For The Love Of Port

I haven't had a lot of Douro dry reds. My pinnacle experiences by far have been the Niepoort range, especially partial to Batuta in a few vintages. By comparison this was pretty meh.

• 2001 Quinta do Crasto Douro Reserva Old Vines - Portugal, Douro (12/26/2009)
  Dark, cranberry, tart. OK, not especially mindblowing. (87 pts.)

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[*] 2003 Niepoort Porto Secundum - Portugal, Douro, Porto Well this is a plush little baby of a wine, very nice. Of all the wines, the spirit seemed uniquely integrated from the get-go, although with air it did peek out. Wow, this shows unreal balance, dancing acidity, round, surprisingly ready to e...

[*] 2003 Niepoort Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto Charcoal and pepper come out on the nose. OMG, the palate is punishing, massive structure, reach for some bread and some water, try again, egads, ouch, this is just so freaking tannic I am blown away. On my third try I started to see the beauty of thi...

2003 Cockburn Porto Quinta dos Canais - Portugal, Douro, Porto The nose is very spirity with some distinct orange peel. The palate succeeds in being very fresh with a surprising amount of citrus, juicy to the point of mouthwatering, some nice raspberry. The tannins here are fairly round and perhaps...

[*] 2003 Cockburn Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto The nose is even more spirity than the first wine, somewhat off-putting, a hint of volatility and then a pleasing note of tar. My initial impression was one of a glyceral wine, thick in the mouth with a lot of weight and pretty good structure. However...

[*] 2003 Quinta do Noval Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto Well here we go, the high point of the tasting, wow!!! Frankly I was being conservative with my points, but what a serious wine! The nose shows alluring notes of spicecake, some stalky/vegetal elements (in a good way), ayee, this is a freaking ...

[*] 2003 Quinta do Noval Porto Nacional - Portugal, Douro, Porto Wow, this is a different nose with lovely violets and coffee. Wow, this is one big, jammy monster, loaded with blackberry, monstrous amounts of rich, primary, almost monolithic (to my inexperienced palate) fruit. Wow, what an utter mon...

1994 Fonseca Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto Extremely dark. The nose is dense with lots of violet popping out. On the palate this has a sweet, tightly wrapped core of explosive fruit. The finish is stunningly smooth with chocolate and toffee. For most tasters this was their favorite, although for m...

1997 Niepoort Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto Dark color. The nose shows tangerine. Wow, this is very silky with a citric edge that provides an interesting freshness. This is tightly knit and pure. It is just so primary right now with a beautiful core of fruit and structure. (94 pts.) Click here to ...

2000 Quinta do Vesuvio Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto Deep color. This is showing much more overt oak than I recall with vanilla and caramel and a certain herbal element. This is a massive wine, yet it is actually smaller in the mouth than the 1997 Niepoort and 1994 Fonseca. The structure here is v...

N.V. Porto Rocha Porto Three Centuries - Portugal, Douro, Porto The nose is more reminiscent of Madeira than Port with cooked onion. The palate has luscious texture with a sharp, saline element. The unbelievably long finish is nutty and delicious. Did I mention it was long? This is the finest tawny...

1977 Taylor Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto On describing this to the other attendees, I popped out with "Oh man, this just rocks!" This actually had the lightest color by far in the flight, but that was a red herring. The nose was quite medicinal and showed some spirit. The palate was utt...

1980 Dow Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto Unreal color, opaque, black, totally saturated. Alas, the nose is swampy with some seaweed, and there it is, the unmistakeable nose of a heavily corked wine. Drat! I did venture one taste and was amazed by the structure of this. Crap!!! Click here to see the ...

1983 Cockburn Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto Glowing color yet one of the lighter wines in the flight, only darker than the 1977 Taylor. The nose here was Madeira like with cooked onion. On the palate I got prunes, raisins and an Amarone-like character. The finish burns a bit and still shows alcoho...

1985 Fonseca Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto Very dark color. The nose is youthful and grapey with some chocolate. The palate shows dark fruit, roasted coffee, chocolate and is deep and luscious. The finish is very grippy with awesome structure, very brawny and masculine. This was clearly one of the...

1955 Sandeman Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto The color here is still quite dark with a lot of brown but a solid rim, slightly cloudy in the glass. I found the nose on this to be slightly dusty and musty with a strong scent of toffee. On the palate this showed coffee, roasted nuts, and caramel. The ...

1963 Graham Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto This showed the lightest color of the flight with a pink edge. On the nose there is a pretty clear bit of spirit, yet the nose soars from the glass and is almost piercing in the way it hits your sinuses. Wow, the palate on this is very bright and fresh, al...

1966 Sandeman Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto A faded rim with glowing color, very pretty to behold. About half of the folks on the room thought this was lightly corked, but I didn't catch this at all. In fact, this wine had my favorite nose of the flight with a soaring, floral personality, caramel,...

1970 Dow Porto - Portugal, Douro, Porto This is very youthful in color with a deep purple core. On the nose there is a hint of grapiness and mint, yet I found the aromatics to be somewhat reticent. On the youthful palate there is a refreshing blast of wintergreen, but I found the wine to show a fai...