For The Love Of Port

1987 Feist. Not expecting much but when I sipped the last 1/4 inch when decanting it was marvelous right out of the bottle. Good color, too, looks like its 10-15 years old, not 32. Stay tuned!

'87 could have been the best vintage of that decade, but after declaring '83 and '85 declaring wasn't an option for the mainstream blends. Then, after passing on '87 came a long wait for a sound year.

The gods were not with the producers that decade..

Warre '75 VP. Not a noted year and this Warre's shows why. The bottle was in great condition, but it was nothing to write home about at all. It's a little off, but I can't put my finger on it. Probably an 87 or 88 at best.

I had taken a flyer on two bottles of this in an auction because they were so ridiculously cheap. Now I understand why.

Mike J. W. wrote:Warre '75 VP. Not a noted year and this Warre's shows why. The bottle was in great condition, but it was nothing to write home about at all. It's a little off, but I can't put my finger on it. Probably an 87 or 88 at best.

I had taken a flyer on two bottles of this in an auction because they were so ridiculously cheap. Now I understand why.

Some of you guys did taste the Warre 70 VP recently? Is it still worth buying?

Mike J. W. wrote:Warre '75 VP. Not a noted year and this Warre's shows why. ... I had taken a flyer on two bottles of this in an auction because they were so ridiculously cheap. Now I understand why.

I took a flyer on two 1975 Cockburns and was pleasantly surprised. I put a score of 91 on one of them. I've also tasted 1975 Taylor, which I scored 92. I'm not going to rush out and buy more, and they will have to be pretty cheap (and look nice) to consider, but I've not given up on them completely.

Mike J. W. wrote:Warre '75 VP. Not a noted year and this Warre's shows why. The bottle was in great condition, but it was nothing to write home about at all. It's a little off, but I can't put my finger on it. Probably an 87 or 88 at best.

I had taken a flyer on two bottles of this in an auction because they were so ridiculously cheap. Now I understand why.

The 75 vintage has gone through a roller coaster reputation. When we held horizontals for both 85 and then 75 in close succession four years ago, no-one was in any doubt that '75 was the better of the two.

I have suspected in the past that there was more than one bottling of W75 as for a while some were awkwardly hot, while others had no fire at all. However, this might be evolutionary, I've not had enough recent encounters to be sure. My most recent encounters have been fire free.

Bram C wrote:Some of you guys did taste the Warre 70 VP recently? Is it still worth buying?

Across the board, hardly any 70's are fading, only Butler Nephew and Dalva seem to be tiring. Warre '70 varies between the glorious to the not really mature yet..

For an open-all-the-stops Port Fest last week, I opened bottles of Quinta do Noval 1978, Taylor 1963, Graham 1954, Cockburn 1947, Fonseca 1945, Martinez 1922 and a 1960s bottling of Niepoort VV.

It was quite a tasting!

Martinez '55

One of the Martinez greats. Still wonderfully dark, it could pass for half it's age, and still full and elegant. Good for a century+ this one. Score 9-9

Dow Crusted '99 - Pop and pour tasted like an Entenmann's Danish and as time went on, blueberry and floral notes came out. Hoping to see more evolution tonight.

Alex,

A friend from Pittsburgh with a cellar of over 60,000 bottles was also one to appreciate the occasional Port, with a modest high end stash of between 50-60 cases of VP in his collection. Sadly he died shortly before FTLOP began and his wife sold off his entire wine cellar and only held back 200-300 bottles of top wines to consume with her friends. Oddly, many began with names that started with "La" (as in Latour, La Tache, La Mission Haut Brion, La Chapelle Hermitage, Lafite Rotschild, Guigal's La Landonne, La Turque and La Mouline etc.) but just one mixed case of legendary Port bottles. The very last time I saw her, in 2001, I asked why she loved bottles that began with La. She laughed and said, "because Frank told me that if they started with "La" they were always great."

He used to tell me that his favorite Vintage Port that he ever tasted was the 1922 Martinez and he followed up by buying six of them in the early 1970's. Unfortunately, he left none behind and had consumed his six before we ever met

I've never seen one and certainly never tasted one. So may I please live vicariously through your recounting of your recent bottle? Was it really as great as Frank used to wax poetic, about this particular Port?

The only Port I've had since returning to Seattle after the harvest tour, was a 1985 Fonseca Vintage Port.

Roy Hersh wrote: He used to tell me that his favorite Vintage Port that he ever tasted was the 1922 Martinez and he followed up by buying six of them in the early 1970's. Unfortunately, he left none behind and had consumed his six before we ever met

I've never seen one and certainly never tasted one. So may I please live vicariously through your recounting of your recent bottle? Was it really as great as Frank used to wax poetic, about this particular Port?

Although I've only had it twice, Mz22 was no star turn. W22 is better, now, at any rate..

Tom Archer wrote:

Roy Hersh wrote: He used to tell me that his favorite Vintage Port that he ever tasted was the 1922 Martinez and he followed up by buying six of them in the early 1970's. Unfortunately, he left none behind and had consumed his six before we ever met

I've never seen one and certainly never tasted one. So may I please live vicariously through your recounting of your recent bottle? Was it really as great as Frank used to wax poetic, about this particular Port?

Although I've only had it twice, Mz22 was no star turn. W22 is better, now, at any rate..

I can attest that Martinez 1922 was very good. It was confirmed by a second bottle a few days later.

1970 Graham VP

Croft 85

Decanted last night, the initial smell of varnish made me consider tipping it down the sink. Sampled last night, but the nose remained awful. This evening the varnish has virtually disappeared however, but this is no star. Worst VP of the year to date, score 0-0

Tom Archer wrote:Martinez '55

One of the Martinez greats. Still wonderfully dark, it could pass for half it's age, and still full and elegant. Good for a century+ this one. Score 9-9

Curiously, a leaking Martinez 55 is the first bottle I have rewaxed (last week), using your marvelous method. Thanks :)

1994 Ferreira. Medium weight, fragrant and it goes down easily. It was delicious.

1970 Graham. Very nice, and this bottle was likely at peak drinking but would probably have stayed there for some time.

Gary Richardson wrote:1970 Graham. Very nice, and this bottle was likely at peak drinking but would probably have stayed there for some time.

My thoughts as well. These are at or very nearly at peak, and will probably hold on that plateau for another 15 years. Very nice Port. One of the best of the vintage for me.

1963 Croft Vintage. Consumed over two days. Day two was quite mellow. I thought the heat would've persisted longer. 6-7 hours open was the sweet spot.