A Fine Night With Fonseca
Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:16 am
A past participant from Edmonton on Roy's Harvest Tour, and I believe a lurker here, I had the extreme fortune to have been invited to Conrad B's house for (in his words) a “small port tasting.” When I ended up there, to my surprise, the star attraction was Jorge Ramos from the Taylor Fladgate Partnership who had led a Fonseca tasting at a local wine shop earlier in the evening. Unfortunately I was unable to attend that tasting as I was working, but was very pleased I could make it to Conrad’s house.
Jorge talked briefly about the history of the houses of Fonseca and Taylor and how they converged into one company, gave brief details of the traditions of Vintage Port and then we got right down to the tasting. Conrad presented four Ports, served blind with the only information given being that these were Vintage Ports from Fonseca and Taylor. One inclusion was definitely the 1970 Fonseca VP, but no other information was provided.
All Ports had been decanted between 14:00 and 15:00 hrs and the tasting began at 22:00 hrs, with between 7 and 8 hours of decanting for each Port. They were decanted in the order presented below, with Port #4 being in the decanter for roughly 40 minutes less than Port #1.
Port #1
Possessing an elegant nose, this floral VP could only be the legendary Fonseca that I had heard of, but had never tried a Vintage from the house. A beautiful colour, light garnet with hints of rose and orange in the meniscus. A touch of glycerine clung to the glass as the port was swirled, this was a beautiful wine, presenting well-balanced fruit, muted sweetness and a smooth flavour profile. In the very end, some butterscotch and caramel showed up but the majority was soft, elegant fruit. A complexity and feminine style was unlike almost any other Vintage Port I had tried previously, leading to a hypothesis of Fonseca. A fiery back-end showed a bit too much spirit and general consensus around the table was that this particular port could have benefited from a few more hours of decanting time.
I guessed at 1970 Fonseca, simply due to the flavours, colour and obvious age of the Port, but this was more due to wild speculation than any pre-determined knowledge.
This port ended up being the 1970 Fonseca VP!
Bingo!
My score: 94 pts
(This would have been +1 or +2 without the heat on the finish.)
Port #2
Almost identical in colour to Port #1 there was elegance and complexity to this Port. A white pepper in the mid-palate had me immediately leading down the path to Taylor Fladgate. I stated after the first sip “if this is NOT a Taylor Fladgate, I will be shocked,” which raised a few eyebrows. Having sampled a great deal of Taylor Vintages a year ago with Roy, going back as far as 1963, I would have recognized the signature white/green pepper spiciness of Taylor.
The colour was just starting to include some bricking on the meniscus and the deep garnet red gave me the impression that this port was either the same age, or slightly fresher than Port #1. A well-maintained grip was present and alcohol and tannins seemed very well-integrated.
I guessed at this being either Taylor 1970 or 1977.
This port ended up being the 1970 Taylor VP! Nailed the Taylor part, was good on the year too.
My score: 95 pts
(After 2 further hours, around midnight, the remainder of this Port was shared around the stragglers at the table and the white pepper notes had just about disappeared.)
Port #3
This was by far the lightest in colour, with signs of medium-advanced age. Looking older than its peers, this Port featured light red in the middle of the glass and extensive bricking. A thin, clear meniscus showed signs of glycerine but not a deep, dark colour. Definitely the most floral on the nose, this Port smelled sweeter than the other three. There was a touch of something indescribable and funky on the nose, at the very beginning of the analysis, leading one person to mention the possibility that this wine was corked. Several with sensitivities to TCA confirmed that there was no TCA present, but a few people agreed that something on the nose was a bit off. After 30 minutes, when we came to analyse the wine as a group, this had blown off the nose and I was wondering whether I had imagined this scent. This did not detract from the palate in any way as a light, exceptional sweet Port showed forth with big fruit flavours in perfect balance with integrated alcohol. A complexity and elegance led me to Fonseca again, but the colouration had me guessing at a older vintage of Fonseca.
I guessed Fonseca 1963.
This port ended up being the 1977 Fonseca VP!
My score: 97 pts
Port #4
A deep ruby red colour had this Port showing as the youngest in appearance. Not quite opaque but definitely darker than its compatriots. A huge nose of well-balanced fruit and floral notes, which was sweet than Ports #1 & 2, but not as sweet a nose as #3.
The complexity and exceptional balance in this Port was outstanding and stood above its peers. The fruit and alcohol were in perfect balance with neither protruding. The sweet, feminine style spoke volumes of the age-worthiness and quality of Fonseca. This was darned near perfect, lacking only a bit more body to promote it to the ranks of legendary.
Guessing this to be the youngest VP of the night, I guessed at Fonseca 1985.
Couldn't have been further off on this one... This port ended up being the 1966 Fonseca VP. Youngest and and most vibrant, yet oldest Port of the lot.
My score: 98+ pts
A special treat to wrap up my night of Fonseca debauchery was that Conrad persuaded Jorges to bring home the remains of the bottle of Fonseca Guimaraens 1976 VP, a Port which he knew I was clamouring to try as it is the best from a thin birth year for me. The TN for this Port is here.
Edited to add URL link to the FG'76 TN
I will leave this posting alone for a day or so and then post the results of the reveals.
Jorge talked briefly about the history of the houses of Fonseca and Taylor and how they converged into one company, gave brief details of the traditions of Vintage Port and then we got right down to the tasting. Conrad presented four Ports, served blind with the only information given being that these were Vintage Ports from Fonseca and Taylor. One inclusion was definitely the 1970 Fonseca VP, but no other information was provided.
All Ports had been decanted between 14:00 and 15:00 hrs and the tasting began at 22:00 hrs, with between 7 and 8 hours of decanting for each Port. They were decanted in the order presented below, with Port #4 being in the decanter for roughly 40 minutes less than Port #1.
Port #1
Possessing an elegant nose, this floral VP could only be the legendary Fonseca that I had heard of, but had never tried a Vintage from the house. A beautiful colour, light garnet with hints of rose and orange in the meniscus. A touch of glycerine clung to the glass as the port was swirled, this was a beautiful wine, presenting well-balanced fruit, muted sweetness and a smooth flavour profile. In the very end, some butterscotch and caramel showed up but the majority was soft, elegant fruit. A complexity and feminine style was unlike almost any other Vintage Port I had tried previously, leading to a hypothesis of Fonseca. A fiery back-end showed a bit too much spirit and general consensus around the table was that this particular port could have benefited from a few more hours of decanting time.
I guessed at 1970 Fonseca, simply due to the flavours, colour and obvious age of the Port, but this was more due to wild speculation than any pre-determined knowledge.
This port ended up being the 1970 Fonseca VP!
Bingo!My score: 94 pts
(This would have been +1 or +2 without the heat on the finish.)
Port #2
Almost identical in colour to Port #1 there was elegance and complexity to this Port. A white pepper in the mid-palate had me immediately leading down the path to Taylor Fladgate. I stated after the first sip “if this is NOT a Taylor Fladgate, I will be shocked,” which raised a few eyebrows. Having sampled a great deal of Taylor Vintages a year ago with Roy, going back as far as 1963, I would have recognized the signature white/green pepper spiciness of Taylor.
The colour was just starting to include some bricking on the meniscus and the deep garnet red gave me the impression that this port was either the same age, or slightly fresher than Port #1. A well-maintained grip was present and alcohol and tannins seemed very well-integrated.
I guessed at this being either Taylor 1970 or 1977.
This port ended up being the 1970 Taylor VP! Nailed the Taylor part, was good on the year too.
My score: 95 pts
(After 2 further hours, around midnight, the remainder of this Port was shared around the stragglers at the table and the white pepper notes had just about disappeared.)
Port #3
This was by far the lightest in colour, with signs of medium-advanced age. Looking older than its peers, this Port featured light red in the middle of the glass and extensive bricking. A thin, clear meniscus showed signs of glycerine but not a deep, dark colour. Definitely the most floral on the nose, this Port smelled sweeter than the other three. There was a touch of something indescribable and funky on the nose, at the very beginning of the analysis, leading one person to mention the possibility that this wine was corked. Several with sensitivities to TCA confirmed that there was no TCA present, but a few people agreed that something on the nose was a bit off. After 30 minutes, when we came to analyse the wine as a group, this had blown off the nose and I was wondering whether I had imagined this scent. This did not detract from the palate in any way as a light, exceptional sweet Port showed forth with big fruit flavours in perfect balance with integrated alcohol. A complexity and elegance led me to Fonseca again, but the colouration had me guessing at a older vintage of Fonseca.
I guessed Fonseca 1963.
This port ended up being the 1977 Fonseca VP!
My score: 97 pts
Port #4
A deep ruby red colour had this Port showing as the youngest in appearance. Not quite opaque but definitely darker than its compatriots. A huge nose of well-balanced fruit and floral notes, which was sweet than Ports #1 & 2, but not as sweet a nose as #3.
The complexity and exceptional balance in this Port was outstanding and stood above its peers. The fruit and alcohol were in perfect balance with neither protruding. The sweet, feminine style spoke volumes of the age-worthiness and quality of Fonseca. This was darned near perfect, lacking only a bit more body to promote it to the ranks of legendary.
Guessing this to be the youngest VP of the night, I guessed at Fonseca 1985.
Couldn't have been further off on this one... This port ended up being the 1966 Fonseca VP. Youngest and and most vibrant, yet oldest Port of the lot.
My score: 98+ pts
A special treat to wrap up my night of Fonseca debauchery was that Conrad persuaded Jorges to bring home the remains of the bottle of Fonseca Guimaraens 1976 VP, a Port which he knew I was clamouring to try as it is the best from a thin birth year for me. The TN for this Port is here.
Edited to add URL link to the FG'76 TN
I will leave this posting alone for a day or so and then post the results of the reveals.
TN Forum? I would truly appreciate that!