1985 Fonseca
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1985 Fonseca
1985 Fonseca Port – wow! Sweet nose in this still very dark (almost opaque) Port and some mint and ripe plum as well as some spice. Pretty smooth and well balanced in the mouth, but I think it is still some time away from ideal drinking plateau and needs some time. Wish I had some in my cellar!
- David Spriggs
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
Agreed. Great wine. If I was going to pick one wine that is still too you to drink, but will be a legendary wine with more time (like 20-30 years), this would be it!
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- Andy Velebil
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
+1 Love this VP, it has so much life left in it. Will be a legendary one with time.Moses Botbol wrote:The best Fonseca since 1970 IMO.
Andy Velebil Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used. William Shakespeare http://www.fortheloveofport.com
- Glenn E.
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
Agreed. In 20-30 years you'll be laughing at tastings (in-between pulls on your oxygen mask ) about how you picked up a couple cases of this at a "mere" $80/bottle back in 2014.David Spriggs wrote:Agreed. Great wine. If I was going to pick one wine that is still too you to drink, but will be a legendary wine with more time (like 20-30 years), this would be it!
Arguably the best Port of the 1980s. Really only the 1987 Vargellas, 1985 Graham, and 1980 Dow give it any competition, and of those 3 only the 1987 Vargellas is serious competition.
(And that's coming from me... I like the Graham better at this time but recognize/suspect that the Fonseca has more long-term potential.)
Glenn Elliott
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
You left out the '83 Ramos Pinto :-PGlenn E. wrote:Agreed. In 20-30 years you'll be laughing at tastings (in-between pulls on your oxygen mask ) about how you picked up a couple cases of this at a "mere" $80/bottle back in 2014.David Spriggs wrote:Agreed. Great wine. If I was going to pick one wine that is still too you to drink, but will be a legendary wine with more time (like 20-30 years), this would be it!
Arguably the best Port of the 1980s. Really only the 1987 Vargellas, 1985 Graham, and 1980 Dow give it any competition, and of those 3 only the 1987 Vargellas is serious competition.
(And that's coming from me... I like the Graham better at this time but recognize/suspect that the Fonseca has more long-term potential.)
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- Glenn E.
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
As much as I like the 1983 Ramos Pinto, it's not in the same league.Bradley Bogdan wrote:You left out the '83 Ramos Pinto :-P
I'd rate it amongst the top handful of 1983s, though, possibly behind only the Graham. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head, but there may be another one or two. The RP is really top notch for the vintage, and really doesn't get the attention it deserves in my opinion.
Glenn Elliott
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
You know what this calls for, a "Best of the '80s" tasting to decide this head to head .Glenn E. wrote:As much as I like the 1983 Ramos Pinto, it's not in the same league.Bradley Bogdan wrote:You left out the '83 Ramos Pinto :-P
I'd rate it amongst the top handful of 1983s, though, possibly behind only the Graham. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head, but there may be another one or two. The RP is really top notch for the vintage, and really doesn't get the attention it deserves in my opinion.
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
1980 Graham's
1980 Gould Campbell
1985 Smith Woodhouse
1985 Niepoort
(and some would add 1985 Dow)
Those are all pretty good.
Wasn't there already a "Best of the '80s" FTLOP Vintage Port Retrospective at the Holiday Inn Issaquah on 1/29/2011??
1980 Gould Campbell
1985 Smith Woodhouse
1985 Niepoort
(and some would add 1985 Dow)
Those are all pretty good.
Wasn't there already a "Best of the '80s" FTLOP Vintage Port Retrospective at the Holiday Inn Issaquah on 1/29/2011??
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
Was there? Before my time if it was 2011. Perhaps a theme for 2016 then, due to a lack of logical 10 year increment retrospectives. Or, if they showed well enough, sooner .
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
Well, I don't have any 1966 to speak of, so that works for me.
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
Absolutely. All excellent Ports. No question.David Spriggs wrote:1980 Graham's
1980 Gould Campbell
1985 Smith Woodhouse
1985 Niepoort
(and some would add 1985 Dow)
Those are all pretty good.
Not in the same league as the 1985 Fonseca, 1987 Vargellas, and 1985 Graham.
I don't remember the result off the top of my head (though I'm going to go dig it up), but regardless of the result from that one tasting if I'm buying Port from the 1980s the ones I'm looking for first are F85, TV87, and G85. I'll certainly get a few others for variety, but I'm pretty confident that those 3 are going to consistently show well tasting after tasting and that they have long, glorious lives ahead of them.David Spriggs wrote:Wasn't there already a "Best of the '80s" FTLOP Vintage Port Retrospective at the Holiday Inn Issaquah on 1/29/2011??
Edit: oh yeah, now I remember. That tasting was done blind. I mis-identified the G85 and was disappointed because it was only 3rd best by my notes. I correctly identified the F85 and had it 2nd. Then I had some mystery Port in 1st and couldn't figure out what it was. Turns out the mystery Port was the actual G85. Roy just shook his head that I'd picked the G85 as WOTN even though I thought I'd identified it as a different Port.
Glenn Elliott
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
I'll take the SW '83 and G '83 over their '85 equivalents, based on the bottles I've had.
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Re: 1985 Fonseca
V good but, agreeing w others, would def hold off on opening one for a long time.
No fat left but not complex like it shows it will one day be.
Really no point opening one now, true infanticide at almost 30 yrs of age.
No fat left but not complex like it shows it will one day be.
Really no point opening one now, true infanticide at almost 30 yrs of age.
Re: 1985 Fonseca
Glenn wrote:
Yep, I wrote an article on this very topic a year or two ago: the top 2 VP's of the 1980's: 1985 Fonseca & 1987 Vargellas.Arguably the best Port of the 1980s. Really only the 1987 Vargellas, 1985 Graham, and 1980 Dow give it any competition, and of those 3 only the 1987 Vargellas is serious competition.
(And that's coming from me... I like the Graham better at this time but recognize/suspect that the Fonseca has more long-term potential.)
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com