2017 Croft - Porto Quinta da Roeda Serikos

Croft traces its roots as a Port shipper back to 1678 and built its modern reputation on Quinta da Roêda, its flagship estate on the north bank of the Douro near Pinhão. Roêda holds one of the most extensive stands of old vines left in the valley, first planted in the late nineteenth century after phylloxera had devastated the property and its owners turned briefly to silk production to make ends meet. Sérikos, launched with this 2017 vintage, is the first Port made exclusively from those historic old-vine plots, its name a nod to both that silk history and the wine's characteristically silky texture.

Picking at Roêda in 2017 began on the last day of August, the earliest start in more than seventy years, following an unusually dry ripening season that concentrated the fruit from the estate's oldest parcels. The grapes were trodden by foot in traditional granite lagares before the wine spent roughly two years aging in used French oak ahead of bottling.

In the glass it shows an inky black center ringed with deep purple. The nose is expansive, layering crisp red berry and ripe black fruit with Roêda's signature eucalyptus and rock rose, plus mint, citrus, and dried rose petal. The palate is thick, dense, and silky, its opulent fruit wrapped in a tight mesh of ripe tannins. It calls for seared duck breast, aged Stilton, or a dark chocolate torte.