2007 Fonseca Vintage Port -- (cask sample)

[Glenn E.]

Tasted blind at Roy's house, July 17, 2009. (With a follow-up for the cask samples on July 20, 2009.)

9 Vintage Ports, 7 Tawnies and Colheitas, and 2 Madeiras. 5 guys. 1 night. Port heaven!

Bottle #1: 2007 Quinta do Vesuvio Capela Vintage Port (cask sample)
Bottle #2: 2007 Niepoort Vintage Port (cask sample)
Bottle #3: 2007 Croft Vintage Port (cask sample)
Bottle #4: 2007 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port (cask sample)
Bottle #5: 2007 Graham Vintage Port (cask sample)
Bottle #6: 2007 Warre Vintage Port (finished bottle)
Bottle #7: 2007 Taylor Fladgate Quinta de Vargellas Vintage Port Vinha Velha (cask sample)
Bottle #8: 2007 Fonseca Vintage Port (cask sample)
Bottle #9: 2007 Duorum Vintage Port (cask sample)

2007 Fonseca Vintage Port (cask sample)

Day 1
Color: Purple tending toward violet, 3/16" fade at the rim. Possibly the bluest of the entire flight.
Nose: Bad. As in Roy-sticking-his-nose-in-a-badly-corked-glass bad. I physically recoiled. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. I tried it again, recoiled again. Everyone else kept smelling it and drinking it. My eyes bugged out. So... I held my breath and tried tasting it.
Palate: Flawed, badly. Not sure what's wrong, but it's undrinkable. I say so. Everyone else looks at me like I'm crazy and keeps tasting it. I stare at them and blink, certain that they're pulling some kind of joke on me. They're not. They think it's fine. I try it again. It's not.

Initial score: not rated.

Day 2 & Day 3 - I didn't taste on day 2 or 3 due to prior commitments

Day 4

Three days later, I completely forgot how bad this had been on Day 1 and stuck my nose right in without any preconceived notions. In fact, it wasn't until after we were done and I was reviewing my notes from Day 1 that I even remembered at all. So whatever was wrong (to me) on Day 1 completely blew off and it was fine on Day 4.

Color: Standard medium "young VP" purple, 2/16+" fade. Air time has give it a little more opacity.
Nose: Dusty, mellow purple fruits. Also a greenish note that I can only describe as taking a weed whacker to a fence row on a farm. There's some green to it, some straw to it, some dried wood to it, and some earthiness to it.
Palate: Medium body weight and pretty much dead center on the dry-to-sweet scale. Smooth, ripe purple fruits. Chalky smooth tannins and good acidity.
Finish: Fruity and rich, with mild tannins and decent length.

Final score: 90-93. Again, I did this score before even remembering that there'd been a flawed bottle on day 1, let alone that it was this bottle. I was quite surprised after reviewing my notes, because if you'd told me on day 1 that I was going to be enjoying this bottle on day 4 and giving it 90-93 points I'd have called you a liar. But whatever it was totally disappeared (I'm sure the others would say it was never there in the first place) and in the end the Fonseca is quite good. Not quite up to the Graham, and certainly not on par with the Warre, but it's going to be an outstanding Port and is well worth of cellaring.

[Roy Hersh]

Three days later, I completely forgot how bad this had been on Day 1 and stuck my nose right in without any preconceived notions. In fact, it wasn't until after we were done and I was reviewing my notes from Day 1 that I even remembered at all. So whatever was wrong (to me) on Day 1 completely blew off and it was fine on Day 4.

Neither Andy, David or I smelled anything wrong at any point. But we were all surprised that you failed to heed my suggestion to forego eating tuna fish salad and onion sandwiches just prior to coming over here to taste VP cask samples.

[Glenn E.]

But we were all surprised that you failed to heed my suggestion to forego eating tuna fish salad and onion sandwiches just prior to coming over here to taste VP cask samples.

Wait... you said forego??? I thought you said go eat a tuna & onion sandwich!!!

[Eric Menchen]

"Four, to go;" that's what I told the lady at the deli counter. "Hungry?" "No, that's what Roy told me to do."