1995 Horizontal of VPs

[John M.]

On November 15, 2025 The Mid-Atlantic Port Team got together to have a 1995 Horizontal of 10 Vintage Ports. We were a group of eight. Overall, the tasting was great—all bottles showed well although the Cockburn may have had a little VA (two detected it). WOTN was the Vesuvio with the Ferreira on it’s heels. Neither is a surprise. What jumps out to me is the Infantado scored decently---it was my least favorite (and a brand I struggle with in general).

Curiously, in 2015 I was part of a 1995 horizontal. For both tastings the Ferreira showed very well. Added those results if curious.

One fellow also brought a 1978 Fonseca Guimaraens as a bonus. Absolutely lovely, gave it 93 points.

[John M.]

The 2015 Results. Those highlighted in Orange were in the 2025 tasting.

[Lucas S]

Was great fun and with truly great quality ports.

The Crasto is the main one I would say drink up soon, it's fully ready imo. The Fonseca G, SW M, and Graham M should benefit the most from more time -in that order. Acidity seemed a bit too high in the Fonseca especially. The Taylor V also had elevated acidity and very high turbidity, needs more time for deposit formation at least. The Ferreira is super youthful for a 30 year, but it's lovely purple drinking if you like 'em primary.

Infantado punched above its expected weight imo but still did not manage to hide its identity from some of the more experienced tasters. Small correction to the above 3-2-1 table, it was not my number 3, the Ferreira was.

Cockburn Canais has a tiny bit of VA, but if it weren't for that it would have been quite good. The Delaforce Corte, is best described as vegetal/savory, but watery and on the drier side - was the LOTN but I wouldn't call it altogether "bad" either.

Vesuvio really stood out with a unique, complex, and delicious character in this tasting, it seemed different from when I had it alone previously. I couldn't quite pin in down but it was sweet and red with a fresh vegetable character to it sort of like cucumber and light spice. I gave it 95 but I could see it gaining another point or two in 5 more years as well.


I must add that tasting 11 ports in one sitting seems to be my precise consumption limit that I would prefer not to exceed in the future... haha.


Thank you again to John for organizing and Mike for all his logistical work.

[Bradley Bogdan]

Big props to John and Mike for hosting and logistics! It was a great tasting and I'm glad I got to meet a whole bunch of folks nearby who are into this stuff as much as I am.

A few thoughts:
- I remember buying (and quickly drinking) many '95s around 2010-2012, during they heyday of the "flash sale" sites, like Cinderella Wine. I was a fan of the Taylor Vargellas, Noval Silval, Cockburn Canais, and Grahams Malvedos in those days, as they were going for $18-20/bottle back then. I think the hot vintage definitely helped them show very generously early on.
- The same hot vintage seems to be leaving these wines with good fruit at this stage, but not a ton of acid. I'd drink most of these wines happily at this point, and most had good balance in this moment, but only 2-3 do I think have real prospects of continuing to improve.
- The Ferriera was my WOTN, easily the most youthful and structured of the bunch, which surprised me considering its usually in a more gentle style. Maybe it was the fact this is a "full" VP effort from them where they decided to bottle a more robust wine, or maybe they just had the right decisions during the vintage to make a superlative wine when others were more challenged. Regardless, top notch wine I wouldn't hesitate to buy more of if it was available.
- The Taylor Vargellas was my offering, and seems to be shedding a very fine sediment at this stage, which resulted in a pretty turbid wine in the glass for folks. I opened a second bottle from a different retailer when decanting to see if it was just a one-off issue, but that poured the same, despite my great care. It does seem to be clearing up some 24hrs later, but I'd handle those bottles with caution if you have them.

Again, a wonderful tasting with some wonderful folks, can't wait to do it again in the new year!

[John M.]

Odd side note: I purchased an additional 72 glasses from Arton Products (same as the Marjorie Lumm ones in size and shape). However, they had to be hand washed thoroughly as they smelled of chemicals--so once through the dishwasher, then hand washed. Now they seem fine!

[Andy Velebil]

Excellent tasting and write up. Glad to see the Madelena did so well. I opened a bottle the other day and couldn’t agree more. Sadly, a bottle of 1995 Vesuvio opened a couple weeks ago was an off bottle. So glad to hear it did so well in your tasting.

[Mike J. W.]

The 1995 Tasting was a surprisingly strong lineup. To my taste, there wasn't a bad bottle in the bunch. My scoring was very tightly bunched which is somewhat unusual. The Madalena to me was good, but had a slightly dirty quality to it; but I think it could have been the glass that it was served in as others seemed to like it more than I did (and I usually love the Madalena).

The Port that stood out for me was the Cockburn Quinta Dos Canais. With that being said, it was a pretty polarizing Port. Several people scored it highly while others scored it low. I really enjoyed it and wished I owned a few more bottles of it.

As I said, there wasn't a bad bottle in the bunch. I had a glass of the Delaforce Quinta da Corte last night and it was showing very nicely. Tonight I'll have a glass of the Quinta do Infantado. I enjoyed it at the tasting and we'll see how it's held up 3 days later.

[Moses Botbol]

I'm glad to see the Ferreira near the top. It would've been my favorite shooting from the hip on that list.

[Julian D. A. Wiseman]

Placemats:

[Mike J. W.]

Thank you Julian for taking care of that. It was very much appreciated.

[John M.]

Thank you Julian for taking care of that. It was very much appreciated.

Thank you Julian---as always the placements are essential!