What have you opened this week?

[Mike J. W.]

150 year old Tawny Port cask sample. Unreleased yet.

1982 Graham's Single Harvest Tawny Port bottled 2018

Dos Santos 10 year old White Port

1957 Niepoort Colheita - bottled 1976

How was the 1957 Niepoort Colheita? (That's my birth year)

What about the Dos Sanntos 10 year old white? I've seen their whites and tawnies online recently buy haven't tried any.

I can hazard a guess where the 150 year old Tawny is from.

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Mike:

How was the 1957 Niepoort Colheita? (That's my birth year) - mine too. While there will be a TN in the newsletter #125, as it is already written, I can say that it was a top performer and compared to other bottles, more light-medium ruby color mixed with tawny. But wonderful overall. That said, it was given to me by Daniel Niepoort when he was at my home 2 weeks ago, for the interview for the newsletter. He asked me to blind taste with that bottle when having dinner with an employee of his company, that is a close friend of mine: Stefano Marello, who used to live a few miles away from me in WA State, before he moved back here. The bottle was wrapped before we went to his house and as he knew it was a Niepoort from the bottle size/shape, I just undid the foil and we drank it except for about six ounces which he told me to take home to write a solid note, which I did a couple of nights later.

What about the Dos Santos 10 year old white? I've seen their whites and tawnies online recently buy haven't tried any. - For a 10 White, it is good with solid weight and depth of aromatics and flavors. I'd put it in the middle of the category in terms of overall drinking pleasure, but the aromatics stood out for me and the length was also above average.

I can hazard a guess where the 150 year old Tawny is from. - Doubtful. It has never been mentioned anywhere, yet.

See you in a few weeks, unless something goes wrong at the airport.

[Al B.]

Kopke 2010 White Colheita - it’s OK but I’d prefer the 10 or 20YO blend.

Poças’s 1996 Colheita - big, young and still very fruit driven.

1965 Quinta de Vargellas - rather nice, mature and very easy drinking (but not as good as the Dow 1963 also opened that not, but not by me).

1963 Quinta do Noval Nacional - still so young and so full of primary redcurrant. Glorious wine, but needed 24 hours to really open up properly.

[Glenn E.]

1995 Porto Souza Vintage Port

My wife's aunt's book club read the book Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, which contains several references to Vintage Port that create a theme of connection between characters. They asked me to come to their club meeting and have a short discussion about Port, and I thought this would be a nice VP to have while having the discussion.

[Mike J. W.]

Kopke 2010 White Colheita - it’s OK but I’d prefer the 10 or 20YO blend.

Poças’s 1996 Colheita - big, young and still very fruit driven.

1965 Quinta de Vargellas - rather nice, mature and very easy drinking (but not as good as the Dow 1963 also opened that not, but not by me).

1963 Quinta do Noval Nacional - still so young and so full of primary redcurrant. Glorious wine, but needed 24 hours to really open up properly.

Alex, if you can still find the 2008 or 2003 Kopke White Colheita, they are very good. I especially like the 2008. I'm not a huge fan of Kopke's WWAIOA. To me, they seem to be lacking. Their White Colheitas on the other hand are pretty good. Of course we all like what we like, so go figure.

[Mike J. W.]

Enologo 40 y.o. Tawny. It's very good and it tastes like I'm drinking a glass of smoky, woody, Maple syrup / Butterscotch.