March 2007 Virtual Tasting : Get a Vintage Port from 1980

[Frederick Blais]

Sorry for starting this topic a bit later than usual. This is the thread to post you tasting notes for the March edition.

Tanker you might want to copy paste your comments here so they are all at the same spot.

[Luc Gauthier]

Joined: 29 Dec 2006
Posts: 40
Location: Montréal , Canada
Posted: 05 Mar 2007 15:54 Post subject:

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Had a Grahams '80 at my father in laws B-day
Upon reaching the cork , the sides of the bottle were crusty .
The top of the cork had a greenish substance ( mouldy ) .
My heart sank . . .
Decanted at noon .
Susprisingly very little tannins .
Very little change , except for a dark burgandy .
At eight p.m. , seemed to open up ( sweet odor )
I now see that 1980 VP's can be hit an miss
16.5/20
_________________
Luc

[Al B.]

This was a bottle that Sean gave me to bring home to the UK. I must admit that when we drank the same wine together in Boston 3 weeks ago, neither of us were at our best.

Decanted 2½ hours from a bottle with considerable sediment in the base but where the cork fell into the bottle as soon as I touched the surface with the corkscrew. My guess is that the condsiderable wax protection for the cork has also protected the wine from becoming too exposed to air.

This was the colour of a 10 year old tawny wine, a lovely glowing mahogany colour. The smell of the wine was warm and inviting, reminding me of freshly cut Cox' Orange Pippin apples - the small and really sweet ones - with a massive dose of spearmint.

In the mouth the initial impact is a little empty, just a dose of sweetness. The wine is suprisingly thick. After a few moments the mid-palate develops layers of compexity, bringing masses of butterscotch and toffee.

The aftertaste of chocolate and bitter hazlenuts is long and flavoursome.

Overall, this is a very pleasant and easy-drinking port, but is atypical for the vintage from the very few other wines I have drunk recently. This wine is drinking very nicely now and will probably continue to drink well for the next 5-10 years if the wine in other "upright" bottles is protected from excessive oxidation by the wax seals. 88/100 or 5/5 on Tom's scale.

Having written this tasting note and then going back to the one I took in February when Sean, Moses and I drank this wine together I note that I gave the wine a higher score after Sean had allowed the wine 12 hours in the decanter. Perhaps this is a wine than benefits from more decanter time than I allowed it.

Alex

[John Danza]

I had a Warre 1980 tonight. It was a little bit of a strange bird and would love to have some feedback on it. Notes are broken down by just after decanting and then 5 hours later.

Just after decanting: The nose is like cherry soda, with the fruit and the affect on the nostrils. Kind of strange. Is this a taint with a sweet wine? Anyway, on the palate the wine exhibited red berries, mostly raspberries, and also displayed some heat from the spirits. The color was a medium red, starting to go to a brick red due to age.

After 5 hours: Same nose, that cherry soda smell. On the palate, the spirit head has dissipated. There is some light tannins that are well integrated, and a flavor of cherries.

UPDATE: After 24 hours, there has been only a little change. The overall taste of the wine is much more integrated. It is only medium sweet, so it went well with cheese and with a vinagrette salad this evening. I'm glad I have two more, which I'll consume this year.

Overall, the wine is fully mature and won't gain anything more from further ageing. Time to drink up.

[Frederick Blais]

I did open my Graham's 1980 tonight. Uppon decanting there was a strange smell, almost like dead animal After 3 hours it was gone to give place to some nice flavours of ripe plumms, raisins, dried figs and very tobacco. On the palate, its very smooth, red berries flavour dominate with licorice, plums and alcool macerated cinamon red cherries on the finale which shows interesting after taste of figs and toffey. 16/20

It was an interesting Port but lacking the layers of flavours and the intesity I did get from the same Port at graham's lodge this last fall. I'll revisit it tomorrow.

[Jay Powers]

1980 Taylors: Decanted cleanly from a solid cork, lots of sediment. Translucent ruby color reminiscent of an older vintage.

First sip (decanted 10 minutes): Not much aroma and a little rough with some heat. My initial impression is age like a 1970 but not as smooth.

Decanted 2 hours: Much of the roughness is gone but still noticeable. Still some heat and the color is slightly darker.

24 hours: In this particular case, this wine was much better at 2 hours than 24 hours. The heat seems to have come back with a vengeance both on the nose and on the pallet.

Final assessment: Will this wine be in the top half of what I’m likely to have this year, no….but I would be willing to go above the bottom quartile. I do not think it will benefit from more age and is probably on the downward trend. As far as value, for me I would get much more satisfaction out of an 85 Dow or Warres for approximately the same price.

Tom scale: 4-3

Jay

[Andy Velebil]

1980 Warre VP:

This is obviously an ex-cellar release as it had a brand new label, capsule, s.d.Guarnatee, and a computer number printed on the side of the capsule from the labeling line. The cork came out looking nothing like its true age.

I will say quite the opposite experience from John on his bottle.

Upon decanting:
Quite dark for a 27 year old with no signs of fading. Nose is a bit restrained at the moment, but some silky plums and licorise showing thru a touch of bottle stink. The palate has a very nice entry and mid-palate of blackberries, and grape jolly rancher. Although the palate is a bit tight, there is some moderate tannins present. A medium/long finish right now, but this should come round quite nicely with time.

+4 hours:
Getting darker by the hour, a touch of menthol is showing up on the palate, and the bottle stink is gone. The finish is still a little tight and clipped.

(a brief run in with a Niepoort white wine and an unexpected Punk concert last night delayed part 3 of my TN's)
+28 hours:
Wow, this baby is dark. Looks like some 2000's I've had, and not showing any signs of old age in the color. It actually stains the side of the glass its so dark. The nose has come alive with plums, licorise, and a touch of mint. The palate has really opened up and is very silky and elegant (feminine?). There is still some decent tannins left that give it a nice bite. My only complaint is the finish is just a touch clipped on the fruit. But that is being really nit-picky, as the finish is quite nice.

Overall, obviously this was an impecibley stored bottled before I got it last year and it shows. This is drinking great right now and will hold for at least 5+ years on this plateau, at least for well stored bottles.

92 points (I docked a point for the slightly clipped finish)

[Derek T.]

"grape jolly rancher" what is this? Brokeback Mountain with Haemorrhoids ?

Derek

[Andy Velebil]

"grape jolly rancher" what is this? Brokeback Mountain with Haemorrhoids ?

Derek

No, No...its a small sweet hard candy that comes in a variety of flavors, one being grape.

[Tom Archer]

Fonseca 1980

The first bottle out of a previously unopened case, I was immediately alarmed by the poor level - barely in neck - and evidence of staining on the guarantee strip.

Stripping off the capsule revealed plenty of dried residue, and although the cork was not raised, my immediate concern was that this case had become very hot at some point.

Unloading the other bottles allayed my fears however, as it revealed the bottle to be the odd one out - I suspect the bottling plant sneezed!

Decanted an hour ago - modest amount of fine sediment.

Very light fresh colour in the decanter.

First sip - no bottle stink, pleasant bouquet and palate - very Fonseca -and immediately approachable.

However, I'll give it a little time before I tackle it in earnest..

..more anon

Tom

[Tom Archer]

Four hours on and a glass proper.

Slight hint of tawny in the colour, clear meniscus - looks fully mature.

Light but very pleasant bouquet, slightly sharp on the palate, but very agreeable with a good finish.

But it is very lightweight wine.

I'll work my way through the decanter over the next couple of days, and report if there is any significant evolution, but I feel this wine is already fit to score.

For immediate gratification, the wine performs well. Not perhaps one to enjoy after fat steaks, or with chocolate puddings, but certainly a good choice to follow a light meal on a lazy summer's evening.

But too light to make the top quartile, so I give it a 7.

Where's it going? Not up, certainly, but probably not down very rapidly either, so a point off.

So my score is 7-6

I tend to think of the '80 vintage as '60 re-visited - a vintage that enjoyed very good reveiws in the 1980's, but is mostly well past it's best now.

Neither this bottle, nor the notes of other wines above leads me away from this view.

Tom

[John Danza]

So my score is 7-6

Hi Tom,

What do the two numbers mean in your score?

Thanks,
John

[Al B.]

I'd forgotten that Jay had posted a note on the Taylors 1980 when I came across a bottle in a wine shop in London. I bought the bottle and took it home to use it as a second contribution to this month's virtual tasting.

If I had remembered that Jay had already posted on the Taylors, I wouldn't have bought the wine but I am really glad that I did. The bottle that I bought is very different from Jay's note and showed in a way that really impressed me. From my experience with Grahams and Taylors 1980 VPs, this is a vintage that I will stock up on for current drinking as it appears to represent excellent value for money at present.

I'll post my tasting note later today or tomorrow when my laptop battery is not about to die on me.

Alex

[Tom Archer]

John,

I've posted the detail of my scoring system several times already, so to avoid boring the others, I've sent it to you on a PM.

Let me know if you're not clear about anything!

Tom

[Andy Velebil]

I actually like it when 2 or more people end up trying the same bottle, it sometimes yields interesting results. Just like the Warre's that John and I tried. When you start getting older bottles, provedence, bottle variation, and the like can really start coming into play to effect its drinking pleasure, or lack there of.

[John Danza]

Andy, I agree totally. The bottles of Warre's that I have have definitely been around since 1982. Their condition looks fine, but you never know. I have two more bottles, so maybe I'll open another one this weekend and see if it's any different.

All the best,
John

[Tom Archer]

Just to wrap up my encounter with the Fonseca, I have noticed a slightly odd evolution:

After 24 hours the wine was noticeably darker, and on the palate I was reminded of Jay's experiance with the Taylor - it seemed a bit jammy, almost medicinal, and I was persuaded to close the evening with a decent bottle of CdP instead..

..re-visiting the decanter a day later, I was not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised - it tastes older now, fully integrated, with no fire or unwelcome characteristics - a pleasant surprise!

Tom

[Al B.]

Here's the tasting note that I wrote when I tasted the Taylor 1980 that I opened last week This was an extremely impressive bottle. I can't really comment on Tom's comparison of the 1960 and the 1980 vintages as I didn't get to taste the '60s when they were 27 years old, but the 1980s seem to me to be pretty variable across both bottles and shippers. Good bottles from the top shippers of the year seem to be very enjoyable.

Deep red in colour, the colour of plum cordial. Sweet liquorice nose with raspberry juice and a touch of mint from the spirit but spirit is well integrated. Liquorice into the mouth, sweet but balanced by a nice acidity. Oddly, the wine feels like it should be thicker than it is with the body that it has. The initial mid-palate flavours are of fresh wood - cedar and pine - but then a lovely complexity of plums and raisins comes through. The aftertaste is stunning. A quick burst of tannins then an amazing array of nutmeg, cinnamon and a bite of black pepper all underneath a huge wave of plum and apple jam. This fabulous aftertaste compares with the very best I have ever experienced. Its worth getting a bottle of this if only to experience the aftertaste. That aftertaste goes on all night from just a single sip. Scoring this wine is a pity as it clearly needs more time in the decanter, I suggest a minimum of 5 hours and I believe that it is still years away from its peak. The nose was a little closed and the mouth flavours pleasant but only a little above average....but that aftertaste! On Tom's scale I would put this just about at top quartile and would expect it to be better in 10 years so I will score it 7/8. On a 100 point scale I score this at 91/100.

I came back to this wine the following morning, 12 hours after decanting, and it had improved further from where it had been at the time I took the tasting note. The nose had opened up and the mouth flavours developed further without losing any of the impact of the aftertaste. At this time I would rate the wine 1 point higher at 92/100. The wine was still drinking very well on Thursday evening, 50 hours after opening.

Alex

[Alex K.]

Much as I would have liked to have tried this tasting out, I have been on the wagon since the beginning of Lent. Lent ends on Sunday (Palm Sunday, I don't hold with this Easter Sunday but sundays are off mullarkey), and I will be ruining all my good work a day early.

I have a bottle of Warre's and a bottle of Fonseca which could have been used in this, so thanks for the notes

[Derek T.]

Alan C,

This is great news - if KillerB hasn't had a drink for a month he could well pass out after his 3rd glass of port on Saturday - I suggest we keep the best bottles to the end

Derek