For The Love Of Port

Cork came out intact (no glue necessary :? ) but was very short. Decanted easily from a thick purple cust. Dark tawny colour. Sightly cloudy and a very spirity nose on decanting.

+8 Hours Still has a rather dull appearance and spitit dominates the nose. Thick mouth feel - burnt sugar with very little fruit. Hot after a few seconds then fades to a reasonably long but bitter finish. I wonder of this bottle is cooked?

+11 Hours Darker colour but still not bright. Heat has faded from the nose but still no fruit to speak of. Mouth-feel is still thick and chewy but there is no depth to the wine - I haven't tasted or smelled any fruit yet. This must be wrong.

Please, can some one tell me this is a bad bottle :? I had such high hopes

Derek

Corked

No, not corked, but possibly cooked?

Derek

Derek,

What was the ullage like on the bottle? It almost sounds as though this wine has prematurely oxidised and so has evolved through to the tawny stage of its life before it ought to.

I don't recall the Douro Bake we saw in October having this sort of impact on the wines that suffered it, and that is my only known experience with a cooked wine - I've never set out to deliberately cook a wine over a period of a few years so that I can then taste the impact of poor storage!

Alex

Alex,

The wine was into the neck with no signs of leaking. The cork was where it should be, not protruding or recessed, and came out in one piece and in good condition.

I don't have any direct experience of Douro Bake, other than perhaps that 1989 Vesuvio we had in October, but this Offley has obviously suffered some kind of trauma in its lifetime. My best guess is poor storage, most likely temperature variations over a prolonged period.

What would be great is if someone else has had the OBV77 recently with a stark difference in experience. That would confirm to me that this is a bad bottle and avoid me doubting the quality of the bottling as a whole.

Derek

I've got a few bottles in the cellar, I'll give one a whirl - but not for a couple of weeks, as I'm off to Spain for the Fallas fiesta for a week, and have already stood up a Fons '80 (for this months virtual tasting) when I return.

Tom

Thanks, Tom - I suspected you would be my best hope

Derek

Now I know this will come as a shock to some of you but I didn't finish the bottle last night

+36 hours much darker but still slightly cloudy. Some red fruits on the nose now but nothing to write home about. Mouth-feel is thicker and very satisfying. Less of the burny tastes of yesterday but still no real fruity taste. Finish has a slight minty tingle and the whole experience has less heat than yesterday. Better, but still not great.

I give this a 3-1 at 36 hours, less yesterday

Derek

OK, I've finally got round to decanting one of my bottles..

One of eight bottles bought some time ago - labels show that element of early decay that says 'I've been nicely cellared'

Cork slightly raised, but on close inspection, the guarantee strip is neither stretched nor broken. Cork removed in one piece - (cork length 1 7/8")

A lovely fruity aroma came straight from the bottle.

Decanted cleanly with very little waste, modest amount of lumpy sediment. Colour typical for the 77's - a little more magenta than the rosy Fonseca '80 that was last up.

First sip - full on fruity bouquet, a little sharp (as one expects) but otherwise fine on the palate - very promising!

At this stage Derek, I'd agree you found a duff bottle, and quite probably heat damaged - it wouldn't have leaked or lost much level if it had been left upright - where did yours come from?

Tom

Ten hours on, and a glass proper.

Noble ruby colour with pink meniscus

Considering the immediate rush of aroma this bottle gave when I decanted, the bouquet is now surprisingly modest.

Very little fire on the palate, berry fruit flavours with a light pleasant finish, but a bit juvenile and a touch jammy - typical '77

Will score tomorrow

Tom

Thanks, Tom - the bottle was purchased from a wine merchant as part of a larger lot. This was the only bottle of OBV77 they had in stock and, knowing how they source their wines, I suspect this was bought in as part of a private cellar purchase. The provenance is therefore not certain and I suppose I've just been unlucky this time.

Derek

A day on and the bouquet has returned!

This is a pleasant, good wine, but one could not describe it as great.

It is very typical of the 77's, with persistant juvenile tannins that don't seem to want to soften up - coupled to incipient old age...

To score:

For immediate gratification this is an above average wine - but not by a mile - so it gets a 6.

Where's it going? - like most 77's the answer is slowly downhill I think, so one point off

Score 6-5

Tom