How one Port powerhouse is pushing beyond fortified

The Fladgate Partnership is no longer a project just for Port – it now has wines from Bairrada, Vinhos Verdes and Dão alongside its Douro production. db explores a range informed by location as much as heritage.

With four houses in its portfolio, The Fladgate Partnership will always constitute an irreplaceable chapter in the story of Port. Those houses include Taylor’s, creator of the Late Bottled Vintage style; Fonseca, renowned for its Vintage Ports; and Croft, whose 400-yearplus heritage is matched by an innovative streak. No lover of fortified wines could overlook the collection.

Fortified wines, certainly, have made the company what it is today. The Fladgate Partnership, across its Port houses, has honed its expertise in rich, age-worthy ruby Ports and caramel-hued tawnies, as well as the increasingly important white and rosé categories. In terms of fortified winemaking know-how, the company’s record is unimpeachable.

That esteem should, however, be extended to the realm of winemaking. It is a quirk, perhaps a cruelty, of the modern wine industry that fortified wines are often considered in isolation from table wines. The process may be different, but the end goals are the same as in any fine winemaking: balance, concentration, complexity and age-worthiness.

This is not just an abstract proposition: since 2023, The Fladgate Partnership has welcomed unfortified wines into its portfolio. With the acquisition of a range of still and sparkling wines, The Fladgate Partnership can demonstrate that Portugal is not a one-hit-wonder. Indeed, the company will soon be known as Fladgate Family Wines, putting this diversity of wines at the centre of its identity.

Though the styles may vary, the heritage, origin and quality of its wines are consistent. Ports, given their quality potential, will never completely cede the limelight, but it is increasingly clear that they can share it with the other wines of Portugal.

Sheltered vineyards

For a small wine-producing nation, Portugal has earned a reputation for its diversity. Although it faces the Atlantic, the country’s complex topography means that its climates and soils are far from homogenous. Just as importantly, its rich heritage of native grape varieties gives it wines of specificity and market appeal.

In The Fladgate Partnership’s wines, you see why Portugal could be seen to punch above its weight. The logical starting point is in the Douro, the birthplace of Port.

While far from the sweltering heart of Iberia, it is sheltered from the cool and wet of the Atlantic by mountain ranges. The warm, dry slopes of schist have a reputation for growing intense, tannic black grapes – mostly from local varieties – that are perfect for fortifying and maturing in cooler Vila Nova de Gaia. The climatic gradient of the Douro, with growing and ageing taking place in separate locations, gives Port a unique position in the world of wine.

Yet the Douro is not limited to such classic Ports. Croft, in particular, has a following far removed from Port-drinking stereotypes thanks to Croft Pink, a light, refreshing choice to stand alongside its more classic bottles. The Silica wines – a red and white duo – further prove the Douro’s versatility as elegant table wines.

Though less famous, Dão has similarities with the Douro. This region, south of the Douro Valley, has a long-established winemaking tradition and, sitting inland, is well protected. Even if not quite as hot, its dry and sunny conditions lend the wines impressive intensity.

As in the Douro, Touriga Nacional is the flagship native variety, but at The Fladgate Partnership’s Quinta de Bella estate, winemakers also explore how international varieties respond to the region’s terroir. Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc share the vineyards with Touriga Nacional. Pinot Noir has been a particular discovery, with an age-worthiness that has invited comparisons with Burgundy.

Atlantic influence

West of Dão is Bairrada, and its Atlantic-exposed climate causes a significant shift in style. Indeed, if Dão can be compared to continental Burgundy, Bairrada sees many parallels with maritime Bordeaux. The summers are more moderate and the soils, a mix of clay and limestone, echo the famous terroirs in western France.

Yet Bairrada has its own distinct reputation, as the vines enjoy greater sunlight intensity and the plantings embrace both international varieties and local specialities – the likes of Touriga Nacional, Baga and Arinto.

At The Fladgate Partnership’s Quinta Colinas de São Lourenço estate, varietal blending is a key tool. Some wines use just native varieties; others use international grapes in a Bordeaux-style assemblage; frequently, the two are blended for added complexity. The estate also embraces sparkling winemaking; Bairrada is Portugal’s historic centre for bubbles.

To round off the portfolio, there is a region that produces likely the best-known table wines of Portugal. Vinhos Verdes has long been the epitome of a summer-friendly wine. Its light, delicate profile, sometimes combined with a gentle spritz, invites thoughts of warmer days and setting the out-of-office message before a holiday. The Fladgate Partnership has two properties in the region, prioritising single-varietal wines that show off its potential. Paço de Palmeira has gained a strong reputation for its Loureiro, which can evolve over more than a decade, layering wax and honey over its initial profile of tangerine and acacia. Quinta da Pedra specialises in Alvarinho grown in the heart of the Monção and Melgaço sub-region. Both there and across the border in Spain’s Rías Baixas, the variety is gaining a reputation for high quality.

Even though Port is its emblematic style, The Fladgate Partnership is redressing the imbalance between Portugal’s fortified and table wines. Though one style has commanded more attention, both are determined by unique regions and Portugal’s long winemaking history.

No-one could doubt, after tasting a fine Vintage Port, that the nation can make fine wines. The Fladgate Partnership’s selection is merely proving that they are not confined to one region.

All of the below tasting notes are written by Patrick Schmitt MW

Graça da Pedra 2023

• Region: Vinhos Verdes
• Country: Portugal
• Grape variety: 100% Alvarinho
• ABV: 12.5%
• Approx. retail price: £17.50

This delicious white wine shows the quality potential of Alvarinho from Portugal’s Vinhos Verdes. Far from light, sharp and spritzy, it’s ripe, textural, slightly waxy, with a lovely, juicy citrus acidity. Dominant flavours include peach and pear, allied to a breadiness, then a touch of honey and finally a lingering note of salt and bitter lemon to give a mouthwatering tang to the finish. A mouth-filling, complex, lively and refreshing wine with a touch of bottle age.

Milagres 2021

• Region: Vinhos Verdes
• Country: Portugal
• Grape variety: 100% Alvarinho
• ABV: 12.5%
• Approx. retail price: £23.50

A beautiful, deep lemon-yellow wine with inviting aromas of tangerine, honey and orchard fruits. Despite a few years of bottle age, the palate is lively and fresh, with ripe orange, peach and beeswax, allied to a touch of cashew nut, cream and salted butter. The finish is mouthwatering, with persistent characters of lemon zest and grapefruit pith, offsetting the initial richness to this maturing Vinhos Verdes. Overall, this is a beautifully balanced, powerfully flavoured example of Alvarinho, showcasing the fine wine possibilities from this northern coastal region of Portugal.

Bella Elegance 2019

• Region: Dão
• Country: Portugal
• Grape variety: 100% Touriga Nacional
• ABV: 12.5%
• Approx. retail price: £19.50

An elegant, fully ripe and slightly evolved red with depth and freshness, this pure Touriga Nacional from its native region of Dão is a fine, food-friendly example of Portuguese wine. Just starting to mature, there are notes of stewed cherry and a touch of prune, mixed with blackberry, plums, cracked black pepper and then some cedar wood. It’s a medium-weight wine with juicy red and black berries at its core, but a fresh, almost sour cherry bite on the finish. As a result, it sits somewhere between claret and Chianti Classico in style.

Croft Pink

• Region: Douro
• Country: Portugal
• Grape varieties: Douro blend
• ABV: 19%
• Approx. retail price: £18.50

This translucent pale Port is rich in enticing aromas of candied cherry and sweet raisins. In the mouth, it’s a lovely mix of characters, being sweet, warming and cleansing – especially when served chilled. Some prunes and strawberry jam mix with a touch of fine, dry tannins, to bring a dry edge to what is a mouth-filling and fruity sweet wine.

Fonseca Bin 27

• Region: Douro
• Country: Portugal
• Grape varieties: Douro blend
• ABV: 19%
• Approx. retail price: £18.50

This impressive reserve ruby Port is a delicious mix of sweet cherry and blackberry jam, raisins and prunes, with a lovely richness, gentle warmth and surprising freshness. Indeed, the finish features some plums and cherry stone, along with firm tannins, to ensure there’s a mouthwatering edge to this richly flavoured fortified wine.

Taylor’s LBV 2020

• Region: Douro
• Country: Portugal
• Grape varieties: Douro blend
• ABV: 19%
• Approx. retail price: £21

An impressive, ready-to-drink but age-worthy LBV from the 2020 harvest, by Taylor’s. Loaded with ripe red and dark berry fruit, there are further notes of blackcurrant jam, candied cherry and California raisins. It has a lovely finish, mixing a lingering sweetness and fruit cake richness with a plum-like freshness, then some alcohol warmth along with mouth-coating tannins to dry the palate.

Taylor’s Sentinels Vintage Port 2024

• Region: Douro
• Country: Portugal
• Grape varieties: Douro blend
• ABV: 20%
• Approx. retail price: £45

An incredible wine in all its youthful intensity. Bursting with enticing aromas of sweet cherry, prunes and rose petals, the palate is then powerful, concentrated, structured, and yet refined and refreshing. Yes, there’s masses of sweetness, with blackberry coulis and raspberry jam, and a creaminess too, but there’s also a fresh cherry and blackcurrant edge, along with lingering notes of black pepper, plums and cherry stone. Adding to the sense of refreshment after all the sweet, ripe berry fruit flavours are dense but fine juicy tannins, bringing dryness, but no harshness, even at this early stage of development – this wine has a long life ahead of it.

Fonseca Vintage Port 2003

• Region: Douro
• Country: Portugal
• Grape varieties: Douro blend
• ABV: 20%
• Approx. retail price: £91

This delicious, mature Vintage Port hails from the hot 2003 harvest, and yet has remarkable balance, and plenty of life still in it. Stewed forest fruits are sweet, powerful and richly present, allied to notes of burnt caramel, prunes, blood orange and dark chocolate. Further characters then emerge, from cedar wood to dried grass, and even a subtle minty-spirity note. The finish is dry, with masses of fine tannins, but there’s still plenty of mid-palate power to match the phenolics and alcohol in this complex, maturing sweet fortified wine. A find. And hard to fault.