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Croft 2016

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Tasting Notes

This unfurls with mouthwatering licorice snap, fruitcake, apple wood and violet notes, followed by a wave of mouthfilling plum, blackberry and fig paste flavors. This is packed but well-defined, and the energy allows the fruit to ripple through the long finish. Best from 2035 through 2055.

Score: 97

James Molesworth, Wine Spectator Maturity: 2035-2055 25 October 2018

The 2016 Vintage Port is a field blend that was set to be bottled about a week after this tasting. It was the final blend, aged for 20 months in wood. It comes in with 104 grams of residual sugar. Tight, powerful and very intense, this is a big boy with the firmness you expect from fine Vintage Port, although the Fonseca is even more powerful. Showing good concentration and a fresh, lifted finish too, this is impressive at the outset. Initially, I was wowed by this. A few more tastes with more air made me think I'd like to see it prove some things in the cellar. It's not hot, but it seems a bit more alcoholic than its Fonseca and Taylor siblings. Still, there's a long way to go before making a final call. As noted, this is very tight, not nearly as approachable as many 2016s are in this relatively restrained year. It won't sear your mouth with tannins—they are not TOO hard—but you are going to have to cellar it a while to allow it to acquire more complexity and more harmony. I'm not quite convinced this will ever become as attractive as Taylor and Fonseca in this vintage, though.

Score: 92 - 94

Mark Squires, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2028-2070 19 July 2018

The 2016 Croft Vintage Port has a taut bouquet at first that demands a good 20 or 30 minutes to get into its stride. It eventually reveals scents of blackberry, bilberry, chimney soot, clove, and just a hint of scorched earth in the background. The palate is spicy and vivacious on the entry: black fruit, clove, white pepper and curry powder (almost like a Balti!) I love the personality imbued into this Croft, a Vintage Port that seems to be wearing its heart on its sleeve. Excellent. Production is 3,050 cases.

Score: 94

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2026-2055 01 June 2018

Extremely perfumed with dark-berry and currant aromas. Hints of earth and spices. Full-bodied, round and medium sweet. Hints of resin. Opulent yet restrained. Shows ripe and beautiful fruit with clarity. Try in 2025.

Score: 97

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com Maturity: 2025+ 29 May 2018

Blackish mid crimson. Mild, ‘agreeable’, friendly nose. Sweet and lightly spicy. Then the thread is drawn and it’s much drier on the end. Fairly early maturing compared with the greats, I would have thought. Without massive density. (16.5++ Points)

Score: 16 - 17

Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2030-2050 25 May 2018

With a little more foresty fruit and a tart finish, this is quieter wine than many with a tense thread of tannin from start to finish. This is another wine which will require a minimum of seven or eight years to soften sufficiently for it to be drunk. (17+ Points)

Score: 17

Matthew Jukes, - 01 May 2018