Jose Maria Da Fonseca Century Edition Kingsman Moscatel de Setubal (500ML) 1919
-
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
It is with great pride and honor that José Maria da Fonseca presents the Moscatel Kingsman Century Edition 1919. This wine is a treasure among portuguese wines and José Maria da Fonseca is one of the most recognized and oldest producer. This 500 bottles limited edition was created in collaboration with Matthew Vaughn and MARV to celebrate the worldwide theatrical release of The King’s Man film.
For over 100 years, 575 liters have aged in used oak barrels in José Maria da Fonseca's cellar, Adega dos Teares Velhos, in Azeitão. Now is the time to share this very rare wine with the world.
The wine color is a dark brown, gold with green tinges (indication of being very old). The aromas are very balanced with notes of dry fruits (nuts and toasted almond), coffee, black tea, toasted bread, and matured pineapple. Very fruity, eccentric but soft, excellent sugar/acidity balance and very long finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 1919 Moscatel de Setúbal Kingsman Century Edition was bottled in 2021 with 283 grams of residual sugar, 17% alcohol and a bar-top cork. This is the southern equivalent of the Kingsman release by Taylor's of an old Port (reviewed earlier in the year). It was created in collaboration with Marvel/Disney and Matthew Vaughn to celebrate the theatrical release of his Kingsman film. Unsurprisingly, this is rich and unctuous in texture, but happily it is also bright and elegant, almost delicate, at least relative to old Moscatel. This shows its concentration in its expression of fruit and a long, long finish filled with flavor rather than an overly thick mid-palate. Some of the flavors, to be sure, reveal very mature fruit, while there is little left of that classic apricot and orange. There is some baked orange that lingers on the palate. Overall, this is a graceful and delicious Moscatel. This is not the greatest I've seen of the brand, but it is still very fine, and these oldies are always a different experience well worth having. Barring a cork failure, this will last indefinitely in bottle.
What is it that fuels the Soares Franco family’s passion and commitment to producing outstanding wines at the J.M. da Fonseca winery? Perhaps it is their venerable, centuries-old history, their considerable breadth of experience across Portugal’s top viticultural regions, or their commitment to the people and land behind each bottle. For seven generations, J.M. da Fonseca wines have been enjoyed around the world. It is this dedication to quality production year after year that makes this family the leading ambassadors for dine Portuguese wines.
José Maria da Fonseca started his namesake company in 1834 in the Setúbal Peninsula, Portugal’s stunningly beautiful coastal region. Starting with the production of Moscatels de Setúbal, sweet, fortified wines, for which Fonseca helped earn the D.O.C. status for, he quickly started gaining recognition at home and abroad. Forward thinking and adventurous, Fonseca made history in 1850 when he bottled the first still Portuguese red wine from his Periquita vineyard. So impressed by the quality of Periquita and the portfolio of wines, the then King of Portugal bestowed royal order on "the winery facilities of Mr. Fonseca in recognition of their modernity, cleanliness and efficiency." Fortunately for the rest of the wine loving world, the family has taken this order very seriously and continues to execute all aspects of winemaking with absolute dedication, care and innovation.
Throughout the generations, J.M. da Fonseca has expanded into some of Portugal’s top viticultural regions, including Domini and Domini Plus from the Douro Valley in the north and José de Sousa and Ripanço, in the southern Alentejo region. The largest vineyard holdings are in Setúbal, home to the Periquita range of wines. The Villa Nogueira de Azetão estate, where the vineyards are planted, lie a short distance from Lisbon, across the Tagus River. Here, vineyards enjoy the benefits of a sun-drenched maritime climate and a varied soil composition that incorporates elements of sand, clay and lime.
Sixth generation and head winemaker, Domingos Soares Franco, along with his team of enologists, have undertaken a wide range of research, experiments and innovative techniques that continues to shape and progress Portuguese viticulture. Promoting these efforts is seventh generation António Maria Soares Franco, nephew of Domingos, who leads the marketing and commercial components of the winery. Tireless ambassadors, António, Domingos and the entire J.M. da Fonseca winery family work hard to produce and promote fine Portuguese wines around the world, as they have for nearly 200 years.
While Muscat comes in a wide range of styles from dry to sweet, still to sparkling and even fortified, it's safe to say it is always alluringly aromatic and delightful. The two most important versions are the noble, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, making wines of considerable quality and Muscat of Alexandria, thought to be a progeny of the former. Somm Secret—Pliny the Elder wrote in the 13th century of a sweet, perfumed grape variety so attractive to bees that he referred to it as uva apiana, or “grape of the bees.” Most likely, he was describing Muscat.
Best known for intense, impressive and age-worthy fortified wines, Portugal relies almost exclusively on its many indigenous grape varieties. Bordering Spain to its north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean on its west and south coasts, this is a land where tradition reigns supreme, due to its relative geographical and, for much of the 20th century, political isolation. A long and narrow but small country, Portugal claims considerable diversity in climate and wine styles, with milder weather in the north and significantly more rainfall near the coast.
While Port (named after its city of Oporto on the Atlantic Coast at the end of the Douro Valley), made Portugal famous, Portugal is also an excellent source of dry red and white Portuguese wines of various styles.
The Douro Valley produces full-bodied and concentrated dry red Portuguese wines made from the same set of grape varieties used for Port, which include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, among a long list of others in minor proportions.
Other dry Portuguese wines include the tart, slightly effervescent Vinho Verde white wine, made in the north, and the bright, elegant reds and whites of the Dão as well as the bold, and fruit-driven reds and whites of the southern, Alentejo.
The nation’s other important fortified wine, Madeira, is produced on the eponymous island off the North African coast.