For The Love Of Port

1977 Gould Campbell
1970 Dow
1980 Warre
1983 Graham
1985 Graham
1985 Warre
1985 Kopke
1985 Dow

That was just to celebrate the launch of a new newsletter that went to Stewart on Monday.

Then last night:

1994 Dow
1994 Gould Campbell
1994 Warre
1994 Graham
1994 Vesuvio
1994 Niepoort (Mag)
1994 Fonseca
1994 Taylor

Followed by 1952 Dalva Golden White for dessert.

So far it has been a good week and the decadent oldies begin tonight in Edmonton (although I brought some old Madeiras too).

I opened a Morgan Brothers 1977 last weekend and a Graham 1980 on Tuesday as my contribution towards the birthday celebration of a fellow forum member - but I won't steal his thunder and post everything that he had at his birthday tasting...

I managed to taste two of the the 94 left overs at DeVines today. Taylors was top notch imo and the Warres was not far behind.
Chris A told me about the `52 Dalva, seems I missed a real treat.

1994 Ramos Pinto

Confess was a bit disappointed, especially in comparison to the 2007 Grahams I had last weekend. Though the 2007 Grahams was 2x the price, thinking was totally worth it.

Found the Ramos Pinto to be much lighter bodied (as well as lighter colored), tasting and looking almost like a tawny.

The Grahams, on the other hand, was lush, as deep in flavor as it was impregnably black ink in color.

Am still new to this though. Is this difference something I should expect from drinking young vs older VP? Or the thing to expect from drinking a great vs a regular VP?

Miguel Simoes wrote:1994 Ramos Pinto

Confess was a bit disappointed, especially in comparison to the 2007 Grahams I had last weekend. Though the 2007 Grahams was 2x the price, thinking was totally worth it.

Found the Ramos Pinto to be much lighter bodied (as well as lighter colored), tasting and looking almost like a tawny.

The Grahams, on the other hand, was lush, as deep in flavor as it was impregnably black ink in color.

Am still new to this though. Is this difference something I should expect from drinking young vs older VP? Or the thing to expect from drinking a great vs a regular VP?

From the description of it looking like a tawny, this does not sound like a representative bottle to me.

A bottle we had last year was still very dark/opaque and youthful and - although more accessible than many other 94s i've had - in need of more time.

At the big 1880-2007 RP vertical in Germany recently (which unfortunately i could not attend ), there were also reports of it showing well and feeling like it was just starting to open up

[note: double check whether you have the 94 RP Ervamoira SQVP? Your note sounds similar to reports of that one!]

Smith Woodhouse 77 Magnum
Dow 63
Taylor 27

Douro wines
Batuta 05
Redoma Reserva 05

1977 Royal Oporto VP

2000 C. da Silva

Romaneira 40 year old
Brunheida 40 year old
1952 Dalva Golden White (in addition to the '52 Dalva after the Devine tasting)
1966 Fonseca VP
1950 Kopke Colheita

i like what sandy's drinking

2006 quevedo lbv decanting for a tasting tomorrow

10 Year tawny Vieira de Sousa and 1996 Quevedo Colheita

Roy
Are we going to get some notes or general comments on the '94s. I'd be most interested to know how they're progressing.
Thanks

1980 Dow

Cockburn 1970

1977 Grahams.

Decanted 12 hours (swirled the decanter a handful of times along the way).

By the time we drank it the heat from the spirit had faded and it showed v nicely.

Color was a transparent redish/brownish, the flavor had strong hints of honey.

As I venture into VP, am still thinking that younger VP might be the way to go.

Paid about the same for this 1977 Grahams as for a 2007 Grahams that I had a couple of weeks ago.

Having had both, no doubt in my mind that I would have paid double for the 2007 than I did for the 1977.

Miguel Simoes wrote:As I venture into VP, am still thinking that younger VP might be the way to go.

Eminently sensible!

You should try to persuade Jeff to open a Fonseca 85 for you at a tasting and see how you get on with that!

Rob, reg the 1994 Ramos Pinto, I went back and checked that the bottle was indeed the regular 1994 Ramos Pinto, not the Ervamoira SQVP.

1985 Fonseca sounds wonderful

[also, there are a number of bottles of the 1994 RP on WineBid.com this week starting at $30. Not sure if they ship to the UK though.]

Opened a 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio for Thanksgiving. I improvised a 12 hour decant into a two liter glass bottle. I think that part was o.k., but we are in a rental that we can't seem to limit the heat in, and the bottle was overly warm. It tasted o.k., but nowhere near as good as I remembered previous bottles. I put it in the refrigerator overnight, and pulled it out the next evening so it wouldn't be cold, but not warm either. Much better, with a lot more fruit and body.

Was over at Freds place and shared a very good meal with Moses and his better half Elyse .
I don't remember the wines , however we had a 1968 Noval colheita , which was the highlight of the night
Next was a 1980 Smith Woodhouse .
Decanted for 2 hours .
Didn't open up right away . ( probably 1 more hour decanting would have helped )
While not a block buster of a VP, well worth tasting . ( 15/20 )

Luc Gauthier wrote:Was over at Freds place and shared a very good meal with Moses and his better half Elyse .
I don't remember the wines , however we had a 1968 Noval colheita , which was the highlight of the night
Next was a 1980 Smith Woodhouse .
Decanted for 2 hours .
Didn't open up right away . ( probably 1 more hour decanting would have helped )
While not a block buster of a VP, well worth tasting . ( 15/20 )

Hey Luc, please, you need to remember that at least you have tasted some Domaine de la Romanée Conti!!!

I finished the SW 1980 tonight and it is better. Not showing anything more but everything perfectly balanced.

With the family tonight we had the 1985 Ferreira, showing good, concentrated, just a touch of volatile. Perfectly mature for my palate.