What have you opened this week?

[Bradley Bogdan]

1985 Taylor VP

[Glenn E.]

1985 Taylor VP

Was it as good as the Brits say?

[Bradley Bogdan]

1985 Taylor VP

Was it as good as the Brits say?

Tough to say, I should send it up to you for eval!

[Bradley Bogdan]

'00 Broadbent VP

[Andy Velebil]

1975 Sandeman VP which must of had some issues as it was really oxidized. Oh well.

[Allan Engelsted Laurents]

Kopke 30 years bottled in 1995, very Nice ended.
Allan

[Eric Menchen]

Not a Port per se, but 1997 Rancho Zabaco Cab Sauv Port, Northern Sonoma. Fairly oxidized and slightly cooked, it reminds me a little of a Ficklin.

[Eric Ifune]

Also opened a 30 year old Krohn. A 1952 Moreira Colheita as well.

[Bradley Bogdan]

Not a Port per se, but 1997 Rancho Zabaco Cab Sauv Port, Northern Sonoma. Fairly oxidized and slightly cooked, it reminds me a little of a Ficklin.

A description that would fit the last zin of theirs I tried. Not my fav producer.

[Gary Richardson]

1955 Taylor Vintage: As a VP, this was a disappointment. Had gone totally tawny. However, everyone enjoyed it for what it was.
1952 Delaforce Colheita: Delicious, as always
1985 Fonseca Vintage: Shockingly young. I have 1 bottle of this left that I will not touch for another 20 years.

These were for a dinner party and I had originally intended to bring a VP and a Colheita. Because of the condition of the Taylor, I opened the Fonseca. So, ended up bringing 1 Colheita, 1 VP and 1 accidental tawny. Still, a success on all fronts.

-- Gary

[Glenn E.]

1976 Porto Rocha Colheita. We had some friends over for dinner (BBQ pulled pork sandwiches) and needed something to sip while talking after we finished eating. It was perfect at cellar temp on a warm evening.

It was just a little bit hot at the start (pop-n-pour) but that settled down very quickly. An excellent 38-yr old Colheita! Not up to the level of the 1976 Krohn, but then again not much is.

[Roy Hersh]

Gary R. wrote:

1955 Taylor Vintage: As a VP, this was a disappointment. Had gone totally tawny. However, everyone enjoyed it for what it was.
1952 Delaforce Colheita: Delicious, as always
1985 Fonseca Vintage: Shockingly young. I have 1 bottle of this left that I will not touch for another 20 years

The 1955 Taylor is a mixed bag. Sometimes you get a GREAT bottle (Michael Broadbent's all-time favorite Port ... for some reason) and others you have these bottle variation issues. I've seen both sides of this coin, although at its best, I would still put a handful of other vintages in front of 1955 for Taylor.

The 1952 is about as good as you'll find from Delaforce Colheitas although the 1944 is no slouch either.

1985 Fonseca .. "shockingly" young? We've all been talking about its youth and power since FTLOP came into being.


Glad you had 3 bottles in one night, way to go, Gary!

[Roy Hersh]

As Glenn should be here in a few moments, I can hit "submit" feeling pretty sure he won't see this b4 arrival now.

I will be blinding him on 2012 Quinta do Noval VP. I am sure he'll be pretty close on the vintage. Then again, I'd never guess the producer right either.

[Gary Richardson]

Gary R. wrote:

1955 Taylor Vintage: As a VP, this was a disappointment. Had gone totally tawny. However, everyone enjoyed it for what it was.
1952 Delaforce Colheita: Delicious, as always
1985 Fonseca Vintage: Shockingly young. I have 1 bottle of this left that I will not touch for another 20 years

The 1955 Taylor is a mixed bag. Sometimes you get a GREAT bottle (Michael Broadbent's all-time favorite Port ... for some reason) and others you have these bottle variation issues. I've seen both sides of this coin, although at its best, I would still put a handful of other vintages in front of 1955 for Taylor.

The 1952 is about as good as you'll find from Delaforce Colheitas although the 1944 is no slouch either.

1985 Fonseca .. "shockingly" young? We've all been talking about its youth and power since FTLOP came into being.


Glad you had 3 bottles in one night, way to go, Gary!

On the 1985 Fonseca ... Yes, I knew from the tasting notes that this has a lot of life left. But when you open an inky purple fruit bomb that is nearly 30 years old ... it is still a surprise.

[Glenn E.]

As Glenn should be here in a few moments, I can hit "submit" feeling pretty sure he won't see this b4 arrival now.

I will be blinding him on 2012 Quinta do Noval VP. I am sure he'll be pretty close on the vintage. Then again, I'd never guess the producer right either.

And, in fact, I commented that while it seemed a bit dry and had good acidity, it didn't seem to be the kind of acidity that I associate with high concentrations of Sousao in the blend.

(Noval may have as much as 40% Sousao in the blend...)

Oh well. The 2012 part wasn't too hard, considering that the port was totally opaque to within about 1/4" of the rim!

[Marc J.]

1977 Kopke Colheita

[David Spriggs]

S. Leonardo 40 Year Old Tawny Port.
Amazing stuff!!

[Miguel Simoes]

Opened a Ferreira 20 as well. Hadnt had it in a while.

[Ivan Madsen]

Dows Vintage 2011

[Andy Velebil]

At a friends right now and we just decanted a 1995 Quinta do Tedo VP for tonight. :)