A 2011 Quartet

With the 2011 Vintage Port tasting season coming to an end, I have received four bottled wines (as opposed to cask samples) from Sogevinus, the Spanish group that own Barros, Calem, Kopke and Burmester.  Sogevinus originated in 1998 following the sale of family owned Port shipper Calem and the group acquired Burmester in 2005 followed by Barros and Kopke. As a group they are the leading shippers in Portugal in terms of sales of Port wine and global market leaders for colheita Port.  

Barros 2011 ****

Very deep opaque, youthful colour; lovely, intense dark chocolate aromas with underlying opulence and richness; ripe, dense, plummy fruit, rich and expressive with broad, ripe tannins building on to a fine finish. Good bitter-sweet chocolate intensity. Finishes with a flourish. The best Barros Vintage Port I can recall  for many a year! 17

Burmester  2011 ***

Not quite as deep or dark as Barros; quite open and rather loose-knit on the nose, ripe with milk-chocolate intensity and peppery spice; very sweet and flattering initially, firm, spicy tannic grip mid-palate, fresh berry fruit and an open finish. Really lovely to drink now if you like young Port. Good mid-term wine for drinking from around 2020  15

Cálem 2011 ****

The deepest and darkest of the quartet; sullen and brooding on the nose with underlying richness and depth; lovely, broad, ripe opulent cherry and plum fruit, tight-knit gravelly-minerally tannins building in the mouth to an ample yet well-focused finish. The fullest of the four. 17.5

Kopke  2011 ***

Good, deep, opaque colour, crimson rim; not giving a great deal away on the nose initially, still a little raw with underlying spirit and ripe fruit still needing to meld into one; sweet, opulent berry fruit with firm linear tannins building in the mouth. Not big for the vintage but an elegant wine for the mid-to-long term. 15.5    

Location: The Barn at the Rookery