Product Overview
96 Points - Wine Spectator
"A bird of a different feather, this tawny Port features a high-pitched jasmine note along with a range of singed white peach, bitter almond, hazelnut husk, dried clementine and green fig flavors that glide through effortlessly, all carried by superfine acidity through a remarkably long and persistent finish that tilts to the dry side. Shows delicate sweetness, which lets the panoply of flavors play out unencumbered. Beautiful. Drink now. 230 cases made, 111 cases imported." -JM, 1/11/23
96 Points, "Editors' Choice" - Wine Enthusiast
"Taking advantage of the newly created 50-year-old tawny category, this famous producer has launched a dense, intense Port. The wine's concentration is immense, wood and old gold flavors almost incidental in an age defying wine. Drink this fine wine now." -RV, 3/1/23
94 Points - Wine Advocate
"The NV 50 Years Old Tawny Porto is a typical Douro field blend bottled in April 2022 with a Vinolok stopper and 124.8 grams per liter of residual sugar. Is this a step up qualitatively over the lovely 40 Year? I'd say the 40 is better, but that's a hard question to answer because this seems so differently styled. Most of the age-indicated Tawnies from Sandeman have some stylistic similarity. This does too, but if you were going to pick one in the group as an outlier, this is it. It seems drier and sterner. The most notable difference is in some power, the way this attacks on the finish in a fairly stern fashion and seems to brood. It dries as it lingers and leans a little more to the brandy side of the ledger (without becoming hot). It maintains the otherwise elegant style and relatively lively demeanor, relative to age, of its siblings. It is by far the darkest and most nuanced of the Tawnies, and it is very concentrated. Complexity is often the biggest selling point for me, but I'd still pick the lusher but still intense 40 Year as my favorite of the group. That certainly has plenty of complexity on its own, but this wins on power. Pick 'em. While mine is the 40, this 50 might do even better if you like to pair them with cheeses and the like.
The bigger problem as we go up in age level in this lineup is how rapidly the price spikes. I think the 40 Year is better than the 30, but the difference is not worth nearly doubling the price. This might be better than the 40 to some, but reasonable minds might also differ. However, the price yet again almost doubles from the 40. The sweet spot for excellence, complexity and value here is plainly the 30 Year. To be sure, it is between you, your pocketbook and the dirty looks you get from your banker, but there isn't a lot of obvious extra brilliance acquired by doubling the price point as we go up the line from 30 to 40 to 50." -MS, 11/10/22
