2015 Croft Quinta da Roeda

The 2015 Vintage Port Quinta da Roeda is a field blend aged for 18 months in used French vats. It comes in with 103 grams per liter of residual sugar. Since I first saw this in Porto last June, it has done what I find Ports generally do after bottling and shipping in the fall—close down hard. All about the potential just now, it clearly has some, but it may have some limitations too. Tightly wound, sharp on the edges and astringent on the finish, this has passed the point where you would want to drink it any time soon. It has as much, if not more power than any of the Fladgate Partnership submissions this issue, plus pretty good depth for the vintage. It has fleshed out a bit. It also shows a bit of alcohol here and there. It was my least favorite of the three Fladgate partnership wines, despite a showy beginning. It was in better balance the next day, admittedly, but it also seemed blander and more stolid. At this point, put it in the cellar and come back in a decade or so to see where you are. I doubt that this is going to be truly special, but it will certainly develop much more.