1970 Niepoort Vintage Port

[Eric Menchen]

Red with some amber, slight bricking at the edge. Some cloudiness, perhaps caused by the bottle being recently transported? Some VA and heat in the aroma, which otherwise initially presented as very subtle. Sweet red berry and chocolate, almost milk chocolate. Lots of red berry in the mouth, and still a bit of tannin. Medium thick body. Long finish. Oscar Quevedo later served this to me blind in comparison with a 1970 Fonseca VP. At that time I noticed a lot of eucalyptus and aromas I typically associate with a younger Port. I was surprised this was the same VP that initially presented with muted aromas. Wonderful bottle. 95 points.

Decant time? I don't know, but I probably tasted this around 7-8 p.m., so perhaps we can calculate this with an input from Andy.

[Andy Velebil]

It was decanted about 6 hours by that point. I didn't take any formal notes, but this was a very good showing of this and I'd agree with Eric's score.

[Roy Hersh]

I love the 1970 Niepoort but you've all heard that before. It is one of the most under-rated if not THE Port from 1970 that deserves that title and is always so hard to come by.

[Andy Velebil]

I posted elsewhere that I liked this bottle a little more than the 1970 Fonseca that we had side by side with this one. And this Niepoort was from the "regular" type bottle, not the short squat bottle that is normally seen from this vintage of Niepoort. and from what I'm told the short squat bottle is even a touch better.

[Marc J.]

This was a fine showing of the '70 Niepoort and I'd say that Eric's notes are spot on with my impressions as well.

Marc