What have you opened this week?

[Roy Hersh]

FINALLY, in Q1, I will have my meeting with the PT gov't which I am really hoping will allow me to start traveling again. On my radar is visiting friends in the UK, Denmark and The Netherlands. But as my daughter is moving to Italy next month, I will certainly be including that country as well.

Sharing some barely alive Ports would be a pleasure, my friend. I completely understand your comment about stopping buying Port or wine in general. When my collection from the USA is able to travel overseas, likely in late 2025 ... I will no longer have any reason to buy another bottle. What I have amassed here in 2.5 years is obscene. Not Port so much, as I know what is coming here someday, but Madeira I have to stop!!! With what I still have in my "other" cellar ... I really have no idea how I can possibly drink that much with the years I think I have left. Not to mention the white and red wines which have completely taken over one of my rooms here. Someone needs to do a redux version, "Might as well admit it, your addicted to wine."

Wishing you and Elizabeth a wonderful New Year's celebration, Alex!

[John M.]

For Christmas a Romaneira 40 year Tawny. Liquid sweet walnuts, lemon and orange zest and many other flavors---so deep in flavor and complex. Only ding is it was cloudy. 2022 Bottling. WOW!. 95 Points.

[Al B.]

As a reward to myself for having survived Christmas, with all the driving and cooking that entailed, I opened an unknown bottle which I hope was VP.

It was, it turned out to be Warre 1947!

Wonderful clear branding!

IMG_0855.jpeg (154.34 KiB) Viewed 2307 times

[Mike J. W.]

Sweet! How was it Alex? Did you have any idea what era it was from?

[Al B.]

Sweet! How was it Alex? Did you have any idea what era it was from?

To be honest, it wasn’t that great, a little dried out, tertiary and with no fruit left. It was drinkable and a rare treat, but not something I’ll plan to open again.

[Roy Hersh]

Says the guy who absolutely loves end of life wines.

[Eric Menchen]

1968cr.jpg (432.16 KiB) Viewed 2275 times

1968 Taylor "Very Old Single Harvest Port"
1968 Andresen Colheita
and instead of posting twice, I'll mention these that really belong in the Madeira section
1968 Blandy's Sercial
1968 D'Oliveiras Boal

[Al B.]

Says the guy who absolutely loves end of life wines.

That's very true. Interestingly, I didn't drink much of it yesterday because it was so weak so I have 3/4s of the decanter left. This evening, it is much smoother and richer, with a lovely bruised apple giving that delicious balance of acidity with sweetness. This is so much better this evening than it was last night! In a way, I wish I had opened the bottle in the morning. I would love to have been able to taste it after a 12 hour decant.

So, my advice to anyone considering opening a bottle of Warre 1947 is to open it the day before you want to drink it!!

[Al B.]

1968cr.jpg
1968 Taylor "Very Old Single Harvest Port"
1968 Andresen Colheita
and instead of posting twice, I'll mention these that really belong in the Madeira section
1968 Blandy's Sercial
1968 D'Oliveiras Boal

Was that a birthday event? For someone born in 1968?

[Mike J. W.]

1968 Taylor "Very Old Single Harvest Port"
1968 Andresen Colheita
and instead of posting twice, I'll mention these that really belong in the Madeira section
1968 Blandy's Sercial
1968 D'Oliveiras Boal

What a great lineup, Eric. Which was your favorite still wine out of the group? And among the Madeira / Port. did one stand out above the others?

[Eric Menchen]

Was that a birthday event? For someone born in 1968?

Indeed, my birthday.

What a great lineup, Eric. Which was your favorite still wine out of the group? And among the Madeira / Port. did one stand out above the others?

That's tough to answer. I had high expectations for the Ygay, which I have had many times. It started out with some funk and I was worried, but that went away and it really settled in nicely with good complexity. The Franco-Españolas was a big surprise, with plenty still going on. I preferred it at the start, but I think the Ygay won in the end. The Barolo was pretty good, which was a surprise. I didn't have much hope for that one, with another bottle in reserve that I didn't need. On the sweet side, they were all pretty great, as expected. I suppose the Sercial was a surprise because I generally don't like those like I do the sweeter ones. The food parings may have helped. I made a PB&J from Alinea, a dish that Grant paired with Sercial at a Mannie Berk dinner a while back, and then served foie gras. That I tried cooking a different way--sous vide followed by a sear which I won't repeat--but it was still good and fun to eat with the wine. The Ports and PX were great as I expected, but I can't pick one as a stand out.

[Roy Hersh]

Eric,

And how about the Royal Rioja, was it in good shape?

[Roy Hersh]

Eric,

And how about the Royal Rioja, was it in good shape?

[Roy Hersh]

Al B. wrote:

This evening, it is much smoother and richer, with a lovely bruised apple giving that delicious balance of acidity with sweetness.

Excellent, and good on ya for not filling your sink drain with it the night before. I have had a handful of wines completely rebound and shock me over the years, with a night in the refrigerator, oldies that I did not expect to surprise me, even a great old Burg, can't remember deets, but it was from 1964. That said, most others were old Cabs and Zins. I never pour any White down the drain, unless clearly pre-moxed, nor reds unless corked. 90% of the time, checking in the following day, doesn't provide any decent results. But a few disappointing, seemingly DOA bottles, have done a complete 360 ... and again, a handful in 03 years ... taught me to not give up until the next day.

[Mike J. W.]

Was that a birthday event? For someone born in 1968?

Indeed, my birthday.

What a great lineup, Eric. Which was your favorite still wine out of the group? And among the Madeira / Port. did one stand out above the others?

That's tough to answer. I had high expectations for the Ygay, which I have had many times. It started out with some funk and I was worried, but that went away and it really settled in nicely with good complexity. The Franco-Españolas was a big surprise, with plenty still going on. I preferred it at the start, but I think the Ygay won in the end. The Barolo was pretty good, which was a surprise. I didn't have much hope for that one, with another bottle in reserve that I didn't need. On the sweet side, they were all pretty great, as expected. I suppose the Sercial was a surprise because I generally don't like those like I do the sweeter ones. The food parings may have helped. I made a PB&J from Alinea, a dish that Grant paired with Sercial at a Mannie Berk dinner a while back, and then served foie gras. That I tried cooking a different way--sous vide followed by a sear which I won't repeat--but it was still good and fun to eat with the wine. The Ports and PX were great as I expected, but I can't pick one as a stand out.

Thank you for the response Eric. I'm a big fan of Tempranillo (no shock there I suppose) and Murriettas always seem to show well. The PB&J sounds interesting, especially prepared sous vide.

[Eric Menchen]

Thank you for the response Eric. I'm a big fan of Tempranillo (no shock there I suppose) and Murriettas always seem to show well. The PB&J sounds interesting, especially prepared sous vide.

The PB&J was not sous vide. That was finished under the broiler. I cooked the foie gras sous vide, because I've had good and bad experiences doing it in a skillet and in the oven, so I thought I would try sous vide. But it cooked way faster than the online information I found suggested, which I was suspicious of. I'm going to go back to perfecting the old methods for foie gras.

[Eric Menchen]

And how about the Royal Rioja, was it in good shape?

It was, which was a great and pleasant surprise. It didn't have the depth of the Ygay, but it was still fresh, tannic, and with just enough fruit to make you think it was way younger than 56.

[Mike J. W.]

1995 Croft Quinta da Roeda. Initially, I opened a leaking 1985 Warre today. The cork was soaked on it and there was a bit of mold on it as well. I decanted and immediately smelled musty gym socks and carboard. I tasted it just to be sure and it was TCA riddled. Down the drain it went. The Roeda was next up and seems more promising. Dark purple, with some jamminess present on a test sip. I'll give it 7 hours to sit in the decanter and see how it mellows out (or doesn't).

I did think it was odd that the cork made no mention of Croft on it. It merely said "ROEDA Vintage 1995".

[Glenn E.]

1964 Casa do Douro Colheita, bottled 2003

They're too long in bottle, but were inexpensive to purchase and are pretty unique.

[Lucas S]

2014 Sandeman LBV

Pop n'pour and this is a good Port for that. It is quite lovely and not as light as I would have expected given the vintage year - concentration is solid. This is a high grade LBV with complexity and the ideal level of acidity. I don't usually like floral notes but this is floral in a good way as an oaky cinnamon complements it well.

Sandeman LBVs are now positioned as a bit more expensive than most others, but this one at least, is well worth it.