Port Declares 2007 Vintage
It's been since 2005 (the 2003 vintage) since Portugal's Douro Valley declared a vintage port but Wine Spectator reports that the 2007 growing season's cool summer and sunny fall produced a superior product. The Port industry has made its biggest Vintage Port declaration. The Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto is in the process of approving 50 different wines. The 2007 Vintage Ports will be bottled in a few months and will be shipped to the trade this fall but futures are already being sold. Top names should sell for $65-$85 per bottle. The declaring of a Port vintage may bring some attention back to the fortified wine which has been suffering declining numbers over the last few years. In February it was announced that Port exports had hit a five-year low. It's not the best time economically to declare a vintage but in the Wine Spectator article Paul Symington of the Symington Port Group compared the situation to the 1931 declaration saying that it is "mad to declare in the midst of a recession like this, but mad not to bottle such a lovely wine."
