For The Love Of Port

Upon opening I was struck by the light strawberry/blueberry nose. The color, as I decanted it, was a ruddy brick red that visually seemed much more advanced than a typical 18 y.o. VP. There was also quite a bit of sediment in this bottle - much more that I've seen in a VP from the 90's. Once I had poured myself a glass, the nose had shifted to a more pronounced crushed berry aroma and the strawberry undertones were still there but had subsided quite a bit. On the palate, it was clear that this wasn't a mouth-filling, powerful Port but rather a nice gentle mature wine that displayed blueberries, a hint of plums and a touch of toffee on the finish. The first glass that I tasted did have a bit of heat on the finish, but after a couple of hours in the decanter the spirit had totally integrated. The acidity and tannins were in balance although I don't believe that it has the backbone for the long-haul but it should hold nicely for the next 5 years (or so).

Do you think it will continue to improve or has it reached a plateau where it will hold at for a while longer?

I'd say that it is on a plateau and will hold well for the next 5-8 years, but it doesn't seem have the structure to last much past that. Although this bottle didn't have the complexity of their full VP, it nevertheless was a very enjoyable glass of VP.

I had this one twice last year and was surprise by its youth. In my opinion it is not yet on its plateau as the tannins were still present and the flavours of candied fruits like figs was not yet much present as I can read too from your description. Not as strong as Croft but in the top wines from this Vintage in my opinion.

This was a very enjoyable glass of Port and I can't wait to pull a few more out of the cellar. I didn't experince the same youthfulness that Frederick mentioned, but that could be due to a certain degree of bottle variation. Nevertheless, a friend of mine commented that this was the best Port that he had ever had! High praise indeed!