What have you opened this week?

[Tom Archer]

Croft 91 LBV

When did Croft LBVs go unfiltered? This one has just a pinch of gritty sediment, so clearly got the full treatment. Despite that, is in reasonably good order.

[Jonathan S]

1994 Warre's VP (1/22)

[Moses Botbol]

1997 Cockburn Vintage. Cork was a thing of beauty, but the port; not so much. Pop and pour was of raisins and some kind of aspirin-like flavor. Wasn't digging it so much and then it was getting a little late at night for me to wait around on it.

Forgot to cork the bottle until the morning. Hopefully it will get better tonight. If only the '83 had the same cork.

Finished the bottle last night. Big improvement; rich viscous style with burnt sugar and touch of heat. Still a touch bitter, but at an acceptable level.

[Mike J. W.]

'77 Warre's.

[Eric Menchen]

S. Leonardo 10 TWIOA

[Mike J. W.]

1989 Burmester Coheita, bottled 2016. Very nice Colheita. Somewhat similar to the taste of their 20 y.o. tawny, but smoother.

[Gary Richardson]

1967 Quinta da Romaneira Colheita, bottled in 1995. Sadly, my last bottle of this.

[Thomas V]

'77 Warre's.

your take on this?

[Mike J. W.]

It was a little musty, probably a touch of TCA, but not badly tainted. It's a nice Port, with some sweet spiciness to it, but it feels a little past it's prime. I don't know if that's because of bottle storage (I won it at auction so don't know it's provenance) or just because of it's age. Overall, I liked it.
I have one more bottle. I'll try it again in a year or so.

[Thomas V]

I see. I haven't had it before but am going to try it for the first time during a Taylor's vs. Warre's VP vertical tasting come March (if Covid permits). And as you mention provenance does matter of course.

[Thomas V]

After some Alsace Riesling and Gewurtz Grand Cru for dinner I served up my last Gould Campbell 1980 VP. A great port with still some umpfh to it. Licorice and menthol in a nice combination. Still some primary fruit but also secondary flavours. It is drinking very very well at the moment but around 5-7 years before hitting its maximum potential in my perspective. A great VP and today a score of 92 points.

[Glenn E.]

I see. I haven't had it before but am going to try it for the first time during a Taylor's vs. Warre's VP vertical tasting come March (if Covid permits). And as you mention provenance does matter of course.

Very much. A good bottle of '77 Warre is an outstanding Port. I normally don't like Warre's house style, but I've been served this blind a couple of times where I scored it in the 93-95 range.

[Tom Archer]

'77 Warre's.

W77 remains the most frequently seen VP on the UK auction circuit. My general impression is of a good but not stellar VP, nothing particularly stands out about it.

As to maturity, when I opened a couple of magnums for my birthday in 2017, I noted that they were way too young - my note reads 'come back in another ten years'. For bottles I would suggest drink now or keep - no rush.

[Andy Velebil]

2007 Mark and Spencer VP. I suspect it was a relabeled Romariz. It was from TFP and had what looked like a newer cork.

[Glenn E.]

1980 Ferreira VP. Not the best bottle that I've had, but still excellent. I consulted with Andy on decant time and he called it - 4-6 hours seems about right, with the Port seeming to peak at around 6-7 hours. I decanted for 4 so that we could watch it evolve through the night.

[Moses Botbol]

Was snowing wicked hard last night and opened a '70 Niepoort Colheita to enjoy the snow fall. Very consistent with the previous bottles.

[Tom Archer]

1963 Dow

Like other 63's finding a serene plateau now. Am I imagining it, or does the aroma strengthen when a VP reaches this stage?

Anyway, a lovely indulgent quaff - score 9-9

[John M.]

1994 Warre's VP (1/22)

I got 9 halves recently and opened my 2nd one on Saturday. The first bottle was oxidized. This one was fine on Saturday, but fell off the cliff by Sunday. I suspect my bottles were stood up/improperly stored as I've had other bottles of this rom other sources and its marvelous. Caveat emptor---but I paid little so as long as I get the first day to work, I am satisfied (sort of an '83 Cockburn adaptation).

[Mike J. W.]

S. Leonardo 20 y.o. White. PnP. Liquid butterscotch with some citrus mixed in. Nice acidity along with a little heat. Very nice!

[Tom Archer]

Croft 66

A light wine for a '66, but quite pleasant nonetheless. Score 6-5