1982 Feuerheerd VP

[Bradley Bogdan]

Initial decant of 4 hours.

Fill level was into neck, but the cork was mushroomed a substantial amount, perhaps a good 1/4 inch. Initially, I was pretty pissed at K&L for making no mention of this clear cork issue, but I now doubt this was heat damaged or otherwise compromised. The wax capsule was basically gone, but the selo was intact and showed no signs of seepage. The cork itself was actually in very good shape, came out with little issue and was soaked less than a 1/4 up. As such, since there was no sign of seepage on the selo, the selo wasn't torn (as I imagine it would have if it was applied to a cork that was level with the top of the bottle and then was forced up), and the cork showed no evidence of seepage, I'm now thinking the bottle was sound. No harm, no foul I guess, K&L. I guess that was partly why they priced it at $35 anyway.

On to the actual wine, a rather deep color, 60-70% opaque? showing darker than probably 2/3 of the '83s at the tasting last year. A brown tinge at the rim does show some age.

The nose is limited, both on day 1 and 2, though day one does have some medicinal cherry notes and heat that come to the fore. Day 2 is pretty subdued.

The palate wasn't all that impressive on day one, with VA working to balance a pretty sweet, full palate. More medicinal cherry, very much like a less objectionable version of nyquil, and some herbal notes. The finish is decidedly hot. This shows pretty average, more than drinkable, but not something I'd buy again at $35.

Day 2 really helps this wine, rounding out a lot of the awkward edges. The palate is still on the sweeter side, but is rounder, with less prominent VA notes to the herbs and cherry. The heat is much less prominent as well, so while this isn't very complex or an outstanding mouthfeel of a port, its pretty solid.

88 Points