Crusted Port

Crusted is a rare, traditional style of Port wine, and Fonseca is one of the few firms that continue to produce it. Crusted is a blend of full-bodied wines that spend four years ageing in large wooden vats. The wines are then bottled with no filtration and cellared for three years before being released for sale.

As the name indicates, it will form a ‘crust’ or sediment in the bottle and should be decanted before being served. The formation of the crust is a natural process that occurs in the finest full-bodied ports. It is an indication that the wine will continue to improve in bottle and develop its aroma and character with age.

Impenetrable purple-black colour with a narrow magenta rim. Elegant and understated, still youthful and tight, with impressive depth and background. The nose opens with a surge of pure brambly woodland fruit and hints of apricot and prune. Although still relatively closed and austere, it gradually opens up to reveal discreet notes of leather and exotic wood and delicate scents of violet. The full bodied palate is supported by a tight mesh of sinewy tannins and finishes with an assertive ‘grip’. The intense dark berry fruit character of the nose re-emerges on the palate, lingering into the long finish. A beautifully harmonious wine, displaying all the fine quality of fruit which marks the Fonseca house style. Hugely pleasurable now but with the potential for further ageing in bottle.