Make sure to try this wine

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Churchill's, Late Bottled Vintage, 2017

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5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP

 

Churchill's, Late Bottled Vintage, 2017 (18 EUR/19 USD in Sweden) port wine, Porto, Douro, Portugal, 5,0 of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points) (28-01-2023 by Nenad Jelisic)

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It is absolutely incredible that four consecutive vintages of Churchill's Late Bottled Vintage get 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points). If this vintage is compared to the three previous brilliant vintages, what characterizes it is a fabulous acidity and fabulous tannins. When I wrote about the 2016 vintage, I wrote “This is the best Late Bottled Vintage-port wine that I have tasted so far. And I have tasted many. This applies to both Churchill's Late Bottled Vintage and Late Bottled Vintage of all other port wine producers.” And now, I have to repeat the same words again. This is the best Late Bottled Vintage-port wine that I have tasted so far. And I have tasted many. This applies to both Churchill's Late Bottled Vintage and Late Bottled Vintage of all other port wine producers. It is unbelievable that six vintages in a row of one and the same wine got 4,0 NJP or more of the possible 5,0 NJP (2012: 4,0 NJP, 2013: 4,0 NJP, 2014: 5,0 NJP, 2015: 5,0 NJP, 2016: 5,0 NJP and 2017: 5,0 NJP). The probability that NJ Wines would give 4,0 NJP or more to six vintages of one and the same wine in a row is as great as that someone would win 100,000,000 SEK on a lottery. It is even less likely that a wine would get 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points) four vintages in a row. With this vintage, Churchill's confirms again that it produces the world's best Late Bottled Vintage-port wines. Bravo Churchill's!

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An explosion of both aromas and flavours, especially flavours. The balance between the fabulous acidity, the fabulous tannins and the fruitiness is absolutely incredible. The aroma is big, complex, sweet spicy and peppery. In it one will find dried dark cherries, Crème de Cassis, white pepper, sweet spices, cocoa-rich dark chocolate and dried dates. The taste is big, complex, sweet spicy, fresh and sweet fruity. In it one will find cocoa rich dark chocolate, black pepper, ripe dark cherries and Crème de Cassis. The aftertaste stays in the mouth forever. It is peppery, sweet, spicy and a little bitter.

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You can enjoy this fabulous port wine without anything or with dates stuffed with walnuts or with dates stuffed with feta cheese or with cocoa-rich dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) or with a lot of different cheeses like Castello Blue, Gorgonzola, Parmigiano Reggiano, Roquefort, Stilton, and Västerbotten or with less sweet cherry pie, blueberry pie and apple pie or with pancakes filled with Nutella, very fine grated dark chocolate and walnuts or with Swedish kladdkaka, but so little sweet as possible.

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The wine is a blend of six different grape varieties: Tinta Barroca, Tinta Francisca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão, Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional. The grapes for the wine come from a 50 hectare vineyard (Quinta da Gricha) that is located 150 to 400 meters above sea level on the south bank of the river Douro. The oldest vines are more than 60 years old. The wine's production process is as follows: the grapes are harvested and selected by hand, after the harvest, the grapes are delivered to the winery where they are destemmed and then placed in the low stone tanks (lagares) where they are treaded (crushed) by mechanized feet. After the destemming and crushing process, the grape must, which consists of pulp, skins, juice and seeds, is fermented in the stone tanks until it has an alcohol strength of 6 to 8% when it is fortified to 19 to 21% with 77% grape spirit. Then the wine is separated from the grape must and aged in large oak barrels 4 years before it is released on the market. With Late Bottled Vintage, it is meant that the port wine comes from a single vintage and that has been aged in oak barrels between 4 and 6 years. Do not worry about the sediment of the wine in the second to last or the last glass. The sediment only shows that the producer has not filtered the wine at all.

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I recommend that you start to drink this fabulous port wine at 8°C (unlike what most of wine websites and the producer itself recommend) and let it slowly grows/opens in the glass while you drink it. If you can drink Churchill's Late Bottled Vintage 2017 from Riedel Vinum Port or Orrefors Difference Sweet or Orrefors Elixir.