20 Year Old Tawny Port by Fonseca

[Todd Pettinger]

Posted in the August Virtual Tasting Forum, now reposted here.
Fonseca Twenty Year Old Tawny – NV

Upon opening, there is so much red colour in this port that I had to check to be sure I had actually bought the 20 and not the 10 yr. Light ruby red, with tawny orange only evident at the edges as you tip the glass towards the light.

Initially almost nothing on the nose. I had to strain to bring fourth any aromas at all, and decided that this Tawny would receive the decanter treatment for it’s cheekiness. Typically I do not decanter Aged Tawny, despite reading, particularly from some folks here whose opinions I respect very much, that every port should be decanted, from the ‘lowly’ Ruby to the highest end VP. We’ll see if that makes a difference in the aromatics.

Tried a small glass straight out of the bottle. There is a small bite of acidity present, weak flavours of oak and vanilla. Very little of anything else. This may need some time before anything at all shows up. Fortunately, I’m patient!

+1 day
The nose appears to have opened up with a day of air, allowing some nice wood smells through. Still not as many tawny characteristics as expected, no butterscotch or caramel, very little brown sugar notes or even orange as I experience in many others, particularly 20 yr tawnies. A touch of acidity and alcohol on the mid-palate, the alcohol disappears in the finish. Seems to be a touch more mellow than yesterday.

+3 days
Slight colour evolution to more of the brown that one would expect from a 20 year. While the wine is very mellow, it still displays a bit of alcohol that detracts from the overall enjoyment. Less sweet than the typical tawny, this seems to have evolved from what would have been initially a bit more of a dry port. Mellow on the finish, with some heat in the mid-palate, it is a good 20 year tawny, but not a great one.

While I would buy it again for a “horizontal” tasting of 10 and 20 year ports, I am not sure that this port will ever find a home in my stable of aged tawnies that I buy on a consistent basis.

+4 days
I have to say that I believe that this is the best showing of this port. It has taken 4 days, but it is finally displaying as I believed it should. This is a curious example of a 20 year old tanwy… It has none of the characteristics that I find so appealing in a typical 20 year old tawny. I want to dislike it because if this, but find myself oddly drawn back to the wine, perhaps because it does not show the same as other 20 year tawnies.

It has, curiously, not evolved nearly as much as I believed it would have, it has some strength in the mid- and back-palate, strong vanilla, balanced acidity, and a balanced sweetness that leaves a good, solid Aged Tawny. Some raisins are now detectable on the nose, though are not dominating as in other aged tawnies. Strangely enough the dominating flavour is “liquid Graham Crackers.” This has to be a first.


Todd