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1998 Port

An undeclared year — and the single-quinta Ports made in it.

Updated

1998 was not a declared Port vintage. No house shipped a general Vintage Port that year. PortDB records 5 single-quinta releases from 1998 instead — wines from one named estate, made in the good but not universally declared years and built to drink sooner than a classic Vintage Port. Their windows open 2008–2012.

Rating
Not declared
Declaration
Single-quinta only
Houses declaring
—
Wines in PortDB
5 (5 single-quinta)
Windows open
2008–2012
Tiers
5 good

The 1998 single-quinta Ports

When to drink the 1998s

The drinking window is derived from the house’s maturation style, stretched by the strength of the vintage and shortened for single-quinta releases. The years below are fixed for each wine; whether a bottle is ready today is shown on each entry above once JavaScript loads.

Structured · 3 wines
Taylor's, Dow's — windows open 2012, modelled to decline from 2054.
Opulent · 1 wine
Fonseca — windows open 2010, modelled to decline from 2048.
Balanced · 1 wine
Warre's — windows open 2008, modelled to decline from 2038.

1998 in context

Vintages either side of 1998
1995 1996 1997 1999 2000 2001

See every year rated on the Port vintage chart, the greatest years ranked in best years for Port, or compare the shippers on the Port houses.

Common questions about 1998 Port

Was 1998 a good year for Port?

No — 1998 was not declared. A Port house declares a vintage only in years it judges outstanding, and none did so in 1998. That is not the same as a bad year: 5 estates still bottled a single-quinta Port from 1998, which is what houses do in years that are good without being declaration-worthy.

Which 1998 Ports were released?

No general declarations were made. The 1998 bottlings PortDB records are single-quinta wines from Taylor's, Fonseca, Warre's, Dow's. Each is listed above with its source.

When should you drink 1998 Port?

Every 1998 in the dataset has its own modelled window above. Across all 5 wines, windows open 2008–2012 and decline is modelled from 2038–2054. The spread comes from house style — structured houses open around 22 years; opulent houses open around 20 years; balanced houses open around 18 years — stretched by the strength of the vintage and pulled earlier for the single-quinta wines. To check a specific bottle against today's date, use the maturity tool. These are modelled windows, not measurements: storage and bottle variation move the goalposts.

Which is the best 1998 Port?

PortDB does not rank wines within a year, but it does record a quality tier for each. The 1998s it rates good are Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas, Fonseca Quinta do Panascal, Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha, Dow's Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira, Dow's Quinta do Bomfim. Those tiers reflect critic consensus and are a matter of editorial judgement, not a measurement. Which is “best” for you is also a question of house style: a structured house rewards patience, an opulent one gives more, sooner.

Sources for the 1998 records