1975 Dow Vintage Port

[Peter W. Meek]

Had an odd one tonight.

We (Gang of Port) were sitting at the bar partaking of a couple of our favorite 20 yr tawnies, when Patrick the Bartender came up with a guy and said "These are the guys you want to talk to."

He said he had two bottles of port that his parents had brought him from Portugal as souvenirs 20 years ago. When he received them he had gone out and bought a couple of bottles of "ordinary port" (his words). Trying those, he decided he didn't like port as it was too sweet, and he is primarily interested in Cognac and Bourbon Whiskies anyway.

He had been keeping them horizontal, in a rack, in his kitchen for the past 20 years. He had brought them in his car, because Patrick had told him that there were a couple of Port Experts (????!!!) who would be in the bar on Wednesday evening. He brought them in and they were: a bottle of 1975 Dow's and a bottle of 1985 Barros. I didn't know anything about either particular vintage, but at least I recognized the Dow brand. I suggested that the Dow's was certainly ready to drink, and he might find he liked this better than the "ordinary" ports he had tried. He wanted to open it, and so we did.

I made a pretty production out of the opening, getting a ship decanter, funnel and coffee filter from Patrick. I carefully slit the capsule up two sides and removed it in good enough condition to photograph later. There was a second thin foil capsule under the seal which showed some light sign of dry seepage. Under the second capsule, the cork was fairly crusty. I drove my trusty Laguiole opener into the cork, which was very soft and punky, and began a very slow, careful pull. Moved easily to begin with; no sticking. Whenever the cork showed signs of separation, I drove the worm a little deeper. Finally, the last 1/4 inch of the cork crumbled and fell back into the bottle. The cork was fully and uniformly stained all the way to the top, and hard, with no expansion of the top half. I explained that this might not be good, since if wine was getting out, air was getting in.

I began a slow decant into the coffee filter, and the thin stream looked almost clear. I was getting worried that his souvenirs were going to be a disappointment and warned him. I kept pouring, and by the time I had been slowly pouring for 10-12 minutes, I think I had him hooked. (Anything worth that much concentration MUST be good.) In the decanter, it had a much better color -- quite orange, but not as pale as it had looked in the thin stream.

We poured glasses for him and the "gang" (and Patrick). The color was distinctly burnt orange with fully 3/8" to 1/2" of dead clear when tipped. On the nose, not so much; some heat. (Eva, my canary-in-the-mine, says no hint of TCA.) In the mouth, super hot - it really seemed almost like a full-strength spirit. On the palette, very complex. (You all know that I can't name any sensory effects, but there were a LOT of them.) Pleasant finish; not extremely long. This is VP the way I like it best, when it is almost like a tawny.

I had Patrick rinse the sediment (a lot) and bits of cork from the bottle, and poured it back from the decanter into the bottle and recorked it with a spare T-cap. I advised him to get some friends together tomorrow or Friday and enjoy it. I doubt it would last much longer than that, but the day or two in the bottle might resolve some of the alcohol heat.

I think I will tell Patrick (who sees him regularly) to tell him that the 85 Barros VP is probably ready to drink, as well. (Based on the single tasting note here.)

[Roy Hersh]

Great story and maybe you converted this guy into a Port drinker. Sometimes in older VPs, when exposed to oxygen, the color fades from the particulates dropping out (anthocyanins). The 1975 vintage is known for producing modest VPs in general and few that are really very good. The Ferreira comes to mind as one of my favorite exceptions. Glad you gave this bottle the attention it deserved and it would have been interesting to see if that spirit dissipated by the next night or was even more prominent as often happens when the fruit starts to fade. Thanks Peter!

[Daniel R.]

Excellent Port Evangelizing Peter!

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Peter,

I had the 1985 Barros a few months ago (I posted a TN on it) and found it to be quite good. I believe that your advice that it is probably ready to drink was sound. I would be surprised if the bottle that I had would have benefitted from any more aging. I wish I had more of it.

-- Gary

[Peter W. Meek]

... I believe that your advice that it is probably ready to drink was sound....

Actually that was your advice, as I based it on your TN.