For The Love Of Port

Decanted 8 hours, consumed 6-16-13, perfect cork.

Nose is full of fresh berries, but that is masked by a lot of alcohol.

The palate is medium weight, with good fresh red and black fruits, a nicely integrated and pleasant sweet black olive character, and a good minerality that seems both acid and tannin driven. There is a vague hint of vegetal nature as well, but nothing i can really put a finger on. It seems to add a freshness rather than be a downside. The alcohol is still a big sticking point, though and really detracts. Plenty of length, and probably a good decade ahead of it.

On a quirky side note, it actually pairs very well with guacamole and tortilla chips, the cool vintage nature matches a bit of green with green, and the sweetness matches the saltiness really well. Color me shocked, haha.

88 Pts.

FYI on day two, the alcohol didn't integrate any better, in fact, probably a bit worse. Apparently not a decant issue.

I last had this almost exactly a year ago, in a small vertical of Roriz' at the Quinta. I thought this was quite nice and drinking well at the moment, with some moderate aging potential ahead still. Not a blockbuster, but what I thought is a good mid-term drinker as you wait for 2007 or 2011 to come around. I didn't get any of the overt heat you seem to be getting though.

Perhaps an off bottle. The rest of the wine is certainly a pleasant mid term drinker as the other notes suggest.