bottled. They only do this in specific years.
Find all you need to know about Grahams here on our directory
quinta do mourao
VINTAGE PORT 2017: One of the best bottles from the portwein messe.
VINTAGE PORT 2009: A great vintage with loads of chocolate and almost no chemical flavors.
VINTAGE PORT 2000: Found the finish of this less attractive and short.
niepoort Vinhos
WHITE COLHEITA 1968: This was one of the disappointments. Very high acidity and dry. I didn’t understand the wine unfortunately.
GARRAFEIRA 1987: I found the flavors to be explosive, complex but the structure not nice. A bit watery even. My expectations have been too high maybe. For more on the Niepoort family and their wines check our page about Niepoort Wines
porto dos santos
10Y OLD WHITE PORT: Tasted this new brand for the first time. Marketing and bottling is on point, the wines are unfortunately nothing special.
A very new kid on the block. Lovely bottling and labeling. Find more about his new port wine brand on this page.
ramos pinto
VINAGE PORT 1982: Totally unexpected but this vintage port was the winner of this event. We have written a nice article about Ramos Pinto too. Read about it here
taylor.pt
No fancy line up here, but they did share a 50 year old tawny. Knowing that their 20 year old tawny, usually wines the prices, the 50 year was gone before I could try it out. No worries, I am sure it will be somewhere on the menu shortly. If you want to know more about Taylors, Part of the Fladgate partnership then you will love this article.
quinta do tedo
A truly magnificent discovery on the port wein messe for me was this smaller but very high quality 30 year old tawny from the Quinta do Tedo estate. The estate it self is a magical place, in between the 2 rivers on the lower end of the valley. Their daughter, Odile, was very well versed with the knowledge about their wines. The 30 year old tawny, the first bottle that gotten opened and shared, was really good. Intens flavors, very long balanced finish and perfect coloration. A must drink! Check out more about their family owned business and estate here: Quinta do Tedo
quinta do vale MEÃO
Another untasted wine, that we will taste again soon. More on https://www.prtwine.com/port-directory-31-60/quinta-do-vale-meao
quinta do vallado
https://www.prtwine.com/port-directory-31-60/quinta-do-vallado
vanzellersandco.com
For this vintage 2017, see the notes above. For more on Van Zellers and Co. see this article
Conclusion from this round of vintages and colheita’s
It was quit the effort, to taste all those styles, of vintages, different years, and mixing them with colheita’s and aged tawny’s. In my honest opinion I’d go for a 2 day festival for first vintages and the next day colheita’s. A bit more time for talking with the people on the floor, and focussing on just one style. I feel it would give me a bit more time to breath ;) But those are luxury problems. As the whole event and line-up was formidable.
For all participating producers and their wines, please download this overview of the Leverkussen Portwein messe 2023
Portwein messe has invited many of the great and best producers of the port wine region
Young and old were here to enjoy, taste and talk about the best wines in the world.
Friends of port.
Port wine is amazing. On that we can agree. Drinking a bottle alone, sipping on some nice glass full of golden colheita honey, it’s a treat, day in day out.
But when you can share it with friends, it all the sudden becomes even better. It has created a connection between you, your friend and the wine. It a harmony that goes deep. Much deeper then just a wine. The magic of port wine is celebrated with friends. Friends of Port. Let’s make more friends and share our passion for this truly unique product, that has been around for centuries and that hopefully will be carried on by our friends from the future, for many centuries to come.
On this day, 23 November 2023, I made a lot of new friends. I hope these friendships can grow and many bottles of port wine may be shared to celebrate it.
©rudolfodalamicio - ‘Famous people’ in the wild. Doing some serious tasting (vintageport.se)
Some of the wines i’ve tasted that day
After Dinner
After a whole day of tasting, talks about port wines, sharing stories and finding hidden gems, it was time for us to head over to the dinner. Organized perfectly by our host, we all had to bring our own bottle of port wine that we wanted to share with guests at our table. A beautiful concept that unfortunatly for me, was kept from me, as I had to turn in around 21:00, having cought a terrible strong fever that nocked me down by the end of the day.. Shivering in my bed I went to sleep, dreaming of those bottles of wines, from ages ago, still being able to taste the angle-like nectar from Portugal.
Port Photography
As you might have noticed, I am also doing a lot of photography on these events. As a photographer I like to capture the roaring vibes of the crowd, the unique bottles, and when I have the invitation and time, I love to visit well hidden cellars and capture the rare bottles, that normally don’t see daylight let alone stand a camera ;)
Goals
It is my lifetime goal to be able to visit most producers, mentioned here on this port wine directory website, to be able to capture their incredible wine cellars, the producers themselves and of course the estates in all their glory and colors.
If you wish to collaborate and hire me as a photographer - I’ll be visiting the Prowein 2024 soon and will be happy to talk about the possibilities. Or just send me a request - info@rudolfodalamicio.com
Also known as ‘The Port-ographer’
Happy port wine drinking. Yours truly,
Ruud Scholten
“Great Wines are best shared with friends”
