The wheels touched down on a Saturday morning at Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport, better known as Porto International Airport. I watched out the window of the plane as we taxied up to the terminal, which was originally built in the 1940s, but now sports a modern look of steel, glass, and concrete. I was back in Northern Portugal for the 2015 FTLOP Port Harvest Tour.

After deplaning, I wound my way with the other travelers through the easy-to-navigate corridors and headed over to baggage claim to collect my luggage. The luggage off-load always seems to take much longer than it should in Porto, but eventually, the luggage started appearing on the conveyor belt, and I grabbed my suitcase and wine shipper and headed out into the arrivals hall.

I almost immediately spotted the driver with the familiar “FTLOP” placard. The driver greeted me warmly and we remembered each other from a previous FTLOP Port Harvest Tour. We had a pleasant chat as we made our way to the car, and he let me know that he’d already picked up several of the other guests who would be joining us for this year’s tour.

We breezed through the countryside and then the suburbs on the short six-mile ride from the airport to the center of the old city of Porto. We pulled up to the Hotel Teatro, a modern-looking building that replaced the historic Baquet Theatre, which was built in 1859. It was my first time staying at this particular hotel, and it was quite a unique experience. The hotel has all the trappings of a 1920’s art deco theatre, with heavy velvet drapery on the walls, a lobby that reminds you of a theatre ticket counter, and large metal entry doors with very cool lighted poetry on them.

PreTour

Graham’s Lodge

The first order of business after dropping my bag off was to meet up with a few of the other FTLOP tour participants over at the Port wine lodges in Vila Nova da Gaia. I rolled into the Graham’s tasting room, and immediately spotted a few of the tour participants in a corner. They were already half-way through a flight of some Graham’s Ports, so I vowed that I would catch up as quickly as I could.

Graham 30 Year Old Tawny Port – Bottled 2015. Amber-orange in color. Very clear from the center to the meniscus. Nuts and orange peel on the nose. Full-bodied with bright acidity. Toffee notes with orange, citrus and roasted nuts. Long finish. 93 points. 9/26/2015

Graham 40 Year Old Tawny Port – Bottled 2015. Orange-brown in color with slight bricking on the edges. Clear in appearance. Cigar box on the nose with some underlying caramel and mocha notes. Unctuous, medium-full bodied with some cinnamon and a touch of clove on the palate. Long, sweet finish with some herbal hints. 91 points. 9/26/2015

1982 Graham Single Harvest Tawny Port – Bottled 2013. Light orange-amber in color. Mostly clear in appearance. Moderate nose with a touch of wood and orange spice. Full-bodied with baking spice and toffee on the palate. Subtle orange peel on the finish. 92 points. 9/26/2015

1972 Graham Single Harvest Tawny Port – Bottled 2015. Brown with an orange tint. Clear with some bricking on the edges. Old wood notes and some subtle marmalade on the nose. Bright acidity. Coating, unctuous mouthfeel. Tangerine notes with a little bitterness right on the finish. 94 points. 9/26/2015

1952 Graham Single Harvest Tawny Port – Bottled 2014. Amber-bronze in color. Mocha on the nose. Maple and molasses on the palate. Long finish with great balance. 93 points. 9/26/2015

2011 Graham Vintage Port – Opaque, dark purple in color in the center with medium purple edges. Deep violets with some eucalyptus on the nose. Surprisingly elegant for a 2011 Vintage Port. Blueberry and great, balanced tannins on the long finish. 91 points. 9/26/2015

2013 Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port – Extremely dark purple in color. Characteristic violets and floral notes on the nose, with some subtle hints of menthol. Blueberry and cassis on the palate. Way too young to score. N/R. 9/26/2015

The Yeatman Hotel     

After the afternoon at the Graham’s Lodge, we headed over to the Yeatman Hotel, to experience what has become a little bit of a pre-tour tradition: dinner at the 2 Michelin Star Yeatman Restaurant. We started with a tour of the cellar and the hotel.

As a general rule, I don’t normally write tasting notes during meals, unless it is Port or another notable wine. I will simply leave you with some photos of the wonderful wine and culinary experience that we had that evening.

Taylor Fladgate Scion Port In 2008, Taylor Fladgate discovered several casks of pre-Phylloxera Port which were owned by a family in the Douro Valley and were believed to be from 1855. These casks had been passed down from generation to generation. While the purchase of old tawny Ports by companies like Taylor occurs frequently, the goal is normally to blend those older wines into their aged tawny Ports. However, after tasting samples of this particular old wine, Taylor’s CEO, Adrian Bridge, decided instead to produce a limited number of collectible bottles of this ancient wine under the name Scion.  The wine was bottled into 1500 hand-blown decanters, where were set into a wooden teak presentation box. Taylor Scion Port – Maderized notes on the nose. Dark amber-brown at the center, lightening at the edges. Crazy acidity. Orange peel and deep caramel on the long, unctuous finish. 97 points. 9/26/2015