Wine Spectator Review from barrel tasting

Tightly wound and unyielding. Lots of plum and raisiny character. Full-bodied, medium-sweet and very, very velvety, with lots of fruit and round tannins. Good grip. Very harmonious for Fonseca. 12,500 cases made. Score range: 92-94 (JS)


FONSECA 2000 VINTAGE

Background Notes
The backbone of Fonseca vintage ports are the wines drawn primarily from Fonseca’s three quintas, all located in the Cima Corgo: Quinta de Santo António, Quinta do Cruzeiro, and Quinta do Panascal. All three properties are A-rated, and were purchased by the firm in the 1970s; the former two had been under contract to
Fonseca Guimaraens in the early 1900s. The finest grapes from these quintas are blended with wines from other quintas long under contract to Fonseca to produce its classic vintage ports. The grapes are still trodden by foot in the stone ‘lagares’ of
Cruzeiro and Panascal. Fonseca vintage ports are renowned for their great richness, and, while powerful and mouthfilling, for their exquisite structure and femininity. In the context of each vintage, they combine the tannic dimension and ‘grip’ which give great port its longevity, with the breeding, complexity and perfect balance that are Fonseca’s
hallmarks.

Notes on Viticultural Year and Harvest
A wet 1999 vintage was followed by a cold and dry winter with almost no rain falling to help build up the water reserves. Budburst occurred in the first two weeks along with the dry weather, however, cold conditions and lack of water limited the budburst
development and caused “gavinhas” (french: “vrilles”), thus reducing potential yield. April and May were very wet with half the annual rainfall falling in these two months. Although saving the life of many vines, this caused tremendous vigour which resulted in a poor berry set (french: coulure), which occured at the end of May. June and July were dry and the temperatures produced the ideal growing conditions. The weather was not overly hot. As a result veraison was very homogenous, occurring around the 15 th of July.
August continued dry, with the first half being extremely hot. The end of August and early September had perfect ripening conditions with long warm days. A couple of days of rain between the 10 th and 18 th of September produced the ideal conditions and finished off the ripening. The resulting wines were big and full bodied with intense colour and very attractive
aromatic aromas.

Tasting Notes
Deep purple/ black. Rich, velvety, fresh berry fruit and pear drop aromas. Rounded,
rich, chewy, unctuous, ripe blackberry flavours. Complex. Well structured and
balanced. Smooth and velvety. Good long fresh fruit finish.

Wine Advocate

Dense ruby/purple colored, with an exotic, exuberant perfume of black fruits, flowers, incense and licorice, this unctuously-textured, full-bodied port is one or the most concentrated of the vintage. Sweet,expansive, and succulent, this large scaled, but remarkably well-balanced effort is surprisingly forward and accessible (by Fonseca's stndards). 2006-2025.

Score: 95. October 2002.

International Wine Cellar

Saturated medium-deep ruby. Exotic aromas of black fruit liqueur, road tar, smoked meat and hot stones; this reminded me of a great ripe-year Hermitage. Hugely rich and dense, with compelling sweetness and pliancy but also sound framing acidity. Extremely youthful and very long on the aftertaste. Finishes with suave but strong tannins and excellent grip and thrust. Like the best examples of the vintage, this won't injure your palate if you broach a bottle today, but it's structured for extended aging.

Score: 95. —Stephen Tanzer, January 2003.

Wine Spectator

Collectible "Fabulous nose of crushed raspberries, blackberries and licorice. Full-bodied and velvety, with super-clean fruit and a long finish. A beauty. Very harmonious for Fonseca. Best after 2011."

Score: 94. February 03, 2006.