Order of tasting.

[Mike J. W.]

I thought I saw a reference to this in the past, but I can't find it. When drinking a set of Colheitas in a tasting, do you drink the youngest first and work backwards? Same question with Vintage Port, do you drink the oldest first and work forwards?

[Eric Menchen]

For VPs, yes, I would start with the older Ports first. They are usually more subtle and secondary in their flavors, and all the fruit in younger VPs can overwhelm them if served first.

For colheitas, I would probably start with the younger ones first, but I think this isn't as clear as for VPs. The older ones tend to have bigger more concentrated flavors that you want to build up to. But sometimes the young ones can have strong fruit too. Save the best for last?

[Mike J. W.]

Thanks Eric, I appreciate it.

[Thomas V]

I agree with Eric

VP: Oldest to youngest. Else the young ones would overpower your palate to enjoy the intricate nuances in the older VPs. Only relevant if you have VPs older than 30-40 years in the lineup.

Colheita: Young to older typically. The really old ones are so rich and voluptuous that it would be hard to drink a younger afterwards and appreciate it.

If a flight with both ruby and tawny. I would go ruby first.

[Glenn E.]

Yep, what Eric and Thomas said. VPs from oldest to youngest, then Colheitas from youngest to oldest.

We've been doing tastings that way for years, both large formal tastings as well as Port Club meetings and even our small Port Pod gatherings.

[Mike J. W.]

Thanks Thomas and Glenn.

[John M.]

While I generally agree with all that is said, mainly what it comes down to is how disciplined your tasting regimene is. Managing palate fatigue and staying hydrated are essential. I say that because in blind tastings you cannot keep things in order without giving it all away so you need to work around that.

But order of tasting is an issue---good and bad. Often times in a group it seems as though the 3rd Port gets a boost and the last one or two gets the shaft. Again, tasting regimene.

[Mike J. W.]

While I generally agree with all that is said, mainly what it comes down to is how disciplined your tasting regimene is. Managing palate fatigue and staying hydrated are essential. I say that because in blind tastings you cannot keep things in order without giving it all away so you need to work around that.

But order of tasting is an issue---good and bad. Often times in a group it seems as though the 3rd Port gets a boost and the last one or two gets the shaft. Again, tasting regimene.

Thanks John. good advice. Although I will say that the tastings I'm doing will not be blind. The group is also not a set of regular Port drinkers. A bunch of college buddies and I get together every summer / early fall down at the shore. Every year, I'll bring the Port and do 2 nights of tastings, but since they don't know anything about Ports, I walk them through what they're tasting. This year will be a little different. the first night, I'm going to do Fortified Whites from around the world. We'll do a Klein Constantia Vin de Constance from South Africa, a Quinta Dos Pesos Carcavelos from Portugal, a Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg from Loire Valley, a Avignonesi Vin Santo di Montepulciano from Italy, A Bual or Malvasia Madeira (not sure which one yet), a San Leonardo 30 year-old White, a 1993 Chateau Megyer Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos and possibly a PX Sherry. I still have to figure out the order of drinking for that set. I'm thinking the lighter whites to start and the heavier ones at the end (Madeira and PX Sherry).

The second night will be all Colheitas. The tentative lineup is '37 Quinta do Noval, '44 Kopke, '55 Burmester, '68 Krohn, '76 Krohn, '82 Kopke & '94 Graham's. Based on the advice here, I'll start with the '94 and work my way back towards the '37.

We'll be drinking lots of water and we'll take our time tasting each one.

[Glenn E.]

The second night will be all Colheitas. The tentative lineup is '37 Quinta do Noval, '44 Kopke, '55 Burmester, '68 Krohn, '76 Krohn, '82 Kopke & '94 Graham's. Based on the advice here, I'll start with the '94 and work my way back towards the '37.

That's a very nice lineup! Yes, definitely start with the '94 and work back to the '37. The '76 Krohn could be an outlier, but tasting those from youngest to oldest will generally result in increasing power as you progress.

[Mike J. W.]

The second night will be all Colheitas. The tentative lineup is '37 Quinta do Noval, '44 Kopke, '55 Burmester, '68 Krohn, '76 Krohn, '82 Kopke & '94 Graham's. Based on the advice here, I'll start with the '94 and work my way back towards the '37.

That's a very nice lineup! Yes, definitely start with the '94 and work back to the '37. The '76 Krohn could be an outlier, but tasting those from youngest to oldest will generally result in increasing power as you progress.

Thanks for the confirmation Glenn. And yes, I agree, the lineup is pretty good. I'm really looking forward to trying them.

What are your thoughts on why you see the '76 Krohn as possibly being an outlier?

[Glenn E.]

What are your thoughts on why you see the '76 Krohn as possibly being an outlier?

That Port tends to have more bottle variation than others, at least for me. When it's singing it can be a 97 point Port, but if you get one of the bottles that is starting to show its bottle age (even if only bottled in 2013 or 2015) then it can be "merely" an excellent Port.

One of the great bottles would easily out-perform the '68 Krohn and possibly even the '55 Burmester. One of the more average bottles might not be as good as a stellar example of the '82 Kopke.

All-in-all, it will most likely fit in perfectly where you have it, but there's some chance that it will be better or worse. No reason to change the order, though, since its performance can't be reliably predicted until you start tasting.

The '68 can have some pretty significant bottle variation, too, but my suspicion on that Port is that I just had some bottles that were in a down phase right after I got them, because they've been pretty consistently excellent since then.

[Mike J. W.]

What are your thoughts on why you see the '76 Krohn as possibly being an outlier?

That Port tends to have more bottle variation than others, at least for me. When it's singing it can be a 97 point Port, but if you get one of the bottles that is starting to show its bottle age (even if only bottled in 2013 or 2015) then it can be "merely" an excellent Port.

One of the great bottles would easily out-perform the '68 Krohn and possibly even the '55 Burmester. One of the more average bottles might not be as good as a stellar example of the '82 Kopke.

All-in-all, it will most likely fit in perfectly where you have it, but there's some chance that it will be better or worse. No reason to change the order, though, since its performance can't be reliably predicted until you start tasting.

The '68 can have some pretty significant bottle variation, too, but my suspicion on that Port is that I just had some bottles that were in a down phase right after I got them, because they've been pretty consistently excellent since then.

Great info. Thanks Glenn.