Q's about LBV decanting, recent Crusteds, & ordering from EU

[Andy Velebil]

Quick random question:

If I see a bottle of 20 YO Tawny at auction and there is a significant amount of sediment showing in the pictured neck, is that something best avoided? I thought tawnies weren't really supposed to leave a sediment.


edit:
While I'm asking questions, what are some of the best years for Colheita in the past 50? Do Colheitas show similarly to VP with respect to climate? Are they like VPs that tend to like those dry, hot years or do they like those more fertile years?

Most tawnys aren’t meant to age long in bottle. Unless it’s Niepoort I’d avoid any age indicated (10,20…) unless it’s super cheap and you just want to experience what it would be like with a lot of bottle age.

[Frederick Blais]

I agree with Tom's comment. I'm a big fan of bottle aged Tawnies. On my side, as far as companies I'd trust, there are are few. The order listed is not important

Niepoort
Krohn(before Taylor's acquisition, we'll have to wait to see after's)
Andreson
Kopke
Quevedo
Noval
Quinta da Romaneira(their old colheitas)
Burmester(bottlings before the 90's)

I would like to say I trust Pocas but I have yet to try one.

[Mike J. W.]

I like the Pocas Colheitas as well as their TWAIOA. You can normally get them at a very good price in the U.S. because they're not as well known as some of the other brands. Their '92 Colheita is very good and their '97 is solid. I also really like their 30 year-old tawny. I have some older Pocas Colheitas that I haven't tried yet.

I do have a Dow 30 year-old that I picked up at auction for a decent price. It was bottled in 1973, so it's very long in the tooth and a bit of a gamble, but then I start to think about some of the years that Dow's may have used to create the blend. Lucas, maybe I'll bring that to a tasting we have with John M. if we do a Colheita or Tawny tasting.

[Moses Botbol]

I had two decade or so aged Ramos Pinto 10 and 20 year tawnies I won in an auction about a decade ago. Both had nothing left to them. Disappointing.

Fred's list is the same I would recommend.

[Tom Archer]

To add to Fred's list, I find the Taylor 10 and 20 yrs show much better after a decade in bottle, and still show well after thirty years, but my encounters with aged Graham tawnies have been disappointing. Have also had the odd good encounter with old Cockburn 10yrs.