Tag Archives: 1960

Dow vs Bomfim

We believe we have found the answer to the question which producer is behind the Vintage Port 1960 bottled by Fredriksberg Vinimport 1963 in Copenhagen and which has a special certificate number on the label.

FredriksbergVinimport1960ds

Usually the Port Wine Houses are not producing Single Quinta Vintage Port the same year as the House is producing a Vintage Port under the name of the House. This was extremely unusual during the 1960s and the 1970s. However, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1977 and 1980 Dow had a special agreement of delivery to Fredrikbergs Vinimport in Copenhagen, Denmark of Quinta do Bomfim and thus in Denmark both Quinta do Bomfim and Dow existed the same year. We believe that the vintage 1960 bottled by Fredrikbergs Vinimport in 1963 with a special certificate also is Quinta do Bomfim as some wine merchants in Copenhagen have written to us. We believe this was the first time it was delivered to Fredriksberg, and thus there was a certificate and not anything else on the label. We are very happy that we have had the opportunity to taste both Dow and Quinta do Bomfim in these years. Is there any other country this has been possible?

Quinta do Bomfim 1966Quinta do Bomfim 1970Quinta do Bomfim 1972Quinta do Bomfim 1975Quinta do Bomfim 1977Quinta do Bomfim 1980

Danish bottled unknown 1960 Vintage Port

Few weeks ago we had a bottle of 1960 Vintage Port bottled by a Danish wine merchant – Fredriksberg Vinimport A/S. As you can see from the picture there was no indication of the producer on the label or anywhere else on the bottle. Since it was imported on barrel and bottled in Denmark by Fredriksberg Vinimport  the cork did not reveal the secret either.

The quality of the Port was really nice and it turned out to be perfectly mature and still holding a rich rather sweet bouquet of toffee and fudge. This was followed by a soft elegant taste, perhaps not as long lasting in the mouth as the best 1960 Vintage Ports but still very lovely.

Do any of our Danish visitors know which house Fredriksberg Vinimport used to bottle at this time? The current owners of the Fredriksberg Vinimport Company have kindly responded that they do not have any records from that time.

When it comes to the certificate on the label it is stating ‘Certificado de Origem de Vinho Do Porto. No. 11193’, we have never seen this on any Vintage Port before. What does it mean? It does not even say who has certified the wine, it is just a number. The normal way to guarantee a Vintage Port today is by using the slip label over the cork, but this seems to be something completely different. Do any of our many Portuguese visitors know what the certificate is saying? We have tried to get information about the certificate but nobody seems to know about it?

FredriksbergVinimport1960cs

Please also note that we have a page titled Help needed. Unfortunately we have not got any help at all during the years. We are sure that some of you could actually help us finding the truth about some of these questions we have. For instance we have not found any information about some of the producers we have seen and even tasted. Please check the page and see if you can help making this web site even better.