For The Love Of Port

Decant: 2½ hours - English bottled by Justerini & Brooks; purchased via auction from a notable collector. Slightly deeper colour than the regular '31 vintage tasted alongside it but otherwise an identical dark brown centre with orange rim. On lifting this to my nose I felt my heart sink. The nose was dominated by thick, black treacle and cabbage soup. I have smelt similar in other wines and have always put this down to bottle stink - which has blown off after a few hours but we didn't have a few hours. What a disappointment. Little immediate flavour on entry, but a thick and lovely texture. The mid-palate brings the bottle stink flavours, but behind these are leather, roasted meat and a touch of heat. The aftertaste glides in slowly , building on a gentle structure of fruit. What a shame about the bottle stink that started to fade by the time we left but was still the dominant feature. This caused me to mark the wine much lower than it might have achieved, but I couldn't really get past it. Shame. 7/7 on Tom's scale. 90 points