A superb, cellar-worthy Vintage Port from an outstanding Douro harvest, Maynard’s Vintage Port 2016 combines extraordinary richness, powerful structure and vibrant freshness. Produced from carefully selected grapes grown in Portugal’s historic Douro Valley, this is a deeply concentrated Port built for decades of graceful development in bottle.
Maynard’s is the flagship Port label associated with the van Zeller family, whose history in the Port trade stretches back for centuries. The name honors Walter Maynard, one of the early English merchants associated with exporting Port wine from Portugal to England.
Region & Style
Country: Portugal
Region: Douro Valley
Appellation: Porto
Wine Type: Fortified Red Wine
Style: Vintage Port
Vintage: 2016
Bottle Size: 750ml
Alcohol: 20% ABV
Winemaker: Álvaro Van Zeller
Grape Varieties
This traditional Douro field blend includes several of the region’s classic Port varieties:
- Touriga Nacional
- Touriga Franca
- Tinta Roriz
- Tinta Barroca
- Tinto Cão
- Old-vine Douro varieties
The 2016 Vintage
The 2016 growing season in the Douro was distinctive, with cooler conditions and significant rainfall earlier in the year followed by warm summer weather. Rain arriving again before the end of harvest helped the grapes complete their ripening while retaining excellent natural acidity.
The resulting Ports combine generous fruit concentration with freshness, structure and balance—qualities that give the best 2016 Vintage Ports exceptional long-term aging potential.
Winemaking & Aging
Vintage Port is produced only from grapes of a single exceptional harvest. Carefully selected fruit is fermented before the fermentation is stopped by fortification with grape spirit, preserving the wine’s natural richness and sweetness.
Unlike Tawny Port, which develops through extended aging in wood, Vintage Port is designed to mature primarily in the bottle. During this slow evolution, its powerful youthful fruit and tannins gradually become increasingly harmonious, layered and complex.
Tasting Notes
Deep and intensely colored, the Maynard’s 2016 Vintage Port opens with expressive aromas of blackberry, black cherry, ripe red plum and dark berry fruit, complemented by subtle notes of spice and mint.
The palate is rich, dense and full-bodied, with luscious blackberry fruit framed by firm yet polished tannins. Despite its considerable concentration, the wine retains a fresh, energetic quality that keeps the sweetness beautifully balanced.
Powerful yet refined, this is a complex, structured Vintage Port with an exceptionally long finish and tremendous potential for further development in the cellar.
99 Points & Editors’ Choice — Wine Enthusiast
Wine Enthusiast awarded the Maynard’s 2016 Vintage Port an exceptional 99 Points and named it an Editors’ Choice.
Reviewer Roger Voss:
99 POINTS — WINE ENTHUSIAST | EDITORS’ CHOICE:
"A beautifully balanced, rich wine, this has great tannins, a dense, firm texture and luscious blackberry fruits. It shows the structure of the vintage while also bringing a fresher element. Jammy but never cloying, this is an impressive wine for the long term. Drink from 2029."
Serving & Decanting
Vintage Port naturally develops sediment as it matures in bottle. Stand the bottle upright for approximately 24 hours before serving, then carefully decant the wine to separate it from the sediment.
Serve at approximately 15–18°C / 59–64°F. A generous Port or red-wine glass will allow the wine’s aromas and complexity to develop fully.
Food Pairing
An excellent partner for dark chocolate, chocolate truffles, rich chocolate desserts, blue cheeses and mature cheeses. It is equally compelling served on its own after dinner as a contemplative wine.
Cellaring
This is a serious Vintage Port designed for long bottle aging. Its combination of concentrated fruit, firm tannins and balancing acidity gives it the structure to evolve beautifully for decades when properly cellared.
About Maynard’s
Maynard’s celebrates a centuries-old connection between the van Zeller family and the Port trade. The brand takes its name from Walter Maynard, born in 1652 and remembered as one of the early English merchants involved in shipping Port from Portugal to England.
Today, Maynard’s produces a broad collection of traditional Ports, from aged Tawnies and rare Colheitas to Vintage Ports such as this exceptional 2016 release.
A 99-point Vintage Port combining extraordinary concentration, freshness and longevity—the Maynard’s 2016 is a compelling addition to any serious Port cellar.
Maynard’s Vintage Port 2016 750ml
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