2016 Maynard's - Vintage Port

Maynard's takes its name from Walter Maynard, born in 1652, one of the first English merchants to ship Port wine from Oporto and an ancestor of the van Zeller family by marriage. Today the brand belongs to Barão de Vilar, founded in 1996 by brothers Fernando and Álvaro van Zeller, whose family has worked in the Douro wine trade across fourteen generations and once owned the storied Quinta do Noval. Winemaker Álvaro van Zeller, who began his career at Noval, now oversees the Maynard's range, carrying forward an ancestral link to Port's earliest days of English trade.

This 2016 Vintage Port was made from grapes grown in the Torto Valley, a prized subregion at the heart of the Douro, using traditional varieties including Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, and Tinto Cão. The fruit was foot trodden in traditional granite lagares, a labor-intensive process still favored for its gentle extraction of color and tannin, before fortification halted fermentation and preserved the wine's natural sweetness. The finished blend was left unfiltered, allowing it to develop the sediment and complexity expected of a serious Vintage Port destined for long cellaring.

The wine shows a deep garnet color with aromas of blackcurrant, dried fig, and violet, layered with subtle notes of cedar and dark chocolate. On the palate it is full-bodied and richly textured, offering ripe blackberry and plum fruit framed by firm, velvety tannins and bright acidity, with a touch of black pepper carrying through the long, warming finish. It pairs beautifully with aged sheep's milk cheese, mince pie, or vanilla ice cream.