Ramos Pinto "Quinta do Bom Retiro" 20 Year Old Tawny Port

From a single estate where a quarter of the vines are more than 80 years old: soft and seamless, boasting waves of dates, dried figs, brazil nuts and toasted almonds. Suave silky texture and wonderful savoury- sweet length. Supremely good. (RM) (11/2017)

Old gold in color, this is the most complete style of aged tawny. The long barrel aging (in old barrels) has given concentration, a touch of oxidation and a wonderful spicy character. It is rich, luscious and beautifully ready to drink. (RV) (2/2019)

The NV Rp 20 Year Old Tawny Port Quinta do Bom Retiro is a single-quinta tawny coming in with 130 grams of residual sugar and a bar-top cork. It was bottled in May 2018. The sugar level is a little higher this year than on the last one I saw, and this is on the sweet side on opening. This finishes, predictably, with a sweet edge at that point, but it also has a somewhat sharp edge because the spirits are a bit noticeable early on, not completely covered up by the sugar. This and the last release that I saw both had some brandy-nuanced overtones on opening and release, but both improved over a couple of days. They were just a bit disjointed on opening. To be sure, I opened up a 2017 bottling to taste next to this. If nothing else, a year under cork and in the bottle seemed to help it, and I slightly preferred it. After a few days tawnies do not change with time-they evolve more slowly, depending on how long they were aged, but they evolve.) For the rest, the mid-palate shows good depth. This 20 Year certainly has more intensity and concentration than the 10 Year but not quite its bright feel. There's not a lot of complexity on opening, but the sugar obscures a little of that at first. That changes dramatically with time, as did the impression of brandy nuances popping up too frequently. Overall, this is both a serious and hedonistic 20 Year that will have people drooling. (MS) (2/2019)

A plump and engaging tawny, with caramel, toffee, cinnamon and fruitcake notes weaving around the mulled cherry and plum fruit. Toasted sesame flavors show on the warm finish. (JM) (12/2018)

Bom Retiro is a historic property on the south side of the Douro River canyon, across the river from Pinhão. It has been owned by Ramos Pinto since 1919 and provides the fruit for this Tawny. The wine’s earthy honey scent suggests its supple textures, while there’s brightness to its orange marmalade flavors, the lasting impression firm, juicy and clean. (12/2019)

Tawny but still quite a lot of red in the colour. Gloriously complex aroma that is so hard to describe: walnuts and overcooked apricots, dried figs, bitter orange and a savoury burnt-caramel note. All those flavours on the palate too with a sweet/sour dried apricot and savoury toffee mix of sweet and savoury. Fabulous, intense and nutty with great length and subtle sweetness. Drink it now or keep it for a long time, or enjoy it any time in between. Even better than when I tasted it this time last year. Quite possibly the same bottling. 18/20 points. (JH) (4/2016)