1980 Gould Campbell Vintage Port

[Todd Pettinger]

Gould Campbell Vintage Port – 1980
Foil cap underneath the guarantee label and outer cap wrap. Cork came out in one piece with the exception of one tiny piece of fragment, which stuck to the side of the bottle, luckily it didn’t drop into the wine.

Decanted this one around 10:00 am out of a 375 mL bottle. Light ruby, tawny orange colour, bricking around the edges. Nose of cherries, licorice, brown sugar – very similar to an aged tawny, both with slightly more colour. A sample sip tells me this Port is likely already at or past its peak, it is very mellow, no bold, brash fruit left whatsoever.

+5 hours
Stole another ounce from the decanter, and although I don’t have the time to enjoy this right at the moment (still early in the afternoon) I feel this port may be ready right now and more decanter time may not have any desirable effect. The cherries are more to the candied side than the darker black cherry flavours I am so used to tasting in the VPs that I have tried. Jammy notes, sweet, very mellow. Alcohol is very integrated, virtually no heat on this at all.

+10 hours
The colour has undergone a bit of an evolution, changing to be a bit darker in the decanter and glass. Finally have time for a proper pour. Although the colour is slightly darker, tawny notes are still present, sweet and mellow. The alcohol is almost completely integrated, I could be sipping a juice cocktail.

Jammy raspberry, light cherries, grapes, slight hint of orange zest and assorted red berries are prevalent. The licorice taste has faded to but a memory. Short, undefined finish, with the alcohol content of this wine only becoming apparent by a slight tickle on the back of the tongue after a mouthful sits for a very long time.

Although I will leave one glass worth in the decanter to determine if there is any further change by tomorrow, I feel this one has done it’s trick and is not likely to show anything further.

It is a pleasant, light VP, with more tawny characteristics than Vintage Port. It could very well be a Colheita (a young one of likely 10 years.) It is definitely bottom tier for what I have had this year for VP, I for the here-and-now, I rate this a 4. Where is it going? Clearly it is at or past its peak, so another 10 years is likely to tawny it out even more. If you are looking for a Colheita/Tawny, this is a good candidate, but for a VP, I have to say I was disappointed. It rates a 3 for long term, so 4-3 on the Tom scale. Perhaps an 85 or possible 84 on the 100 pt scale.

Todd

[Todd Pettinger]

+35 hours
No further change to the colour but the nose has undergone a change for the worse – much more alcohol is present. Not terrible, but not overly promising.

The last glass has been poured and the decanter sits empty. Yikes. As suggested by the nose, disjointed spirit, very strong and prevalent. Not so nice. This sure doesn’t seem to have held together all that well. In fact, the alcohol really destroys the few things that this VP had going for it.

I’m going to bump my rating down to 3-1. Drink ‘em if ya got’em… Another ten years and there is unlikely to be anything that resembles Vintage Port left in the bottle, it’ll be all tawny. (Maybe a nice tawny, but if it is not what you are expecting, it would be a bit of a disappointment.)

Fortunately I only have one bottle of this (375 again) remaining. That will have to be consumed fairly quickly.

Todd