For The Love Of Port

1980 Gould Campbell : In one way it was impressive that everyone thought it was younger than it looked but then when will this wine deliver its ''potential''. It was unbalanced but saturated and powerful, like a vintage still in its dumb phase after 40 years....

Dow is probably nominally filtered, thus not qualifying for the "Unfiltered" designation.

One producer, in my presence, once remarked: 'Does straining out the pips and flies count as filtration?' The IVDP's definition of unfiltered, taken literally, seems problematic.

The situation is a bit of a mess - and one that could be easily resolved.

Quinta do Passadouro Vintage 1994 : fully mature, complex and intense, just what you want to see in a Vintage, missing some depth but won't complain, the bottle got emptied very quick!

Taylor 10yr - bottled 1988

These Taylor 10yrs are very consistant - they take about ten years in bottle to lose their rough edges, and then very gradually become ever more serene. I've never had one that seemed over the hill.

Lightly chilled in the fridge, fine sipping on a hot summer's evening..

1983 Graham for dinner tonight

Dow Fine White Tawny, opened for cooking to make a pâté; but it was tasty in a Port Tonic tonight.
S. Leonardo 40 Year Old White, TN here: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=43598

Churchill 92 LBV (unfiltered)

Horrible smell of VA as I decanted. Mostly blew away, but at every sip a hint to remind me.

Otherwise a solid offering. Another bottle from this stash opened last year was clean.

Rare to get VA on a '92, so disappointing..

1960 Croft
NV Brunheda Armazem de Codecais Tonel #3 Very Old Tawny Port

The latter was a cask sample from one of Brunheda's many remote warehouses. It was last known to have been topped up in the 1960s, and was already a VV - very, very old which normally means 60+ years - at that time. So some of it is over 100 years old, while the youngest Ports in it are 55-ish years old.

We laughed about the 1960 Croft being the original "Croft Pink" because of its color as it was decanted, but the color deepened rapidly once decanted and by the time we drank it it was a superb example of what 1960 can offer.

1980 Andresen Colheita bottled 2012. Very nice, very smooth, yet powerful.

Vieira de Sousa 10 year old special edition semi-dry white.
Definitely less sweet than the regular 10 year old. Slightly less sweet than the Kopke 10 year old white which is on the drier side.
Very gastronomic.

2003 Borges VP. Not bad but will get better with another 10 years. Requires a long decant as well. Only $30 for a decent VP, so I'm not complaining.
88 pts.

Taylor '66

My last Oporto bottled bottle - not the best corks used, so have gradually drunk through this stash in preference to my EB stocks.

Still tannic and a beast that won't lie down, but getting a tad hollow behind that - the brutal Taylor signature displacing any fine nuances.

A good wine still, and plenty of life left - score 8-8

1996 Barros Quinta Dona Matilde. Just decanted and took a small sip. Strong smell of violets followed by a whiff of stewed prunes. Medium purple in color. I took a small sip and it's a light, pleasant port that thickens in your mouth as you hold it. Seems promising.

A few treats from my boss last Friday.

Quevedo Vintage 2019 sample : A lovely vintage, in the style of the 2017, packed with elegance and precision, great depth and purity. It did seduced all the guests at the table.

Quevedo White Colheita 1975 : An amazing display of what white Port can be, profound, complex mostly on spices and dried fruits. Wine of the night for many.

Then I could compare the Garrafeira vs Colheita from the casks and from the demijohn. Quevedo did bottle 50 total, from 2000 and 1994 harvest, bottled in 2013, decanted in 2021. So the 1994 spent 19 years in barrels and 8 in demijohn, the 2000, you know :)

It was impressive to see how smoother and elegant the 1994 Garrafeira was. The glass really round the edges of the Tawny style, even for such a short time, it makes a huge difference. Same with the 2000, while the Colheita starts its full maturity, the Garrafeira is still quite young and tannic, similar to a Vintage in the ''dumb'' phase. I'd say the 1994 could be ready to release while the 2000 definitively needs another 10-20 years. It is an experiment Quevedo is doing and it was a unique opportunity to taste them as they evolve. Now we need to find more demijohns! Proper ones.

Then it was fun, Oscar and Claudia each did a unique 20 year old blend, different from the one Quevedo release. I thought if you split the regular 20 in 2... all the youth and spices went into Claudia's blend while Oscar's blend was showing the elegance and oxydative character on the dryer side too.

These Ports will be released in Quevedo's Deluxe Advent Calendar.

Krohn 20 year old.

1998 Cockburn’s Quinta dos Canais VP. It’s been my house VP for a bit. A nicely mature Port that has moderately complexity and a nice finish.

I opened a bottle of Gould Campbell 2003 over the weekend. While still young, it is drinking wonderfully well.

Rocha 40 year old.

Malveos '86 - indecently young, rich and immature - demands a blind to back to back with G85 to see which is better..

1987 Graham's Malvedos VP. Tasty treat.