Vert de Vin Magazine

James Suckling

This is top class with so much perfume and flower aromas. Violets galore. Full body yet refined and tight with very powerful and polished tannins. This is racy and linear. Turns juicy, fresh and medium sweet. Reminds me of the excellent 1967 Vargellas.

Wine Enthusiast

This wine is ripe with tannins and powerful with ripe fruit. A solid character gives it density. The tannins and the richness of the wine are ripe and concentrated with fruit.

For The Love Of Port

Vargellas is the main source of extraordinary grapes for Taylor’s, (supported by Quinta de Terra Feita and Quinta do Junco) year in and year out, and 2015 is no exception. The diversity of this property in the Douro Superior with majestic old-vine field blend parcels bringing concentration and complexity to the Ports, and vines putting up with little rainfall and extreme heat, there’s no question why it is truly the loyal warrior vineyard for Taylor’s Vintage and LBV Ports. Like Quinta do Vesuvio, maybe this property should be bottling this SQVP every single year and only bottle Vinha Velha in great years? The 2015 Vargellas proves once again that this is one of the greatest sites in the entire region and that terroir matters! The aromatic intensity is noted from the first whiff, compact initially, it unfurled over several days with notes of black cherry, blackberry, violets, grapefruit and a smoky scent. The cool nights during summer months allowed for vibrant acidity, and tannins which started off slightly soft, wound up omnipresent and just short of astringent, but mouth dominating nonetheless, in providing distinctive balance to this wine. 58 Vargellas’ concentrated flavors consist of ripe fig, boysenberry and tar with a slight bit of youthful spirit that turned up late on the palate. This is a minor distraction and will integrate as usual with bottle age. The mouthfeel is seductively smooth, the body weight is full yet blends into the big picture like a shadow and it all ends well, an opulent Port with substantial longevity on the finish. In need of time for this to meld, either wait a decade to approach or drink a bottle
early on with an extended decant. The 2015 Vargellas should be best between the halfway point of the century and the beginning of the final quarter of it.

Robert Parker

The 2015 Quinta de Vargellas Vintage Port is a field blend aged for 18 months in used French oak vats. It comes in with 103 grams per liter of residual sugar. This is the first look in bottle, after the original was seen last June as a tank sample in Porto. It is very much a creature of the vintage. Like most 2015s, this is on the lighter side in the mid-palate, but also like most, it is fresh and lifted, refined and graceful. It is the type of wine that doesn't hit you over the head but becomes ever more appealing as it sits in the glass. It's all about finesse and elegance. Suddenly, you realize how much you like it. After some aeration, it adds to its mid-palate refinement the dry, tight and steely edge it had in Porto. Compared to last June, it is oddly more expressive now (I find that they tend to close down after bottling and shipping), opening nicely with some air. It does eventually close down more, but it drinks well again the next day, showing very good balance. When all three of the Fladgate group wines I re-evaluated for this issue (Croft, Fonseca Guimaraens and this) were tasted again the next day, this was plainly the best, beautifully balanced and lingering nicely on the finish. It does everything well.

Decanter

With its intense fragrant character – jasmine and crushed rose petals woven with mint and lavender – this single-quinta Vintage port is so unmistakably Vargellas. Firm, juicy tannins hold the plum and black cherry fruit, sprinkled with nutmeg and cocoa powder. Earthy lining of forest undergrowth and mountain herbs.

Falstaff

Dark ruby, purple reflections, soft brightening on the rim. Wild dark berry confit underlaid with chocolate, candied orange zest, tobacco spice and a hint of prunes. Pleasant nougat notes, ripe plums, integrated tannins, seems harmonious, sweet cherries on the finish, lingers, will benefit from bottle age.

Revista de Vinhos

Purple with bluish hues. Austere and initially reluctant to reveal much beyond notes of chocolate truffle and crushed black fruit. Exceptionally impressive on the palate, yet with an elegance reminiscent of a silk cloak draped over an iron structure. It has all the qualities needed for a long life ahead.

Jancis Robinson

Empty bottle 600 g. 25% Touriga Nacional, 75% other grape varieties. Quinta de Vargellas was purchased by Taylor’s over a century ago. The grapes were crushed, not destemmed, macerated and fermented in stone lagares or stainless-steel tanks for three to four days with skins at approximately 25 °C. Fermentation was stopped with grape spirit and the wine was then aged in large oak vats for two years before spending a further 80 months in bottle. Winemaker David Guimaraens. Natural cork. TA 4.08 g/l, pH 3.79, RS 99 g/l. Vegan. Available in up to 200 shops.
Concentrated blackish crimson. Curls up over the palate like a cat on your knees. Some very clever tannin management here. Just lovely pruney stuff, with a dry end. Not the sweetest port by any means and still with quite a bit of acidity and a well-hidden tannic spine. VGV

Vivino

(443 bedømmelser, 05-10-2026)