Adelaide Tributa from Quinta do Vallado

There is currently a fashion for dated tawnies with Taylor, Warre and now Quinta do Vallado all releasing old colheitas over the past year. This wine from Vallado has a better pedigree than most. It has been bottled to commemorate Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira´s 200th Anniversary which fell last year. Vallado belonged to Dona Antónia and this wine dates from 1866, pre-dating phylloxera. She died some 30 years later in 1896, by then the largest landowner in the Douro with 24 quintas to her name.

The wine originally made up five chestnut casks and over time concentrated and evaporated to make two pipes of 550 litres each. With a baumé reading of 13.7º and alcohol of 19.5% this represents the very essence of old tawny Port. There is a total of 1,300 bottles. My tasting note follows: 

Adelaide Tributa  (1866) **** / *****

very deep, dark mahogany, thin olive green rim; rich, pungent, initially slightly rustic, high toned aromas, heady and floral (honeysuckle) very powerful and concentrated with a touch of toffee and molasses  on the nose;  incredibly rich and intense on the palate, real weight and texture, intense, mellifluous sweetness offset by a streak of acidity leading to a toffee apple finish. From just one glass, the floral pungency hovered over my desk for an entire afternoon.  A very beautiful wine.  18.5