TWAIOA Question

[Mike J. W.]

I stopped at a liquor store in South Jersey on my way back from my 2nd Covid shot and came across some old bottles of Dow's and Graham's 20 y.o. port. Of course I've seen the current bottles and labels of both and even saw the previous generation of both, but these bottles were older. Probably 15 to 20 years old at least. The prices were semi-decent, but my question is, would older bottles of TWAIOA lose their zip and taste tired? They looked in good shape, but I just don't know how age would impact them. Any thoughts?

I did pick up a 30 y.o. Sandeman for under $70 there. It was the version in the wooden box with the little leather strip on the front for closure. Their 40 y.o. Sandeman was pretty cheap as well. That'll be a purchase for another visit.

[Eric Ifune]

For my tastes, if several decades old, they will be tired, especially relative to newly bottled wines. Unless really cheap, I'd pass.

[Glenn E.]

They will certainly be very different than freshly bottled 20 year olds.

TWAIOA are different than Colheitas for this discussion. Very few TWAIOA age well past 8-10 years in bottle, even for my taste, though some do exist. Many here would argue 5-8 years... and I know a couple of guys who would say 2-3 years.

I've had several examples of TWAIOA with 20+, or even 30+ years in bottle. They're interesting and tasty, but with only 1 exception that I can remember they've all been "worse" than I would have expected from a fresh bottle. (That 1 exception was a Niepoort 30 year old with 30+ years in bottle. It was very different than a fresh bottle, but I couldn't say it was worse.)

If the price is good and it's a well-stored bottle, then it's probably worth getting one just so you can see what they're like. It's worth it for the experience. The problem may ultimately be that you have no idea how they've been stored all these years, and if you found them in a liquor store their storage probably has not been good. So I'd probably pass on those bottles - not due to bottle age, but due to suspect storage.

Sandeman 30 from the wood box era is fantastic. That's one that can handle some time in bottle. The 40 is also very good. In both cases they seem like a somewhat different style than the 20, at least to me.

[Frederick Blais]

I'm a big fan of tawny with indication of age(or Colheita), aged in the bottle! As long as the producer did not intensively filter or cold stabilise prior to bottling.

Let's be honest... If the same blend can be bottled or left in barrel, it will continue to age in both environment as long as we do not filter it extensively, that is the secret. Actually, it should age better in the bottle than in the barrel, simply because the conditions are better.

The younger the Tawny is, the more it can evolve in the bottle, for the same reason it can get more evolution in the barrel. The more a wine/Port have seen oxygen, the less it will evolve and the more stable it will become. That is reality.

Then it can only become a question of personnal preference, do you prefer you Tawnys/Colheitas with the sharpness of fresh bottling or do you prefer them with the roundness and complexity of bottle aged, ensuring it was properly bottled.

This year I had an amazing experience with a 20 year old Burmester bottled in 1989, for only 30 euros, it blew my team away.

[Thomas V]

I just drank a Wiese & Krohn 30YO tawny bottled in 2010 last Friday to celebrate my birthday and it was spectacular. No bottle stink nor any burning alcohol. It was just deep and rich with a surprisingly zingy acidity to counterbalance.

As for you question. I think only a few producers can get away with a prolonged bottle time for a TWAIOA those being in my experience Wiese & Krohn, Niepoort, Quinta do Noval and Dalva. Curious that those producers also are really good at making colheitas which can bottle age well too. Right?