For The Love Of Port

Each year for my birthday I lick to hold a tasting, sometimes more formal than others. This year I was out of town for my birthday, so 19 January became the date. This tasting was inspired by comments on this thread, where Roy suggested 1992 Taylor among others for sheer hedonism. I decided decadence instead of hedonism, and served marinated duck breasts with a Port-cherry sauce to go along with the Port. We started with a formal tasting, no food, then continued to drink with the main meal and desserts. Guests brought a variety of other foods, other wines, and Roy's brother Mitch brought a 2000 Taylor VP to finish out the lineup.

1955: Corney & Barrow Ltd. bottling. Tonged and decanted about 1 hour before tasting. Lots of nice dried fruit and some spice. Some heat, which was not too distracting, but enough that it was bested by the 1970. Faint wood. Nice but warm finish. Perhaps a longer decant would have allowed this one to show better? 92 points. (19 Jan 13)

1970: Decanted ~6 hours. Initially more subtle than the 1955, then some strawberry, and then lots of fruit with berries. There is a tamed warmth. Overall a very nice integration. 94 points. WOTN. (19 Jan 13)

1977: ~8 hour decant. A weaker showing than previous bottles tasted, with subtle fruit. This tasted more like a 1977 Warres than the strong flavor and body I would have expected. 90 points. (19 Jan 13)

1985: ~10 hour decant. Cinnamon, graph, and grape jam. Hot with some red berry in the mouth. Hot on the finish too. Not enough complexity, and Bette characterized it, among other things, as flabby. Marijke detected some lemon. 88 points. (19 Jan 13)

1992: 20 hour decant. Jammy, with lots of tannin. Some eucalyptus. Good body and a long finish. 93 points. (19 Jan 13)

2000: 8+ hour decant? Orange citrus and esteva to start, with some fig and raisin later. Initially I was not so impressed by this, but it really improved during the evening and was an excellent pairing with the duck with Port-cherry sauce. Must try this again in the future, with more bottle or decant time. 91 points. (19 Jan 13)

Only three attachments allowed for a post. Here's the dinner, and our friend Andrea with her favorites.

Thank you for sharing. Happy belated!
Have some 2000 Taylor that I've been too shy to touch, and in my mind gave up on it for the next 8-10 years, afraid I'd be wasting a potentially fantastic bottle.
Would you say it is still approachable, not closed yet?
Part of me just wants an excuse to open one of the bottles!

Happy Birthday!!! Sounds like a good time was had by all. I was intrigued by your tasting notes - in particular the 1970 taking WOTN over the 1955. I just had the '55 a couple of weeks ago and I though it to be sublime. I guess that its time to revisit the '70....

Looks marvelous! I wish I could have worked out a way to attend.

Was the 2000 closed? I can't really say since I've not had it before. Compared to other young Ports I've had, it wasn't quite as vibrant, so maybe that is the case.

As for the 1955 vs. 1970. I think the 1955 showed too much warmth, and it may be my fault for not giving it a longer decant. I tonged the bottle at the party, so it only had an hour in the decanter. Maybe if it had been in there longer that heat would have blown off a little more and it would have won. Also, I am but one person. It may very well have been the favorite of others. Perhaps next time I'll take a poll. And of course at these ages and bottles purchased at auction, storage conditions may have been a factor. As they say, there are no good vintages, just good bottles.

What's with the 20 hour decant time? I had to check you weren't talking about a 2011 Taylor's VP.

LIkely the 2000 and 1955 needed more time open. Looks like a great time was had by all!

Roy Hersh wrote:What's with the 20 hour decant time? I had to check you weren't talking about a 2011 Taylor's VP.

Given my experience with 1994, I thought it might need more time, not less. 20 hours was before I went to bed. If I had wanted less, the next increment would have been 14-12 hours. What would you recommend for 1992?

It is a very rare Port that I would ever suggest more than 12 hours. I also feel that if you do over-decant, considerably so (not saying you did) ... that the process can soften the wine to a point where it may be able to predict the future drinking window, due to the structure being changed, sometimes too dramatically.