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1999 Port

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

Updated

1999 was not a declared Port vintage. No house shipped a general Vintage Port that year. PortDB records 4 single-quinta releases from 1999 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 2009–2013.

Rating
Not declared
Declaration
Single-quinta only
Houses declaring
—
Wines in PortDB
4 (4 single-quinta)
Windows open
2009–2013
Tiers
1 very good · 3 good

The 1999 single-quinta Ports

When to drink the 1999s

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 · 2 wines
Dow's — windows open 2013, modelled to decline from 2055–2058.
Opulent · 1 wine
Fonseca — windows open 2011, modelled to decline from 2049.
Balanced · 1 wine
Warre's — windows open 2009, modelled to decline from 2039.

1999 in context

Vintages either side of 1999
1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002

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 1999 Port

Was 1999 a good year for Port?

No — 1999 was not declared. A Port house declares a vintage only in years it judges outstanding, and none did so in 1999. That is not the same as a bad year: 4 estates still bottled a single-quinta Port from 1999, which is what houses do in years that are good without being declaration-worthy.

Which 1999 Ports were released?

No general declarations were made. The 1999 bottlings PortDB records are single-quinta wines from Fonseca, Warre's, Dow's. Each is listed above with its source.

When should you drink 1999 Port?

Every 1999 in the dataset has its own modelled window above. Across all 4 wines, windows open 2009–2013 and decline is modelled from 2039–2058. 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 1999 Port?

PortDB does not rank wines within a year, but it does record a quality tier for each. The only 1999 it rates very good is Dow's Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira. 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 1999 records