Tawny Recommendations

[JacobH]

In a way somewhat stereotypical of my nationality, I tend not to drink much of the wood-aged stuff. Indeed, looking at my notes, the only one I’ve had in 2008 was a 1986 Delaforce Colheita. It appears I haven’t drunk any blended tawnies at all; for whatever reason made sense at the time, I’ve always opened a bottle of Madeira or Marsala instead.

Anyway, having a look on the internet, there seems to be a bit of a dearth of recommendations for tawnies. Whilst I’m quite happy to try random bottle-aged Ports, I drink so little of the tawnies that I think I’d prefer a higher strike rate! I was therefore wondering if I could solicit some advice here, and see what 10 and 20 year old tawnies people rate the highest? Say, something like a top five of 10 and 20 year-olds?

Thanks!

-Jacob

[Glenn E.]

Jacob,

My personal favorite as far as 20-yr olds goes is Ramos Pinto's Quinta do Bom Retiro. It has never failed me and is easily my favorite juice.

Prior to discovering the RP, my favorite was the Porto Rocha 20-yr old. It is still top of the line as far as I am concerned, but since I like the RP better and can generally find them for about the same price, I buy the RP.

I have also had the Barros and Kopke 20-yr olds but wasn't terribly impressed by either. (They weren't bad, they just didn't stand out as excellent either.) According to Fernando, the master blender at Kopke/Barros/Rocha/Burmester, they rate the Kopke first followed by the Rocha and the Barros. (He didn't mention where the Burmester fits in.) I would switch the top two and put the Rocha on top. What's strange about it is that in the US, the Barros is easily the most expensive and the Rocha is typically the least expensive.

One 20-yr old that I would still like to try some day soon is the Ferreira Duque de Braganca. It's supposed to be exceptional as well, but I have yet to see it in a store anywhere. One of these days I'll give up and just order it on the internet.

As far as 10-yr olds go, I like both the Ramos Pinto Quinta do Ervamoira and the Niepoort. For me that's about it - 10-yr olds are still too young for me. I'll recommend that you avoid Warre's Otima 10-yr old. I have never had a good glass of that stuff, but you see it everywhere.

[JacobH]

Glenn,

Thanks for that: it’s extremely useful. I’ll keep an eye out for those! I think part of the problem is knowing which are the generally good shippers for tawny: I think they tend to be quite different from the solid LBV/VP ones.

I had the Otima 10 y/o last year. I didn’t find it unpleasant but it didn’t really taste like Port to me! IIRC Roy is quite keen on the 20 y/o version of it (which I think he said tastes completely different?), though I’ve never seen it for sale over here.

[Andy Velebil]

jacob,

The Ferreira 20 year old is probably one of the best you can find in this particular category and worth searching out. Other 20 yr olds I like are the Graham's, Sandeman, Niepoort (but can be really expensive), Otima, and the Ramos Pinto.

Kopke, Burmester, Rocha, Barros make very good colheita's. I do believe in Roy's recent report (either part 1 or part 2) of the harvest trip last year there is a review of lots Burmester Colheita's.

As you experienced the Otima 10 year is quite a disappointment compared to the 20 yr Otima, which is very good and worth getting.

[Moses Botbol]

My favorites are:

Ferreira 10 & 20 - everyone will tell you these are great ones
Ramos Pinto 10 & 20 - everyone will tell you these are great ones
Sandeman 20 - a wonderful tawny is my go to brand, class product!
Delaforce 10 - a little over the top in the vanilla& caramel, but cetainly yummy and hard to stop drinking.
Dow 20 - always been on my favorite list and a while since I tried last, perhaps more chocolate and fruit notes than the other 20's show, and not as sweet.

[JacobH]

Thanks, Andy and Moses. I haven’t seen much Ferreira for sale around here, but my favourite independent wine merchant has the 10 (and 30) year-old Ramos Pintos, so I might start there and then seek some of the others out (though at my usual rate, it’ll probably take me a few years to work through most of the list!).

[Andy Velebil]

(though at my usual rate, it’ll probably take me a few years to work through most of the list!).

Thats what I said about 4 years ago :lick:

[JacobH]

I picked up the Ramos Pinto 10 year-old this afternoon (having just spent rather too much money on an English flageolet on ebay, I left the 30 year-old on the shelf for a return visit…).

It’s certainly more interesting than any other 10 year-olds I’ve had in the past…there’s a complexity to the flavours that I wasn’t expecting from quite a young wine. I’ll post a full Tasting Note once I’ve had some more time to contemplate it and to see how it develops. I’m not sure I’m quite getting that transcendent feeling I associate with a great VP, though! :help:

-Jacob

[Glenn E.]

I’m not sure I’m quite getting that transcendent feeling I associate with a great VP, though!

You probably won't. I don't, at least. For me, Tawnies and Colheitas give a more sublime and/or mellow experience. They're more comforting and pleasant to me, even at the extreme end of the scale. I suppose that could be described as trancendental in its own way, but it's a very different experience than a VP.

Rubies and VP pack that "wow" factor. They're exciting, explosive, extraordinary, and lots of other ex-words.

Of course, I can't really compare a great colheita experience to a great VP experience because I have had far better colheitas than VPs. The best I can claim VP-wise is a 1970 Taylor - no slouch, mind you - but it just isn't on the same level as the 1906 Brunheda Colheita.

[JacobH]

I’m not sure I’m quite getting that transcendent feeling I associate with a great VP, though!

You probably won't. I don't, at least. For me, Tawnies and Colheitas give a more sublime and/or mellow experience. They're more comforting and pleasant to me, even at the extreme end of the scale. I suppose that could be described as trancendental in its own way, but it's a very different experience than a VP.

Rubies and VP pack that "wow" factor. They're exciting, explosive, extraordinary, and lots of other ex-words.

Of course, I can't really compare a great colheita experience to a great VP experience because I have had far better colheitas than VPs. The best I can claim VP-wise is a 1970 Taylor - no slouch, mind you - but it just isn't on the same level as the 1906 Brunheda Colheita.

On reflection, the phrase “great VP” was fairly inappropriate (I think originally, I was going to type LB/SQ/VP which would been more accurate if unintelligible). Interestingly, I find there’s a certain subliminal element to the interplay of the flavours in even a high quality ruby-coloured Port in this price range, especially as the bottle-aged Ports can produce such vivid impressions of other fruits. That said, I agree it’s not a mellow experience!

[John Owlett]

I was therefore wondering if I could solicit some advice here, and see what 10 and 20 year old tawnies people rate the highest?

Hi Jacob,

Do you still live in London or within easy reach of it? The reason I ask is that I am a fan of Berrys' "William Pickering" 20-year-old Tawny Port -

http://www.bbr.com/db/product/10005B/Wi ... -Old-Tawny

- and think it would be well worth a trip to St James's to buy a bottle.

Later,

Dr Owl

----------------------------
John Owlett, Southampton, UK

[JacobH]

I was therefore wondering if I could solicit some advice here, and see what 10 and 20 year old tawnies people rate the highest?

Hi Jacob,

Do you still live in London or within easy reach of it? The reason I ask is that I am a fan of Berrys' "William Pickering" 20-year-old Tawny Port -

http://www.bbr.com/db/product/10005B/Wi ... -Old-Tawny

- and think it would be well worth a trip to St James's to buy a bottle.

Later,

Dr Owl

Yes, I do, so thanks for the tip. Do you know how it compares to the regular Quinta do Noval 20 year-old?

[John Owlett]

Sorry, Jacob. I don't.

[JacobH]

A status report: My bottle of Ramos Pinto was interrupted by a trip to Middle East, with the last glass or so having a fortnight in the fridge before consumption. Thankfully, such treatment was not completely terminal to my ability to enjoy it, and the last bit was still reasonably drinkable on my return. I thought it was worth following it up with another bottle of tawny so I opened a Gould Campbell 10 Year Old which I’d picked up at quite a low price (despite it not being recommended here!). The colour is more tawny than the Ramos Pinto: it looks older, but this is not matched by an increase in complexity of flavour. I’m still not entirely convinced by the Tawny thing, but might try some 20 year-olds to see whether I’m more attracted to the older ones.

-Jacob

[Todd Pettinger]

Jacob - I suspect you will enjoy the complexity/concentration of flavours moreso in a 20 year Tawny than a 10 year. The extra decade (ish) of time it spends in cask seems to really bring out a smooth flavour that is simply unattainable in any of the 10 yr blends I have tried.

I also have never tried the GC 10 Yr. Did you post a TN on it?

Todd

[JacobH]

Jacob - I suspect you will enjoy the complexity/concentration of flavours moreso in a 20 year Tawny than a 10 year. The extra decade (ish) of time it spends in cask seems to really bring out a smooth flavour that is simply unattainable in any of the 10 yr blends I have tried.

I also have never tried the GC 10 Yr. Did you post a TN on it?

Thanks. I’ll let you know how I get on. There often isn’t a big selection of 20 year-olds in wine merchants around here but I intend picking up a Ferreira or Ramos-Pinto, or one of the others recommended, when I see it.

Will attempt to post a TN on the Gould Campbell later tonight, after another few glasses. The reason I eventually backed away from posting one for the Ramos-Pinto is that I don’t really drink enough of this to be able to pull out the note-worthy flavours but I’ll give it go!

-Jacob

[Moses Botbol]

The Dow 20 is more "vintage" like than other 20 years I have had. At one point I did not like tawny so much and that was my favorit tawny. Been a while since I have had it, but worth a shot unless someone else has updated tasting notes.

[Andy Velebil]

[quote="JacobH
Will attempt to post a TN on the Gould Campbell later tonight, after another few glasses. The reason I eventually backed away from posting one for the Ramos-Pinto is that I don’t really drink enough of this to be able to pull out the note-worthy flavours but I’ll give it go!

-Jacob[/quote]
jacob,

please do post a tasting note. There is no right or wrong way to do it, just put down what you got out of it, or how you felt about it.

[JacobH]

please do post a tasting note. There is no right or wrong way to do it, just put down what you got out of it, or how you felt about it.

I’ll do my best; though the problem with Tawnies is that my main thoughts are “hmm...this tastes like a Tawny Port...”!

[Todd Pettinger]

please do post a tasting note. There is no right or wrong way to do it, just put down what you got out of it, or how you felt about it.

I’ll do my best; though the problem with Tawnies is that my main thoughts are “hmm...this tastes like a Tawny Port...”!

I think I speak for everyone when I say "that's okay." I enjoy even reading TNs that say nothing more than "wow is this good!" or "Hey, this had way too much spirit on opening to drink but the alcohol seemed to integrate after about 4 hours."

To me, these types of comments in the TNs are very helpful and based upon the experience of others, can help me determine when I will serve a particular Port for it to show best.