1995 Torga

Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
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Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
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Will W.
Taylor’s LBV
Posts: 183
Joined: 14:33 Thu 11 Aug 2016

1995 Torga

Post by Will W. »

Literary types will know Miguel Torga as a twentieth-century titan of Portuguese literature. Of arguably more relevance to a semi-literate, would-be port afficionado such is myself is the fact that Torga is, as far as I can determine, the only non-producer to have had a vintage port named after him. Whilst hardly as complex as the literary output of Dr. Torga, the 1995 vintage port which carries his name is rather good.

The 1995 Torga was produced by the then newly-established Roseira e Ricou Lda, which sourced its grapes from Quinta do Fojo and went on to offer the public Torga vintage ports in 1996, 1997 and 2000. The firm’s output in 1995 was miniscule, amounting to 3000 bottles of vintage port along with 376 half bottles. What became of the firm after the 2000 vintage port was released is a mystery; it does not appear to have produced any wines after 2000 and the firm was liquidated in 2017. One can state with more complete certainty that Torga vintage ports appear on the Portuguese auction market with some regularity; and, given that the possession of such bottles offers their owners not an iota of outward status, they can be had for a pittance.

After a five and one-half hour decant on 23 January 2021, the 1995 Torga presented agreeably in the glass, showing as it did semi-opaque, brick hues. The pleasing nose, whilst a touch understated, was dominated by stewed prune notes along with cloves and a hint of spring blossom which evinced the last vestiges of youth. On entry, strawberry jam and red cherry hit the fore-palate in an agreeable manner, with rhubarb butter crumble serving as the bridge to a mid-palate characterised by a sharpish zest along with nutmeg and green peppercorn. Dried ginger appeared at the back, along with the first indication of still-unresolved tannins. The lengthy finish was most agreeable; it opened with the rich acidity tickling the mouth, followed by the reappearance of the red fruits and the ginger.

The tannins lent a certain dry sensation to this medium-bodied port, though the wine did not strike me as imbalanced, notwithstanding the level of acidity. The state of the tannins in the 1995 Torga, which is effectively a single quinta vintage, points to a peak in five to ten years. As with my discovery of Torga the writer, this wine came as an exceedingly pleasant surprise. If you can find any, try it.

-90 points
Last edited by Will W. on 11:48 Wed 24 Feb 2021, edited 5 times in total.
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JacobH
Quinta do Vesuvio 1994
Posts: 3300
Joined: 16:37 Sat 03 May 2008
Location: London, UK
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Re: 1995 Torga

Post by JacobH »

That's certainly an unusual Port!

Any idea what is happening to Quinta do Fojo's grapes now? Sarah Ahmed says they made some table wine at about the same time as these Ports were released under their own label. There was then a gap before a few more were made in the early 2010s but the last I can see was a 2015. From memory it's a pretty well placed estate. Are they selling back to Taylor again?
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Will W.
Taylor’s LBV
Posts: 183
Joined: 14:33 Thu 11 Aug 2016

Re: 1995 Torga

Post by Will W. »

JacobH wrote: 13:11 Wed 27 Jan 2021 Any idea what is happening to Quinta do Fojo's grapes now?
I haven't a clue and must correspondingly defer to others on this question.
Will W.
Taylor’s LBV
Posts: 183
Joined: 14:33 Thu 11 Aug 2016

Re: 1995 Torga

Post by Will W. »

Will W. wrote: 23:35 Tue 26 Jan 2021 Literary types will know Miguel Torga as a twentieth-century titan of Portuguese literature. Of arguably more relevance to a semi-literate, would-be port afficionado such is myself is the fact that Torga is, as far as I can determine, the only non-producer to have had a vintage port named after him. Whilst hardly as complex as the literary output of Dr. Torga, the 1995 vintage port which carries his name is rather good.

The 1995 Torga was produced by the then newly-established Roseira e Ricou Lda, which sourced its grapes from Quinta do Fojo and went on to offer the public Torga vintage ports in 1996, 1997 and 2000. The firm’s output in 1995 was miniscule, amounting to 3000 bottles of vintage port along with 376 half bottles. What became of the firm after the 2000 vintage port was released is a mystery; it does not seem to have produced any wines after 2000 and the firm was liquidated in 2017. One can observe with complete certainty is that Torga vintage ports appear on the Portuguese auction market with some regularity; and, given that the possession of such bottles offers their owners not an iota of outward status, they can be had for a pittance.

After a five and one-half hour decant on 23 January 2021, the 1995 Torga presented agreeably in the glass, showing as it did semi-opaque, brick hues. The pleasing nose, whilst a touch understated, was dominated by stewed prune notes along with cloves and a hint of spring blossom which evinced the last vestiges of youth. On entry, strawberry jam and red cherry hit the fore-palate in an agreeable manner, with rhubarb butter crumble serving as a bridge to a mid-palate characterised by a sharpish zest along with nutmeg and green peppercorn. Dried ginger appeared at the back, along with the first indication of still-unresolved tannins. The lengthy finish was most agreeable; it opened with the rich acidity tickling the mouth, followed by the reappearance of the red fruits and the ginger.

The port, or at least the tannins, lent a certain dry sensation to this medium-bodied port, though the wine did not strike me as imbalanced, notwithstanding the level of acidity. The state of the tannins in the 1995 Torga, which is effectively a single quinta vintage, points to a peak in five to ten years. As with my discovery of Torga the writer, this wine came as an exceedingly pleasant surprise. If you can find any, try it.

-90 points
JesperR
Cruz Ruby
Posts: 5
Joined: 07:57 Tue 06 Jul 2021

Re: 1995 Torga

Post by JesperR »

Found this thread when searching for information about the Torga port wine.

What I have been able to find out is about Quinta do Fojo, they have this website www.quintadofojo.pt and to me it looks like they are only producing red wine now.

But I also Quinta do Fojo via their facebook page and has the following short conversation with them:


Hi Fojo, Do you still produce port wine under the brand Torga, og do you only supplied the grapes to the that port wine brand?
4 July at 00:40
Sun 00:40
FOJO Quinta do Fojo
FOJO Quinta do Fojo sent 4 July at 00:40
Hello Jesper Ravn, thank you for your contact
We don't produce or supplied to that port brand.
We produce red wine ( Quinta do Fojo, Vinha do Fojo and Fojo) which you bottle.
We do not bottle Port wine, we supplie wine or grapes to some Port brands.
And we also own a property in another wine region the Vinho Verde region where we have started to produce and bottle white wines.
4 July at 08:19
Sun 08:19
You sent 4 July at 08:19
Hi Fojo, thanks for you reply, and not even back in 1995-2000 you sourced grape to this Torga port wine brand?
4 July at 13:02
Sun 13:02
FOJO Quinta do Fojo
FOJO Quinta do Fojo sent 4 July at 13:03
Good Morning, we never sourced to the brand you mentioned.
In 1995-2000 we were sourcing wine to Churchill Graham and Morgan
FOJO Quinta do Fojo sent 4 July at 13:03
Port wine
4 July at 17:08
Sun 17:08
You sent 4 July at 17:08
OK, thanks a lot for clarification 🙂


Of course the person answering could have misunderstood my question, or not be aware of that the sold grapes to produce Torga, or was it Churchil Graham and Morgan who did the Torga port wine?

This just what I have found out, not sure it brings much light over this Torga.

Regards
Mike J. W.
Taylor’s LBV
Posts: 159
Joined: 17:41 Sun 31 Jan 2021
Location: New Jersey, USA

Re: 1995 Torga

Post by Mike J. W. »

I have seen a bottle of Torga in a liquor store in the Portuguese section of a N.J. city (Newark). The owner has a nice selection of older LBV's at a fair price and a variety of Vintage Ports at inflated prices. I don't recall what year the bottle is, but I will double check the next time I stop by the store.
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