What have you opened this week?

[Mike J. W.]

1983 Gould Campbell VP. A slight hint of moldiness when decanted. The first sip is mildly astringent. I don't seem to have very good luck with this Producer as this might be another bad bottle. I'll give it some time in the decanter and see how it is tonight.

[Andrew Kirschner]

Wondering if it recovered at all?

[Mike J. W.]

Wondering if it recovered at all?

It recovered slightly. It's drinkable but there's definitely some TCA going on. You can smell it on the nose and when you taste it, but it's not strong enough to completely ruin it. I get hints of how good this Port could be if it was a clean bottle.

The really sad thing is I was walking by my wine racks in the basement and I noticed a bottle was leaking onto the floor. I pulled the bottle out and...it's a 1983 Gould Campbell. Buzzard's luck. lol

[Andy Velebil]

Ouch that’s a bummer for sure.

[Al B.]

This week I’ve opened bottles of Poças 2015 White Colheita (really very good), Croft 2010 Colheita and Quinta da Prelada 30YO White. In a couple of days I’ll be opening a tappit hen of Graham 1975.

[Eric Menchen]

1970 Graham's VP.
Holding up o.k., but wasn't as sweet as I would expect for this house.

[Andrew Kirschner]

We had a corked bottle a few weeks ago. I’ve only had a couple, but it’s so heartbreaking when you’re looking forward to it, go through the ritual of decanting it, only to have this crummy surprise.

Wondering if it recovered at all?

It recovered slightly. It's drinkable but there's definitely some TCA going on. You can smell it on the nose and when you taste it, but it's not strong enough to completely ruin it. I get hints of how good this Port could be if it was a clean bottle.

The really sad thing is I was walking by my wine racks in the basement and I noticed a bottle was leaking onto the floor. I pulled the bottle out and...it's a 1983 Gould Campbell. Buzzard's luck. lol

[Al B.]

It’s summer (this week) in the UK so it’s White Port season. Bottles of Quevedo 2012 White Colheita and Lamelas 10YO White have been opened and drunk!

[Mike J. W.]

It’s summer (this week) in the UK so it’s White Port season. Bottles of Quevedo 2012 White Colheita and Lamelas 10YO White have been opened and drunk!

What Producer makes your favorite White Colheitas and what makes them stand out?

[Al B.]

It’s summer (this week) in the UK so it’s White Port season. Bottles of Quevedo 2012 White Colheita and Lamelas 10YO White have been opened and drunk!

What Producer makes your favorite White Colheitas and what makes them stand out?

That’s a very interesting question.

I love Kopke’s White Colheitas. They are so easy to get - the 2010 is in our local supermarket. Probably the majority of the White Colheitas we drink are from Kopke. We’ve just opened and finished a bottle of 2003. Our taste is on the slightly sweeter side, which helps us enjoy Kopke’s style.

I was also really impressed by the Poças 2015 that I posted about on the Port Forum. I really hope you guys can get some in the US.

But I think my favourite White Colheita ever is the Quevedo 1970, which they bottled as a 50th anniversary wine in 2020. That was just fabulous.

[Mike J. W.]

It’s summer (this week) in the UK so it’s White Port season. Bottles of Quevedo 2012 White Colheita and Lamelas 10YO White have been opened and drunk!

What Producer makes your favorite White Colheitas and what makes them stand out?

That’s a very interesting question.

I love Kopke’s White Colheitas. They are so easy to get - the 2010 is in our local supermarket. Probably the majority of the White Colheitas we drink are from Kopke. We’ve just opened and finished a bottle of 2003. Our taste is on the slightly sweeter side, which helps us enjoy Kopke’s style.

I was also really impressed by the Poças 2015 that I posted about on the Port Forum. I really hope you guys can get some in the US.

But I think my favourite White Colheita ever is the Quevedo 1970, which they bottled as a 50th anniversary wine in 2020. That was just fabulous.

Thanks, Alex. I'm a big fan of the Kopke White Colheitas as well. Strangely enough, I'm not as impressed with their Whites With An Indication of Age. They're okay, but not in the "great" category for me. The Maynard's 10 year-old White is very nice for a 10 year-old White and the price is good. The White that really punches above its' weight for me is the Van Zelller Porto White. It has a green capsule, charcoal gray label with gold lettering and it's a basic white with a drier style. It's smooth, rich, elegant and easy to sip and it can be found for $18. It's a bargain for what you get in the bottle.

I'm keeping an eye out for the Pocas 2015 White Colheita. There's nothing online for it as yet. Pocas in general is not a widely sold Port, but hopefully I get lucky and find it somewhere (it's not on Pocas' website as of yet). I'll probably never see that 1970 White from Quevedo unless I visit them in Portugal.

[Andrew Kirschner]

Tonight selection is an interesting one -particularly to me- as this is from the very first batch of Porto I ever purchased back when I was in college.

1985 was not a great vintage, and most of the wines I’ve had from 1985 have been underwhelming. Every few years I open a bottle from this first batch. The TF 1985 has gone through up and down cycles more than almost any other Porto I have opened, ever. It has gone from ‘meh’ to very good and then back again a couple of times. Happy to say that it is currently in the ‘very good’ realm. Black cherry out front with some tobacco and blackberry after the initial flavors dissipate. Abrupt, but not unpleasant finish. I’d currently rate it as 90-91 pts.

[Eric Menchen]

1985 was not a great vintage ...

In some parts they might say, "Them's fightin' words!"

But I get it, in particular for Taylor. There are some reports of better bottles, but I've generally been underwhelmed. I've probably had Fonseca 1985 ten times, and only been underwhelmed once or twice. I just looked back at all my TNs here, and there were not any standout great names other than Fonseca. Good and great bottles here and there, but not a consistently great name.

[Andy Velebil]

The 1980’s were, what I call, The Lost Decade of Port. So much mediocre VP was made.

[Glenn E.]

1985 was not a great vintage

If by "great" you mean "classic" then I would agree, and in which case I'd say it's probably best categorized as low-end "excellent". There were a few very lovely Ports in 1985, but most are just very good to maybe excellent.

The 80s in general were down for The Fladgate Partnership with the notable exceptions of 1985 Fonseca and 1987 Taylor Vargellas - the Fonseca is arguably the best VP of that vintage and I typically place both in the top 3 for the entire decade. But 1985 Taylor is well below the Taylor standard and Croft is just an average VP.

However, 1985 was an excellent vintage (but not classic) for Symington Family Estates. Dow and Graham are outstanding, Gould Campbell and Smith Woodhouse are excellent, and for those who enjoy the Warre style it's also very good to excellent. 1985 Graham rounds out my top 3 of the decade, and is very close (for me) in quality to the 1985 Fonseca.

But you opened a Taylor. As you say, it has gone through ups and downs over the years, mostly down. I have had a couple of bottles that approached excellent, but most were merely what I'd call very good. They're not normally going to exceed 91 or maybe 92 points for me.

Interestingly, the UK has much better bottles of Taylor than we do here in the US. But the tradeoff is that they have significantly worse bottles of Fonseca than we do. Given that a good Taylor in London is only worth about an extra point for me, the loss of 2-3 points from their bottles of Fonseca is not a fair trade.

[Andy Velebil]

1985 was not a great vintage

If by "great" you mean "classic" then I would agree, and in which case I'd say it's probably best categorized as low-end "excellent". There were a few very lovely Ports in 1985, but most are just very good to maybe excellent.

The 80s in general were down for The Fladgate Partnership with the notable exceptions of 1985 Fonseca and 1987 Taylor Vargellas - the Fonseca is arguably the best VP of that vintage and I typically place both in the top 3 for the entire decade. But 1985 Taylor is well below the Taylor standard and Croft is just an average VP.

However, 1985 was an excellent vintage (but not classic) for Symington Family Estates. Dow and Graham are outstanding, Gould Campbell and Smith Woodhouse are excellent, and for those who enjoy the Warre style it's also very good to excellent. 1985 Graham rounds out my top 3 of the decade, and is very close (for me) in quality to the 1985 Fonseca.

But you opened a Taylor. As you say, it has gone through ups and downs over the years, mostly down. I have had a couple of bottles that approached excellent, but most were merely what I'd call very good. They're not normally going to exceed 91 or maybe 92 points for me.

Interestingly, the UK has much better bottles of Taylor than we do here in the US. But the tradeoff is that they have significantly worse bottles of Fonseca than we do. Given that a good Taylor in London is only worth about an extra point for me, the loss of 2-3 points from their bottles of Fonseca is not a fair trade.

Why do people only speak of two companies when it comes to 1985? Or other 80’s vintages? There are many other companies who normally made good VP, who struggled to make a top notch VP in the 80’s.

But even the one company, Symington, who generally did well, or at least generally better than the others, also had ups and downs as well. Their 1985’s are largely below the very top standard of other years.

[Glenn E.]

1985 was not a great vintage

If by "great" you mean "classic" then I would agree, and in which case I'd say it's probably best categorized as low-end "excellent". There were a few very lovely Ports in 1985, but most are just very good to maybe excellent.

The 80s in general were down for The Fladgate Partnership with the notable exceptions of 1985 Fonseca and 1987 Taylor Vargellas - the Fonseca is arguably the best VP of that vintage and I typically place both in the top 3 for the entire decade. But 1985 Taylor is well below the Taylor standard and Croft is just an average VP.

However, 1985 was an excellent vintage (but not classic) for Symington Family Estates. Dow and Graham are outstanding, Gould Campbell and Smith Woodhouse are excellent, and for those who enjoy the Warre style it's also very good to excellent. 1985 Graham rounds out my top 3 of the decade, and is very close (for me) in quality to the 1985 Fonseca.

But you opened a Taylor. As you say, it has gone through ups and downs over the years, mostly down. I have had a couple of bottles that approached excellent, but most were merely what I'd call very good. They're not normally going to exceed 91 or maybe 92 points for me.

Interestingly, the UK has much better bottles of Taylor than we do here in the US. But the tradeoff is that they have significantly worse bottles of Fonseca than we do. Given that a good Taylor in London is only worth about an extra point for me, the loss of 2-3 points from their bottles of Fonseca is not a fair trade.

Why do people only speak of two companies when it comes to 1985? Or other 80’s vintages? There are many other companies who normally made good VP, who struggled to make a top notch VP in the 80’s.

But even the one company, Symington, who generally did well, or at least generally better than the others, also had ups and downs as well. Their 1985’s are largely below the very top standard of other years.

I can't speak for anyone else, but in my case it's because those 2 companies tend to be the standard-bearers when it comes to Vintage Port. If they don't declare, it's not a generally declared vintage. (And yes, I'm fully aware that "generally declared vintage" as a descriptor is falling out of use. But it was very much in use in the 1980s.)

You know full well that I've often argued that 1983 is the better vintage overall when others claim that 1985 was the best vintage of the decade (including Roy's Vintage Port Chart). 1985 has a handful of superior VPs that were declared, but 1983 has a better overall body of work. At the very least, which is the better vintage depends on how you define "best" because it's not completely clear either way. At least in my opinion.

Nor am I disagreeing with you that the 1980s were, overall, and down decade for Port. What I'm pointing out is that some companies did manage to make top-notch Port during that decade, specifically in 1985.

So I'm not sure what you're saying? Are you saying that even my labeling of 1985 as low-end "excellent" is wrong? The Symington "top standard of other years" that you're talking about would be, I assume, "classic" years? So you're agreeing with me, then, that 1985 isn't classic and is instead something less?

[Mike J. W.]

Ferreira Duque de Bragança 20 year-old tawny (bottled 2017). In my mind this is a benchmark, old school 20 y.o. Tawny. I love the style. Smoky, high acidity, good citrus and caramel elements and just the right amount of sweetness to balance it all out. It's smooth and delicious.

[Andy Velebil]

Ferreira Duque de Bragança 20 year-old tawny (bottled 2017). In my mind this is a benchmark, old school 20 y.o. Tawny. I love the style. Smoky, high acidity, good citrus and caramel elements and just the right amount of sweetness to balance it all out. It's smooth and delicious.

I do love this one. A fabulous 20 yr tawny. Sadly, it’s been a good while since I’ve had it.

[Jonathan S]

As of late:

5/20 - Warre’s Warrior
5/23 - Graham’s Six Grapes
5/26 - Taylor’s 1992 VP (375mL)
6/3 - Carvalhas 10-40 Tawny Sampler
6/4 - Quinta da Cadavinha 2005 VP


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