2007 Quinta do Portal Vintage Port -- (cask sample)

[Glenn E.]

Tasted blind at Roy's house, July 7-10, 2009.

Bottle #1: 2007 Dow's Vintage Port
Bottle #2: 2007 Vista Alegre Vintage Port
Bottle #3: 2007 Quinta do Portal Vintage Port (Cask Sample)

2007 Quinta do Portal Vintage Port (Cask Sample)
Roy says that though this was a cask sample, he was assured that it was the final blend and just hadn't been approved when it was sent to him.

Day 1
Color: good, solid purple, with maybe a few extra red tones thrown in. Slightly more than a 2/16" fade.
Nose: heat and difficult fruits. They're very melded together, so not even really a fruit compote.
Palate: medium sweet with a full body. Good grip, good acidity, and rich fruit flavors. Ripe mulberry is the most prominent, but like the nose they're a little hard to separate.
Finish: fruits, heat, and good tannic grip. Pretty long and fades evenly.

Initial score: 94-96. At this upper end of the range, I have problems trying to fit these Ports in amongst one another because I can clearly remember the other high scores and then have to figure out which one I liked better and how to fit their scores together when one has already been published.

Day 2
Color: fade is a full 3/16" now, red tones seem to have disappeared (so just a good, solid purple)
Nose: faintly dusty, with mild alcohol and some blackberries. Lots of aromas in the glass, but they're still hard to separate.
Palate: sweet and full bodied, with good grip and good acidity. Blueberries and blackberries.
Finish: sweet and fruity with some mild heat. Length seems shorter than day 1, but still a good length. Some green apples, followed by a hint of grape skin.

New score: 94-97. A slight improvement over day 1, this is going to be a good one.

Day 3
per tradition, I did not taste on Day 3

Day 4
Color: purple, but taking on more blue tones now.
Nose: a faintly meaty note like a thick, raw steak, then alcohol. LOTS of alcohol. It's not medicinal, but boy it sure is strong. With carefully measured breaths, one can find some blackberry and some minerals, but you can't sniff much or all you get is alcohol.
Palate: medium sweet with a full body. Big grip, good acidity. Blackberry, black raspberry, mulberry, and a slight tanginess that could be a ripe purple berry or a mellow red fruit.
Finish: long and smooth, with smooth tannins.

Final comments: Big and strong, this is one to buy and keep. It's going to drink nicely throughout its lifetime, though, as it really has everything.

Final score: 95-97, putting it (currently) in 2nd place behind the Vale Meao of all the 2007 cask samples I've tasted.

Reveal: 2007 Quinta do Portal Vintage Port (cask sample). Now I really need to get some of the 2003 so I can compare them!

[Eric Menchen]

Day 2 ... Some green apples

I think this is the second note of yours where I read of the green apples appearing on day 2. Do you have some acetaldehyde producing bacteria around, or is this merely a coincidence?

[Glenn E.]

Actually it's a note that I find in a lot of Ports near the end of the finish. I don't really know why it's been taking until Day 2 for it to show up in these cask samples, except possibly that I just don't give it enough time to develop on Day 1. You'd think ~15 minutes per glass would be a lot of time, but it feels like it's barely enough to me. It might also just be hidden on Day 1 - these cask samples tend to be fruit bombs and that can hide a lot... including the tannins.

I tend to find either green apples, grape stem, or grape skin as the finish tails off. Ports that don't have one of those three tend to be relatively rare... and expensive. Of the three the only one I don't like is grape stem. Grape skin has a very similar flavor but isn't bitter like grape stem. I'm not really sure where the green apple thing comes from, but Granny Smith Apples is a pretty common note for me in good Ports.

My first experience with it was in a 1982 Dow Colheita, and it was so memorable that I've looked for it ever since.