For The Love Of Port

This year is the 40th anniversary for the 1976 harvest. While not a declared year some good Tawny's and some good SQVP's/VP's were made. What are some of your favorite 1976 Ports?

For me I really like the 1976 Krohn's Colheita. A fantastic Port and one I am glad I still own a few bottles of.

I had the 1976 Porto Rocha Colheita Port once and it was good, and once when it was outstanding. The latter was from a 750 ml bottle, but I don't recall the bottling year. I purchased it in one of the FTLOP buys.

Krohn Colheita is amazing. Kopke/Porto Rocha and Niepoort are all excellent.

I could swear that I've had a 1976 VP but can't remember for sure which one. Fonseca Guimaraens, perhaps? And possibly also a Taylor Vargellas?

I had quite a few 1976 as it is my brother's year.

Noval, Niepoort, Krohn and Kopke were all top and tasted several times. Noval is probably the hardest to find now. Barros was good but not sure it is still holding well, it was looking tired 10+ years ago, could be a bad bottle. I also remember a very good Warre's a long time ago.

For SQVP, never had any but heard of many good reports on Fonseca Guimareas 1976.

Oddly enough, I am sat here at the moment drinking one of a few bottles of a Garrafeira Particular from 1976, bottled in 2014, which I purchased the other day. Whilst I have not bothered with a tasting note, it really is quite decent, not least at EUR 20 bottle. Indeed, I consumed the first bottle over the weekend and liked it sufficiently to order a dozen more.

I've only had the Kopke Colheita from that year, but it was very very good.

Can't believe no has rushed to mention the glorious 1976 Guimaraens - beautiful, intense and drinking very, very well at the moment.

As Richard mentions, Fonseca Guimaraens is astonishing. Vargellas is enjoyable, and the Niepoort colheita is pretty good, but Malvedos and Noval colheita have both disappointed me.

And those are the only 5 shippers I've tasted from the vintage.

Richard Beeken wrote:Can't believe no has rushed to mention the glorious 1976 Guimaraens - beautiful, intense and drinking very, very well at the moment.

My first purchase of that VP arrived by post only yesterday - a buy made on the strength of the tasting notes at FTLOP.

Was flipping through Mason's book yesterday and he spoke very highly of the Guimaraens, citing it as an almost shocking outlier.


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Bradley Bogdan wrote:Was flipping through Mason's book yesterday and he spoke very highly of the Guimaraens, citing it as an almost shocking outlier.


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Do a search here on the forum and you will find out why.

Richard Beeken wrote:Can't believe no has rushed to mention the glorious 1976 Guimaraens - beautiful, intense and drinking very, very well at the moment.

I have been away from home (and the forum) for quite sometime. Now, reading this post, my thoughts were the same as Richard's, disbelief that no one had mentioned the '76 Fonseca Guimaraens. I have tasted the '76 Guimaraens on a couple of occasions, once head to head with the '77 Fonseca at a tasting in Edmonton where I can honestly say that the Guimaraens appeared to be the younger, darker, and more youthful of the two. The representative who was pouring and said that the '77 Fonseca was the better of the two and would outlast the '76 Guimaraens appeared to me a weak and contrived argument, I was not convinced.

Cheers.......................Mahmoud.

Mahmoud Ali wrote:

Richard Beeken wrote:Can't believe no has rushed to mention the glorious 1976 Guimaraens - beautiful, intense and drinking very, very well at the moment.

I have been away from home (and the forum) for quite sometime. Now, reading this post, my thoughts were the same as Richard's, disbelief that no one had mentioned the '76 Fonseca Guimaraens. I have tasted the '76 Guimaraens on a couple of occasions, once head to head with the '77 Fonseca at a tasting in Edmonton where I can honestly say that the Guimaraens appeared to be the younger, darker, and more youthful of the two. The representative who was pouring and said that the '77 Fonseca was the better of the two and would outlast the '76 Guimaraens appeared to me a weak and contrived argument, I was not convinced.

Cheers.......................Mahmoud.

Color of Port can be very deceptive. Just because the 1976 Guimaraens is darker doesn't make it better. If you understand why it's so dark, compared to any other VP out there, you soon realize something isn't quite right with it. Lets just say there is something else in it to give it that weird dark color and a strange (for VP) nose and taste.

Give me a 1976 Krohn Colheita any day!


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Roy Hersh wrote:Give me a 1976 Krohn Colheita any day!


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Yes, that's a tasting one for sure.

Andy Velebil wrote:

Roy Hersh wrote:Give me a 1976 Krohn Colheita any day!


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Yes, that's a tasting one for sure.

Must taste this one sooooon

Andy Velebil wrote: Color of Port can be very deceptive. Just because the 1976 Guimaraens is darker doesn't make it better. If you understand why it's so dark, compared to any other VP out there, you soon realize something isn't quite right with it. ...

1977 SW is abnormally dark for that vintage, and delicious. Jus' sayin.

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Eric Menchen wrote:

Andy Velebil wrote: Color of Port can be very deceptive. Just because the 1976 Guimaraens is darker doesn't make it better. If you understand why it's so dark, compared to any other VP out there, you soon realize something isn't quite right with it. ...

1977 SW is abnormally dark for that vintage, and delicious. Jus' sayin.

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SW is always a bit darker than most VP's, which is due to the types of grapes used and not the result of anything else. 1976 FG is a totally different color. It is more of a dark brown and it smells and tastes more along the lines of a PX Sherry than Port. When you have it side by side with any other older VP it stands out like a wolf in a herd of sheep. It's a fantastic example of an adulturated Port. It's also something you generally won't see any more as now all the larger companies test incoming lots they buy from outside producers and reject accordingly if there are any issues. Back then things were a little different.

Another fantastic comparison is to put two tawnies side by side and when the older one looks far younger than the younger one you have to make the obvious conclusion. Current bottlings of 1975 and 1985 Dalva are perfect for doing this with. Nothing nefarious, as it's perfectly legal to use some white grapes in a red tawny.

Another reason why some "adulterated" Ports were not caught back in the day, was the IVP's (turned IVDP circa 2003) methods for checking coloration and tasting Ports, was totally different back then and far less sophisticated. Nowadays, with tools like computers, chromatography to check colors and hard core organoleptic testing by a tasting panel of seven highly skilled tasters ... well, it just is not easy for the outliers to sneak through the system anymore; especially "off" colors which are easily detected.

Funny Eric M. mentioned the 1977 SW, as I have always found that and (slightly to a lesser degree) 1977 GC to both be extremely dark, and never considered either one to have any issues. I remember early on, the Fonseca and Taylor 1977s were the darkest of the vintage; but over the years they have both had anthocyanins precipitate out, (color pigment molecules dropping out of the solution) and last month having them side by side while visiting TFP, even their bottles were only med-dark garnet color.

Thomas V. wrote:

Must taste this one sooooon

Yes, for someone who promotes themselves by the name: Port Aficionado ... it is unbecoming to miss out on the 1976 Krohn.