Quarles Harris Vintage Port

Quarles Harris is a structured Port house — firm and tannic, the slowest of the four builds to open and the longest-lived. PortDB records 17 Quarles Harris releases spanning 1945–2011. Across the set, 9 classic. Their windows open 1967–2033, with decline modelled from 2037–2113.

Style: Structured
Wines in PortDB: 17
Range: 1945–2011
Tiers: 9 classic · 6 very good · 2 good
Named quintas: —
Windows open: 1967–2033

Every Quarles Harris vintage

Quarles Harris vintages recorded by PortDB, with type, quality tier, prime drinking window and a sourced note.
Year	Wine	Rating	Prime window	Note
2011	Vintage Port	Classic	2033–2078	Last general declaration for the brand; tight, sturdy wine built to age VintagePort.se table; CellarTracker 2011 record (avg ~90)
2007	Vintage Port	Classic	2029–2074	Generally declared; dry tannic, dusty-textured firm style (Wine Enthusiast 90) VintagePort.se table; Wine-Searcher aggregate ~90
2003	Vintage Port	Classic	2025–2070	Generally declared; traditional tannic structure with ripe fruit VintagePort.se table; Wine-Searcher aggregate ~89
2000	Vintage Port	Very good	2022–2060	Declared in a strong millennium vintage; tight, age-worthy Wine-Searcher 2000 (score 90); Nickolls & Perks listing
1997	Vintage Port	Very good	2019–2057	Generally declared; firm, structured Symington-style QH VintagePort.se table; Wine-Searcher tasting note
1994	Vintage Port	Classic	2016–2061	Fully declared standout year; lovely and surprisingly drinkable per house notes VintagePort.se table; CellarTracker 1994 record
1991	Vintage Port	Very good	2013–2051	Symington split-declaration year; firm, traditional QH VintagePort.se table; Wine-Searcher Quarles Harris listing
1985	Vintage Port	Classic	2007–2052	Generally declared great year; concentrated, potent, big ageing potential VintagePort.se table; CellarTracker 1985 record
1983	Vintage Port	Classic	2005–2050	Strong declaration; rated by the house's followers as one of its best in years VintagePort.se table; CellarTracker 1983 record (avg ~90)
1980	Vintage Port	Very good	2002–2040	Declared; a firm, slightly leaner classic-vintage QH VintagePort.se table; Westgarth Wines listing; Wine-Searcher aggregate ~89
1977	Vintage Port	Classic	1999–2044	Top declaration; rich toffee/cacao/dried-fruit profile drinking beautifully VintagePort.se table; CellarTracker 1977 record; Berry Bros listing
1970	Vintage Port	Classic	1992–2037	Fully declared in a benchmark Symington vintage; structured and durable VintagePort.se Quarles Harris declaration table
1963	Vintage Port	Classic	1985–2030	Fully declared in one of the century's great years; serious and age-worthy VintagePort.se table; CellarTracker 1963 record
1955	Vintage Port	Very good	1977–2015	Declared in a fine classic year; firm, traditional and long-lived VintagePort.se Quarles Harris declaration table
1950	Vintage Port	Good	1972–2005	Declared; noted as elegant and balanced, fully mature with a long finish VintagePort.se Quarles Harris declaration table
1947	Vintage Port	Good	1969–2002	Declared; lighter, attractive earlier-maturing wine of the post-war run VintagePort.se Quarles Harris declaration table
1945	Vintage Port	Very good	1967–2005	Legendary tiny-crop year; QH a firm, age-worthy example a notch below the top houses VintagePort.se Quarles Harris declaration table; CellarTracker 1945 record

How Quarles Harris ages

The longest-lived style — firm, tannic and slow to reveal itself. Wines of this build need roughly 22 years to open and can hold well past 55. The years below are this house’s own bottlings, grouped by the tier of the vintage — a greater year is more concentrated and stretches the window. They are fixed for each wine; whether a bottle is ready today depends on the date and is answered by the maturity tool.

Classic · 9 wines: 1963, 1970, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1994, 2003, 2007 and 1 more — windows open 1985–2033, modelled to decline from 2065–2113.
Very good · 6 wines: 1945, 1955, 1980, 1991, 1997, 2000 — windows open 1967–2022, modelled to decline from 2040–2095.
Good · 2 wines: 1947, 1950 — windows open 1969–1972, modelled to decline from 2037–2040.

Houses that age like Quarles Harris

PortDB groups the 21 houses into four maturation styles. These share Quarles Harris’s, so their wines come round on a similar schedule.

Taylor's: 33 wines, 1960–2024 — legendary in 1963, 1977, 1994, 2011.
Dow's: 38 wines, 1963–2019 — legendary in 1963, 1966, 1970, 1977, 1994, 2007, 2011.
Quinta do Noval: 7 wines, 1931–2017 — legendary in 1931, 1963, 1994, 2011.
Quinta do Vesuvio: 5 wines, 1994–2017 — legendary in 2011.
Niepoort: 4 wines, 1945–2011 — legendary in 1945.
Churchill's: 4 wines, 1985–2011.

Compare all 21 on the Port houses, see every year rated on the Port vintage chart, or read the greatest years ranked in best years for Port.

Common questions about Quarles Harris Port

Is Quarles Harris a good Port house?

By PortDB's tiers, yes. Quarles Harris has 9 classic vintages among the 17 PortDB records, across 1945–2011. Those tiers reflect critic consensus and are a matter of editorial judgement, not a measurement; which years the house declared is public record. The dataset is also not exhaustive — it holds what has been verified against primary sources, so a missing year means no verified record here, not no wine.

Which Quarles Harris vintage should you buy?

PortDB does not rank wines, but it does record a tier for each. The Quarles Harris vintages it rates classic are 1963, 1970, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1994, 2003, 2007, 2011. Each year's page lists every house that declared it, so you can see what Quarles Harris was up against. They span 1963–2011, so their windows sit decades apart — “best” and “ready” are different questions, and the window on each row above answers the second one.

How long does Quarles Harris Vintage Port last?

Quarles Harris's wines are modelled on the structured maturation style, which opens around 22 years after the vintage and holds a prime to about 55, stretched by the strength of the vintage. Across the 17 wines listed above that works out at windows opening 1967–2033 and decline modelled from 2037–2113. To place a specific bottle against today's date, name the house and year in the maturity tool. These are modelled windows, not measurements: storage and bottle variation move the goalposts.