For The Love Of Port

Has anyone tried the 2014 vintage of Crasto's Reserva Old Vines? I've seen some reviews and it ranges from an elegant, light to medium-bodied wine for current drinking, to dark and tannic with cellaring required. Any opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks .............. Mahmoud.

To my knowledge the bottles were only labeled when pulled out of their cellars. All the ones I saw aging in the old cellar were without labels. That makes eminent sense, since the labels would only get damaged in the cellar. Looking at the label you posted explains some of the confusion surtroundin...

I found the reference to the corks. It was in an article by Axel Probst in the World of Fine Wine . Tasting a vertical of Cockburn vintage port he notes the following: "It is always a special privilege to taste the best of Cockburn’s ’77 Ruby Ports. As already mentioned, this Port was never dec...

Thanks Al, Your synopsis is very well written. It basically encapsulted what I read many years ago in a now defunct Canadian magazine called Wine Tidings as well as soem of the things I read while researching my post. However your post stictches all the loose threads and weaves a full tapestry with ...

I have to say I am somewhat uncomfortable with all this ambiguity. Cockburn did not release a 1977 vintage port, that much we know. However we also know that their winemakers decided to disobey orders and bottled at least two barrels of the 1977 vintage. Other barrels of port from the 1977 vintage, ...

I doubt that everybody in the trade initially knew about it since it was done surreptitiously. Of course over time word would have spread and, as Andy mentioned, eventually even the company executives who, lets not forget, were also in the trade. Similarly, it is also intuitive that the two barrels ...

Hi Andy, I decided to do a bit of sleuthing and found the following: With regard to the crusted port argument Richard Mayson said this: " A generally declared year, but not declared by Cockburn who were busy building up Cockburn’s Special Reserve at the time. Consequently this wine was bottled ...

I do tend to enjoy older LBVs, especially the so-called "tradional" style (yes, I know, they're not called traditional anymore, hence the inverted commas). As a matter of fact the 1982 Smith Woodhouse was the very first LBV that I tasted. My expert port buddy served it to me and explained ...

Thanks for the note John. The '77 Graham's was my very first vintage port purchase along with the '77 Warre's. A local wine purveyer, the late Hank Gillespie, prompted the buy when he said that the prices of the '77 were about to be ramped up and that the prices in New York had already doubled. Stil...

I am also aware of single vintages declared as crusted. The most famous was the un/now released Cockburn’s 1977 (that is now a VP). What the regs say and what is allowed are two totally different things. From what I recall reading in a wine magazine many, many years ago, Cockburn decided not to dec...

I recall considering buying a 2000 Van Zeller port some years ago and in the end decided on the 2000 Silval instead. For some reason I think the label had Van Zeller and the name of another company.

Mahmoud.

I cannot remember when or why I bought a 2000 Graham's LBV (bottled 2006) because the previous Graham's that I had tried was a 1995 and I thought it was almost less than passable. So imagine my surprise when I came across this in a box of mixed wine. Considering how little I liked the 1995 and its l...

With proper LBV, they are great with 20-35 years behind them. Warre 1981 or Ferreira 1996 are a couple of examples of proper LBVs which are drinking well to my taste at the moment. Good to hear about the Ferreira, it's one I am planning on trying in the near future. When you say "proper" ...

reading just the title i thought 'how can you be to old to drink port?' Hilarious, love it! Very interesting thread. I try and cellar almost every type of port, whether simple LBVs or "traditional", crusted and vintage but have no fixed idea of how long to keep them. It's mostly based on ...

When it comes to LBV port I make a clear distinction between what I consider everyday LBVs and the "traditional" LBVs that are unfiltered and mostly bottled after four years, like Warre's and Smith Woodhouse. As for crusted port the only one I've seen here in Edmonton was a Churchill and i...

John, did the Dow's LBV have a bottling date?

Mahmoud.

Madeira is almost indestructible. In bottle, evolution (likely for the better) will be glacial. In 2010, I wrote the following in this forum: "Once I left an open bottle of Madeira, a Malmsey, for 5 years. It was about two-thirds full, stoppered, and left on the dining room buffet table. After ...

... I have a renewed interest in the LBV category ... They are vastly under appreciated in my opinion, particularly the traditional, unfiltered styles, usually bottled four years after the vintage. Mahmoud. PS: The 2003 Taylor Fladgate LBV is a remarkable port even though an "ordinary" LB...

While Portugal was occupied fighting the Spanish, what remained of the thinly protected Empire was lost to the armadas of the British and Dutch forces. Portuguese outposts in India and China were taken over. I'm confused by this, because the two outposts that immediately come to mind are Goa in Ind...

Thanks for the post Steve, very timely considering the recent discussion on a thread about old colheitas and tawnys. In case you missed it: https://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopforum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40975 I started my wine journey hearing about drinking tawny ports, colheitas included, when...