Companhia Vinícola do Norte de Portugal Garrafeira 1890 – 136-Year-Old Port

A remarkable survivor from the 19th century — a bottle of Portuguese wine history dating from 1890. Produced from the historic 1890 harvest, this extraordinary Garrafeira Port was associated with the Companhia Vinícola do Norte de Portugal, one of the important historic names of Vila Nova de Gaia. The company itself was founded in 1889, making this wine virtually contemporary with the origins of the house. Now 136 years old, the 1890 Garrafeira is an exceptionally rare example of pre-20th-century Port. Surviving bottles appear only occasionally on the market, with specialist Portuguese merchants currently valuing examples around €950–€1,300. The bottle retains its beautifully aged original “Vinho do Porto – Garrafeira 1890” label, together with its old capsule and remnants of historic neck labeling. Its presentation shows precisely the patina expected from a bottle that has survived more than a century. Garrafeira Ports of this extraordinary age are prized not simply as wines but as historical objects—survivors from another era of Portuguese winemaking. Mature examples can develop extraordinary tertiary complexity, with dried fruits, walnut, fig, dates, caramel, coffee, spice, old wood and balsamic characteristics.