For The Love Of Port

Andresen 40 Year Old Tawny, corked, so
1985 Vista Alegre Colheita, wonderful

Over the weekend in Las Vegas...

1985 Fonseca
1985 Smith Woodhouse
1985 Gould Campbell

1985 Vista Alegre Colheita
Pocas Bonificador Tawny Fora da Serie

The Fonseca was corked, but I thought it was still really good. It had a bitter note at the end so didn't score as high as I thought it was capable of scoring.

This bottle of Smith Woodhouse was much drier than I was expecting. No idea if there's a "flaw" that can cause that, but it scored poorly for me for being too dry.

The Gould Campbell was much redder in flavor than normal. I typically get black cherry, black currant, and maybe some black raspberry. This one was more red cherry, red currant, and red raspberry. But it was still really good.

The Vista Alegre is one of my favorite tawny Ports right now. High sugar - 149 g/l - but also high acidity to balance it. Pretty spectacular, but pairing it with a Casa Ste Eufemia 40 Year Old Tawny Port really highlighted the difference between a Colheita and a TWAIOA.

The Bonificador was terrific as usual. Having it in a lineup with several other tawnies, though, did show that it is what it is. It's a ~25 year old tawny that aged into something really very nice... but it's still only 25 years old. I love it to death, but it really can't keep up with the Vista Alegre or the Casa Ste Eufemia that we also opened. Still... in between sessions the bottle disappeared very quickly while we caught up on social media or otherwise surfed the web.

Fonseca Guimaraens 1976. Still a bizarre wine, black-rex colour, hardly any sediment, tasting like chalk and black cherry. So strange. Not growing up at all.

Al B. wrote: ↑Thu Jan 30, 2025 3:59 pm Well, I opened my Kopke Superb Old Tawny this evening — and it’s f*****g corked!!’

I suppose at least that tells me it was probably bottled in the period 1977-1985.

Well, this is embarrassing. It turns out the bottle wasn't corked after all.

Fortunately, despite my disappointment, I guess my subconscious was telling me something. I didn't pour the rest of the bottle down the sink, but instead stood it on the worktop in the garage (which runs at about 8-12C in the winter). I thought I'd try another sip this evening, 5 days after opening the bottle, and - hey presto! It's not corked.

It's intensely flavoured, with powerful acidity, but all wrapped up in such an exquisite and elegant framework. It's not an exuberant poke in the eye like, say, the Graham 50YO is. It's an immaculately refined wine with proper manners like, say, the Sandeman 50YO.

I'm so glad I kept it. I guess tawny that's been bottled for 40 years needs 4 days to recover - just like if it was Madeira. You live and learn.

1994 Ferreira. I wanted to see what this was like after a few others on here recently raved about it.

I just checked and I had one exactly 3 years and 364 days ago. Weird coincidence. The first '94 Ferreira I opened was corked so I opened another one. After a 10 hour decant this one is drinking beautifully.

Update 1 day later: I think the only 1994 that's drinking better right now is the Vesuvio. This bottle is a rockstar!

Andresen 40yo tawny, bottled in 2023

Borges Reserve Ruby

Totally muted upon opening, not one for Pop n'Pour. Next day better but prickly, bloody, and uninteresting, not worth it, they should spend less putting the bottle in a tube and more on the winemaking. So far, Sandeman FR remains the best easily obtainable RR atm.

Burmester 1974 Colheita (bottled 2014) to celebrate the Eagles thrashing of the Chiefs.

1977 Smith Woodhouse, nearly as dark and powerful as I remember.

Had a friend come by for Super Bowl. We drank 1994 Delaforce VP and 2000 Vale Maria VP. Both were gone withing 45 minutes of opening

1985 Dow's Vintage Port

Quinta da Trovisca LBV 2019. I really enjoy Quevedo's style of LBV, that Trovisca is similar, maybe a little less complex but still has that dry profile with ripe black currant flavours

Calem 2022. When I tasted a range of 2022 VPs last year, this was the one which I thought would be the best to have with turkey on Christmas Day. It didn’t get opened that day but now has been. And it was delicious.

Also opened a bottle of Quevedo 40YO tawny, bottled 2023, which was as great as ever.

Next up is a half of Kopke 30YO White.

1970 Gonzales Byass VP. Opened two nights ago and had one glass. Had some bottle stink to it. I hope it dissipated some. I put the stopper on the decanter. That may've kept it from whiffing off. I'll find out in a few hours.

Last night DR L70. Stunning as usual. When Bartholomew Broadbent swoons over a bottle of Port, you know it is something special.

Al B. wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2025 12:49 am Calem 2022. When I tasted a range of 2022 VPs last year, this was the one which I thought would be the best to have with turkey on Christmas Day. It didn’t get opened that day but now has been. And it was delicious.

Also opened a bottle of Quevedo 40YO tawny, bottled 2023, which was as great as ever.

Next up is a half of Kopke 30YO White.

It turns out the next bottle was actually Fonseca 1963, opened using tongs for Valentine’s Day.

Last night celebrating my wife's birthday we had Warre 70.

What a fantastic wine, everything you would expect in a mature VP.

Forgot to post this after Port Club last Saturday...

1983 Graham Vintage Port

By coincidence, and for the first time ever at Port Club, we had duplicate bottles! In addition to my 750 of G83, Lindsay brought a 375 of G83.

They were served blind and were clearly different, but what made it weird was that the 375 seemed younger to everyone present. Its color was more magenta/purple (vs the 750's garnet), its fruits were brighter, and its acidity was better. I disagreed with that last bit, but was overruled. The 375 was decanted between noon and 1, and the 750 was decanted at 2. We started tasting at 7.

I gave both bottles 93. Others had them a point apart, but IIRC everyone was at either 92 or 93 for both bottles.

I thought the 375 felt about 10 years younger than my 750 ml bottle, and I did think it was a Graham. It didn't feel like a 1994 to me, though, so since it was a 375 and had been decanted for 1-2 hours longer than the 750, I went even younger and guessed that it was a 1997 Graham.

That then confused Lindsay, who knew that his 375 was in fact a G83, but he didn't think my bottle seemed old enough to be a 1977 or 1970.

Calem 20 y.o. Tawny (bottled 1990). It's held up well even though its over 34 years old. Tasting Note to follow.

Porto dos Santos 10 yr white port. A drier, less sweet, take on a 10 yr white. Very good. And being dryer it’s quite easy to enjoy more glasses of it.