The 2018 Guimaraens Vintage Port is a field blend that comes in with 98 grams of residual sugar. It was aged in large wooden vats for approximately 18 months. This is essentially made like the Vintage Port, just not declared. That gets you a good price, if not quite the same quality. Still, this is a very fine Guimaraens, showing off good fruit and structure. It is a bit lean. It will be drinkable soon and hold for a few decades. It may not be the brightest star in 2060, but I predict it will still be alive and kicking. Still, I wouldn't quite treat this as a serious vin de garde.

The 2015 Guimaraens Vintage Port is a field blend aged for 18 months in used French vats. It comes in at 101 grams per liter of residual sugar. Last seen only as a tank sample in Porto, this was the most forward and impressive of the three Fladgate Partnership 2015s this issue (Croft, Taylor's Vargellas and this). I'm not so sure that is still true. At this point, the Vargellas seems to surpass it fairly easily, showing better structure and depth, despite its initial elegance. This Guimaraens still has the fleshiest feel, if I can put it that way, but it no longer seems to have as much real concentration. Its most notable feature now is its serious backbone. It has tightened and closed, the initial flavor bursts presented in June now having largely subsided. It is rather astringent. By comparison, if anything, the Vargellas has picked up a little weight while this has lost a little flesh. The tannins here, as a result, stand out more. In terms of aging, Winemaker David Guimaraens told me that he "guaranteed" at least 50 years from vintage date. I think he's right, because this has as much power as any of the three, but jeer him around 2065 if he is wrong. Overall, this is still a can't-miss bargain at the price.

The 2013 Guimaraens Vintage Port is a blend from three Quintas (Panascal, Cruzeiro and Santo Antonio). It comes in at 101 grams per liter of residual sugar. Bottled at the end of June 2015, this 2013 was a bit too sedate and understated after the initial aeration, but it was impressive in its ability to pull itself together, ultimately fleshing out, putting on weight and seeming far lusher and richer. It has lovely fruit and an intensely flavorful finish together with fine structure. It became surprisingly intense on the finish as it held, too, a pattern that was repeated the next day. That said, it is probably not quite as concentrated as it sometimes appeared on first taste. It may drink rather well on the younger side, but I'm always going to recommend holding them a bit to allow them to settle down, and even more importantly, acquire some complexity. For better results, come back in ten years or so.

The 2012 Guimaraens Vintage Port was bottled in 2014. It comes in at 103 grams per liter of residual sugar. Surprisingly powerful, this opens as a brooding Port. It isn't so appealing just now, admittedly, as the astringency comes to the fore pretty quickly and some heat is obvious early on. If it projects plenty of "serious Port" power rather well, it doesn't immediately project the concentrated fullness, say, of the Taylor, its sibling also reviewed this issue. Laced with rhubarbs and herbs, it seems a bit on the drier side, relatively speaking, and shows that occasional warmth on the finish. I gave this a couple of days in the fridge and it fleshed out, happily. This is the sleeper in the submissions from the Taylor Fladgate group this issue – least impressive on opening, but coming up on the inside track rather fast, at least with plenty of aeration. It probably has the most to prove in the cellar. Give this at least a decade in the cellar, at which point it should be showing better, although it may not be at peak.

The 2008 Guimaraens Vintage Port is not a re-release; it has been in the marketplace, but it is a new submission for us. It comes in with 97.4 grams of sugar and 20.3% alcohol. This is pretty intense. Tight and tannic still, this is a very focused Port with fine intensity of flavor and powerful aromatics. There's a bit of cistus up front for the aromatics and a bit of a crisp edge on the finish. The fruit is certainly ripe, though, even though the mid-palate is elegant. This intense 2008 is not ready. For all of the trend toward drinking Port young, I'd say this needs around 10 more years in the cellar, depending on how you like them. (Then, if you really want complexity, you might wait until 2035 or beyond.) All that said, it drank pretty well when I tried it again 24 hours later. This is a fine selection for the cellar at a pretty nice price for a Port that is already 10 years into its aging curve.