Port vintage guide: 2000-2022
Vintage summaries and best wines...
Richard Mayson began his career working for The Wine Society, winning the Vintner’s Company Scholarship in 1987 during his time there. Now specialising in the wines of Iberia, especially fortified wines, he owns a vineyard and produces wine in the Alto Alentejo, Portugal, and is the author of four books, including The Wines and Vineyards of Portugal (winner of the André Simon Award 2003) and Port and the Douro. Mayson writes regularly for Decanter and The World of Fine Wine, contributes to the Oxford Companion to Wine and lectures for the WSET diploma and Leith's School of Food and Wine in London. In 1999, he was made a Cavaleiro of the Confraria do Vinho do Porto in recognition of his services to the Port wine trade, and he was an associate editor of Oz Clarke’s Wine Atlas. Mayson runs his own website for fortified wine enthusiasts, portandmadeirapages.com, is currently writing a book on the wines of Madeira.
Vintage summaries and best wines...
Learn about Port with top bottles to try
Vintage summaries and top wines
The results from a 24-wine panel tasting...
18 top treats from the island of Madeira...
Tasting and rating wines from a recent vertical tasting of releases from 2010-2020...
18 Port 2019 bottles tasted and rated...
Masterclass tasting of vintage Ports
Discover the latest aged Port category
Top Ports to see you through the end of the year and into next...
Should you store Madeira on its side?
How do the 2018 Ports stack up against the highly rated 2015, 2016 and 2017 vintages?
The release of a limited-edition 50-year-old Port...
Richard Mayson picks his top Ports for drinking now...
Over 25 recommendations to buy from this top vintage...
Learn about the wonderful world of Madeira...
Including a world-cup year 1966 vintage Port and a pre-war colheita...
Richard Mayson finds that the 1994s more than live up to their initial potential...
Find out which Port wines made the cut...
Some of the best expressions of tawny Port....
Find out the key elements to understanding tawny Port – Richard Mayson talks ageing, careful selection and finely-tuned blending...
It's time to start thinking about festive fortifieds...
The colour of a Victoria plum. Rich, heady aromas of fresh figs and raisins with soft yet spicy glacé...
A touch of torrefaction lends a full, savoury character to the nose and palate. It’s still very fresh and rich on the mid-palate...
Brick-red at the centre with a distinct amber-tawny rim. Gentle and fresh aromas with a soft, sweet, suave fruit palate...
Expert Richard Mayson helps guide you through the maze of tawny Port classifications, explaining each of the age indications and the Reserve terminology in his definitive tawny Port style guide...
Ripeness and tannic structure characterise Port in 2011 which, despite difficult weather conditions, could rank as a legendary vintage in a new era of better winemaking and improved spirit quality.
If you need inspiration...