RCV Real Companhia Velha Vintage 2007

"Oh my God, this company is older than my country" - The US ambassador on a visit to Real Companhia Velha in the 1970s.

Real Companhia Velha is the oldest wine company in Portugal, having recently celebrated 265 years of constant trading since 1756.

In the mid-18th century, there was a crisis with the port market due to a reduction of exports, extreme low prices & the situation being worsened by the fact the trade was dominated & controlled by British merchants.

With the support of a number of personalities including the King D. Jose I, the Portuguese Prime Minister Sebastião Jose de Carvalho e Melo, aka the Marquis of Pombal, a decision was made to create a chartered company. Its aim was to break the monopoly of the English Trading Post, to balance supply & demand, to ensure the quality & authenticity of the product & to protect it from disloyal competition by wines from other parts of the kingdom. All of this with royal approval & it soon became one of the Portuguese states greatest sources of income. This was the origin of Real Companhia Velha.

Since 1960, Real Companhia Velha has been run by the Silva Reis family, who have dedicated their efforts to the production of both port & Douro wines, focusing on the study & development of the Douro terroir & sustainability.

The 3rd generation of the family has Pedro Silva Reis Junior as the resident winemaker, Pedro Silva Reis, his father, as the Master Blender (for over 40 years) & Tiago Silva Reis developing the market to show a company that combines innovation with tradition in the 5 Quintas they own, which are considered some of the best in the Douro Valley.

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Vintage Ports come from one single year, & only in the best years do producers “declare” a vintage. The wines should be matured in the bottle for 10 to 15 years before opening.

The oldest vintage port that Real Companhia Velha have is the 1997 & of course we had to have it! Older vintages were sold fast & this is a style of port that the company never made big quantities of, focusing more on the aged Tawnies & Colheitas (other beloved styles of the Portuguese nation).

Their vintages are sublime with the individual character a vintage should have. We decided to stock some that we considered fantastic but there is always more… We will keep refreshing the years in accordance with stock availability & prices.

2007 was another of those fabulous years in Douro. Great purity & definition for drinking over the medium to long term. A concentrated aroma, very dark and intense. Blackcurrant, almost Ribena like with a lovely bright, fruit focused palate. Silky chocolate and sweet blackberry on the palate with a hint of liquorice coming out. Very good balance and potentially a long life ahead.