2019 Ports: With 2 weeks left, what were your favorites?

[Roy Hersh]

Every year, we give our Forum members a chance to let the world know which was their TOP Port of the year. As it has become obvious that narrowing it down to just one bottle was next to impossible for most, please provide your short list / or by category, which Ports you found to be exceptional and stand out experiences ... in a good way, please.

[John M.]

Sad to report this past year was the least amount I've had in many years....just the way it worked out. Only 29!...think I purchased many times that many, though. I also began a new appreciation for tawnies and white tawnies.

Tawny: Had two bottles of the 1975 Kopke Colheita, bottled 2015. Both times gave it 96 so very very good. WOTY

VP: 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio. Part of the Q. do V vertical in NYC in March. Lived up to its reputation--yet needs many more years. The 1992 version was 2nd place for the year.

Surprise: LBVs have always been my mainstay---cellar defenders--I only had 4 all year. I've had more than that in one night many times at a tasting. Oh well....time to get to work. (I did have many bottles of 10 Year White, mostly Portal)

[Eric Ifune]

Mourao's San Leonardo XL.

[Andy Velebil]

Basic Tawny:
Quinta do Tedo Fine Tawny (this always rocks)

10 Year Tawny:
Quinta de Val da Figueira 10 year Tawny

20 Year Tawny:
DR 20 Year Tawny (cask sample)

Unique Tawny:
1992 Quinta do Vesuvio "Special" as I call it.

Old Tawny:
Niepoort VV (the original bottling)

White Tawny:
DR 50 year white

Vintage Port:
1935 Taylor
1945 Fonseca
1945 Croft
1948 Taylor
This ended up being a 4-way tie as they all kept changing throughout the evening, one showing better, then the other taking the lead, etc. The 1955 Quinta do Noval VP was a little slow out of the gate then started nipping at their heels, but kept getting edged out by these. One of the most monumental evenings of Port I've had in a long time, shared with great friends to commemorate a special milestone.

Unique Ruby:
1940 Cockburn Reserve

Most Bizarre:
1945 Amandio's Old Tawny Port (by Armandio Silva & Filhos, Ltd. and bottled in 1973). Lets just say one glass was plenty.

I'll fill in some gaps in due course when I look at some notes, but these are off the top of my head.

[Moses Botbol]

20 year tawny - Maynards 20

Vintage - 1927 Warre, 1887 Graham, 1985 Ferreira, 1983 Ramos Pinto

[Rune EG]

NV Brunheda 100+ years tawny - 98 pts (last bottle)
1994 Warre's vintage port - 97 pts (a fantastic bottle, not all at that level)
2017 Graham's Stone Terraces vintage port - 96 pts

[Mike J. W.]

VP - 1994 Fonseca. I love this one and wish I had a whole cellar stocked with this Port. It's still young and will only get better and better with time.

VP Honorable Mention - 1980 Gould Campbell. This was an excellent bottle. I bought a half dozen more after having this.

20 year old Tawny - Quinta da Pacheca. This was a real surprise. Hard to find in the States, but I located another bottle after I had this for the first time. It has a nice, smooth woody / butterscotch taste to it. I could drink an entire bottle in one sitting if I didn't control myself.

[Gary Richardson]

VP: 1970 Graham's: Still one of my favorite VPs. Nearly up there with the 1963 Fonseca.

Tawny: 60 yr S. Leonardo. Pleased to still have 2 bottles left, that I am being very stingy with.

Looking forward to another great Port year in 2020!

[Roy Hersh]

Well, I really have enjoyed reading your selections so far, but I am not sure why people are either afraid to post here, (intimidated?) or in reality ... maybe they want to make sure their New Year's Eve Ports do not get shorted their respect.

Everybody be safe out there on tonight!!

There will be a nice surprise in your mailbox, tomorrow night (Seattle time). Enjoy, the return of Santa!

[John M.]

Pleased to report I've had 6 Nice Ports since answering this thread

1985 Ferreira
2009 Royal Oporto Colheita bottled 2019
2002 Warres LBV
1985 Graham
Pocas 30 Year Tawny
1997 Dalva Colheita

These are all fun and mostly outstanding.... I'll post TNs soon.

Big Love and Happy New Year!!

[Glenn E.]

Well I had a nice detailed list of my top Ports in every category written and almost ready to post, then something happened and Chrome closed and I lost the entire thing. I don't want to spend another hour re-researching and re-writing it, so this'll have to do...

Tawny Port
100 pts - S. Leonardo CL 150 Year Old Tawny Port (7 wines from 1863-1872)
100 pts - S. Leonardo "100" Very Old Tawny Port (new blend - 1880, 1905, 1927)
99 pts - 1885 DR Colheita

White Port
99 pts - S. Leonardo "90" Very Old White Port

Vintage Port
98+ pts - 2016 Graham Vintage Port
98 pts - 2016 Graham's The Stone Terraces Vintage Port
98 pts - 2017 Quinta do Vale Meao Vintage Port

LBV was my weakest category this past year, with the best one coming from our visit to Napoles on PHT2 where we tasted a 1981 LBV that was superb at 94 points. We also tasted 3 Garrafeiras at Napoles, and I got to taste my first Quinado at Pocas also on PHT2.

[Roy Hersh]

Now able to look back at the whole year:

2017 Niepoort Vintage Port was a standout for me this year, of all the young Vintage Ports I tried, albeit the 2011 and 2016 Graham's The Stone Terraces were also phenomenal; as were a bunch more of the 2017's, but I am sure you've all seen that article.


Older Vintage Ports that come to mind:
1927 Niepoort
1945 Taylor
1948 Taylor
1948 Fonseca
1815 Rebello Valente "Noval"



White, Old Tawny & Colheita
1961 Krohn Colheita
DR's L70 (2018 btl.)
1927 Niepoort Colheita
Brunheda 80 Year Old White
S. Leonardo 90 Year Old White
S. Leonardo "150" Very Old Tawny

[David Spriggs]

For tawny:

S. Leonardo 90 Year Old White
S. Leonardo "150" Very Old Tawny
1961 Krohn Colheita
DR Lot 70


We had some great wines are Brunheda, but my tasting notes are lost.