For The Love Of Port

Hello. I'm still new to the forum and this is my first tasting note. That combined with the fact that I must admit I don't have the most discerning palate means this TN will no doubt disappoint.

For perspective, these are the ports I have had thus far and remember well enough to rank, from favorite to least:
1963 Romariz Colheita
1996 Burmester Colheita
2003 Taylor LBV
Quinta de Ventozelo 10 Year Tawny
Fonseca Bin 27
Graham Six Grapes
Quarles Harris 10 Year Tawny
Sandeman Founder's Reserve

I ducked into a local wine store that's walking distance from my house just to see what ports they have. Since it's small, I have rarely gone there, but they're nice, and they had a Romariz Reserva Latina, which the shopkeeper raved about. Having produced the 1963 colheita I had in Portugal, and with a $17 price tag (at a small wine shop, no less), I had to give this Romariz offering a go.

First night: Had it for dessert (with bananas foster ice cream), no decant, just opened for maybe ten minutes, served at about 55-60 degrees (put in fridge briefly—sorry, no cellar) At first, the alcohol nose was definitely there, but not as strong as some. The thing that really struck me is that it wasn't really a ruby, but much more like a tawny, at least to my untrained eyes/nose/mouth. Color was much closer to a ten-year tawny than a Reserve like Bin 27. Much closer. My wife mentioned black currants, which I also detected when mentioned. But we agreed that fig was very noticable, which I enjoyed.

Second night: brought it over to friends and had it for dessert again with poached pears. Less alcohol on the nose than the first night, but also a tad less fruity. Fig was definitely still there, though.

I have to say that my experience with the Reserves so far has been a mixed bag--I have thus far preferred the LBVs at a similar (or near-similar) price point. Romariz Reserva Latina is an exception. I really enjoyed this, perhaps because of its more aged-tawny characteristics. I would rate it in the 2003 Taylor LBV/Quinta de Ventozelo 10 Year Tawny range for me. Would have preferred a less alcoholic nose and more complexity, but very enjoyable. If forced to give it points, I would say 88-89 points range. But for $16.99, I think that's a great deal. Just purchased a 1997 Offley Colheita and a 2004 Dow LBV. Will be curious to see how my first colheita bought in the US will be.

Jeremy,

on your first TN!!! You did a very good job, so have no worries. You're right about your guess about this seeming more tawny, as it is a basic tawny Port and not a Reserve Ruby...despite the confusing name. A little checking shows this was made mainly for the Brazilian market, who love tawny Ports, hence the name. Sounds like a great deal at the price and if I were you I'd stock up before they are all gone.

And I was about to say that I recently opened a Tuke Holdsworth Personal Reserve, a reserve ruby, that had a fair bit of tawny character, which I attributed to its time in bottle (~two years), a good deal of which it had leaker status. It also had thrown a fair amount of sediment.

Then Andy points out that this was a tawny. Glad you liked it.

Thanks, Eric and Andy, for the information. I guess I should have done a little more research on it, though when I googled it I didn't see much. Well, at least I trust my palate enough now to know my senses were correct, even if I was uninformed.

Posted a TN for 2004 Dow LBV. I have to confess I was quite disappointed. Hopefully the Colheita I bought at the same time will be better when we get around to trying it.

Jeremy E wrote:Thanks, Eric and Andy, for the information. I guess I should have done a little more research on it, though when I googled it I didn't see much. Well, at least I trust my palate enough now to know my senses were correct, even if I was uninformed.

No worries, as you can see some of us love digging for any info related to Port.
And always trust that palate, it seems to be off to a good start.