1963 Croft Vintage Port
Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:53 am
With the 'R' in the month again, my port season has begun and what better way then to start with a classic year, 1963. I purchased these 2 bottles of Croft some time ago and was very anxious to try them. They are half bottles and with Roy's tasting notes in the back of my head i opened one of them.
It was also a special day for me because this day i was the exact same age as my brother who i found dead at christmas 2005. He was born in 1963 so this was also kinda a hommage to him.
At 1 PM i opened the bottle by cutting away the plastic capsule and trying to pull the cork. I noticed immediately the cork was saturated although the bottle did not show any signs of leakage. Of course i could not pull the cork without breaking it:
For the few that did not see a cork broken in half with just a tiny hole to pour the port through, here is a picture.
Sp, i used a unbleeched coffeefilter to pour the port through in the decanter.
The smell immediately hit my nose, fresh strawberries !! Even at a few metres distance i could smell it, it was overwhelming, strawberries were the main smell, but also lots of other red fruit.
I let it breathe for about 4 hours before i tried the first glass. I had some emmenthaler cheese to go along with it.
My first thought when i tried it was: Creamy, thick and a warm sensation !
I could taste earth, smoked wood, cassis and also a hint of some spices i could not identify. I even thought that at one point i could taste figs. The tannines were still present although there are not much. But what can you expect from a 45 year old wine ?
The colour was surprisingly bright though. I had some older wines before, and they were amber coloured, some pink, other brown. This one was bright red.
So, this was quite some experience for me, i must say that Roy's score equals me, but for sentimental value i raise it with two points, so a well-deserved 92 points it is.
Lets hope the reast of the season will be equally or better. I have high hopes.
It was also a special day for me because this day i was the exact same age as my brother who i found dead at christmas 2005. He was born in 1963 so this was also kinda a hommage to him.
At 1 PM i opened the bottle by cutting away the plastic capsule and trying to pull the cork. I noticed immediately the cork was saturated although the bottle did not show any signs of leakage. Of course i could not pull the cork without breaking it:
For the few that did not see a cork broken in half with just a tiny hole to pour the port through, here is a picture.
Sp, i used a unbleeched coffeefilter to pour the port through in the decanter.
The smell immediately hit my nose, fresh strawberries !! Even at a few metres distance i could smell it, it was overwhelming, strawberries were the main smell, but also lots of other red fruit.
I let it breathe for about 4 hours before i tried the first glass. I had some emmenthaler cheese to go along with it.
My first thought when i tried it was: Creamy, thick and a warm sensation !
I could taste earth, smoked wood, cassis and also a hint of some spices i could not identify. I even thought that at one point i could taste figs. The tannines were still present although there are not much. But what can you expect from a 45 year old wine ?
The colour was surprisingly bright though. I had some older wines before, and they were amber coloured, some pink, other brown. This one was bright red.
So, this was quite some experience for me, i must say that Roy's score equals me, but for sentimental value i raise it with two points, so a well-deserved 92 points it is.
Lets hope the reast of the season will be equally or better. I have high hopes.