The 2021 growth cycle and harvest were one of the coolest in recent years, with moderate conditions encouraging slower, gradual maturations with balanced ripening. The remarkably cool nights through the harvest contributed to wines with excellent acidity and very good colour.

While reviewing the wines produced from the finest vineyards across our Douro estates in 2021, we were simply astonished by the three-hectare stone terraces at Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos. These low-yielding vines delivered wines with a deep inky purple colour, pin sharp acidity, and wonderfully fresh scented tropical aromas – characteristic of these unique terraces.

We have taken the very rare decision to bottle the wine from these magnificent vineyards as The Stone Terraces 2021 Vintage Port and release the wine in 2023. This is just the fifth time that our family have made this micro-terroir Vintage Port – following 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

We only produce this Vintage Port when these vineyards deliver wines of incomparable elegance and complexity. Given that the stone terraces are comprised of just a limited number of vines, the quality does not always align with the pattern of classic Vintage Port years – as was our assessment for 2021. We felt that the best expression of the year came from our five principal estates (Malvedos, Bomfim, Senhora da Ribeira, Cavadinha, Canais) which we will bottle as Quinta Vintage Port – and we have decided to release a small quantity of Bomfim in 2023.