For The Love Of Port

Whether it is just one bottle, your top 3 or half dozen or even top 10 ... which Ports have you enjoyed most, consumed at some point this year (yes, I realize there's 3 weeks left)?

I've been lucky enough to have had some really nice bottles this year, often shared with good friends.

Top of my list was a Croft 1945 that I shared at home with Derek and Andy. Croft 1945 has a massive reputation and this bottle lived up to that reputation. Superb.

Running a close second was a bottle of Noval 1934 that Andy managed to find somewhere and which was shared in Portugal and used to wash down some tapas in the Regua restaurant Castos e Precos.

Actually, maybe better than the Noval - or maybe not, I can't make my mind up - was the Scion. This was a fabulous wine and drinking it overlooking the Douro has got to be the place to sip on this piece of history.

And honorable mentions have got to go to a bottle of Fonseca 1977 that had lain in El Vino's cellars since being shipped; an ullaged bottle of Graham 1963 that I drank at home on my own not expecting anything and was overwhelmed by the intensity of flavour; and a bottle of Graham 1994 drunk ex-cellars from the Lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia that was just superb.

I've fallen way behind in posting my TNs to the TNdb, so this probably isn't a complete list. I'll have to check this weekend and fill in the blanks.

Several of my standouts from this year have been old favorites. 1985 Graham, 1985 Fonseca, 1964 Noval Colheita... can't really go wrong with any of those. But I did also discover a few new ones that were excellent and one that was simply magnificent.

We had a Dow vertical in NYC in March, and the two standouts for me from that tasting were the 1970 and the 1994. I gave a slight edge to the 1970, but I suspect that in another 24 years the 1994 will be even better than the 1970 is now.

I also discovered the 1991 Dona Matilde Colheita this year. I'm normally not a huge fan of Colheitas that are "only" 20 years old, but this one has consistently hit all the right notes for me. It's smooth and creamy but not at all flabby, and it has just the right amount of acidity for a perfect sipping glass of Port.

But easily the highlight of the year for me was the Quinta da Romaneira 40 Year Old Tawny Port. I purchased a case directly from the Quinta and have enjoyed several of the bottles already, and I've consistently rated it 96 or 97 points. It's just fantastic, and is my new favorite 40-yr old Tawny. It's really too bad that it's not available in the US... or I guess maybe in my case it's a good thing because I'd probably go broke buying all I could find.

My 2011 top 3 would be:

1) 1963 Fonseca VP
2) 1994 Fonseca VP
3) 1970 Dow's VP (from magnum)

All three awesome bottles. Bought some 1994 Fonseca afterwards and are really looking forward to those down the road.

I'd go with my dow line up this year as most memorable with Glenn/Sandy/Lamont and a few more of you guys.

Esp with Tom and Alex being so very generous and rounding out both the 55 and 58 when I visited london.

We had a mini 63 tasting of noval and warre with Jay with tons of bbq that was quite good also.

Guess what I mean to say is that I think the company made the ports that much more memorable.

Checking my TNs, the top two (tied at 95 points) were:

• NV S. Leonardo 30 Year Old Tawny Port
• 1970 Taylor Vintage Port

After that comes a long list with 93 points.

The most memorable line-up of ports I tasted this year was the Noval 1934, Croft 1945 and Noval 1947 at Castos e Precos in Regua with Alex, Andy and Christopher in October. The N47 was a little short of the other two in terms of quality but I don't think I have ever had a better trio of ports in one sitting. Fabulous.

Al B. wrote:honorable mentions have got to go to a bottle of Fonseca 1977 that had lain in El Vino's cellars since being shipped; ...

I remember that bottle. It went very well with the fried calamari and french fries

Derek T. wrote:The most memorable line-up of ports I tasted this year was the Noval 1934, Croft 1945 and Noval 1947 at Castos e Precos in Regua with Alex, Andy and Christopher in October. The N47 was a little short of the other two in terms of quality but I don't think I have ever had a better trio of ports in one sitting. Fabulous.

For a single line up of older Ports this year, this was it as well. Amazing line up and it was fun to share them with friends and a couple esteemed guests.

Nice to see the lists here so far. The end of the year is flying by and I hope to read more of your favorites.

It matters not if it is an 1851 Warre or a Sandeman Founder's Reserve, so don't be shy if your favorite was young or inexpensive, what matters is that it left a lasting impression on you.

In the inexpensive category, it has to be Cockburn's Special Reserve that I rediscovered this year. An inexpensive Port that has finally reclaimed it's former glory.

50 more hours ... tick tock.

Maybe everyone is optimistic that they've saved their best bottle for New Year's Eve?

1995 Smith Woodhouse LBV was my Port of the Year--just a fabulous LBV.

(I was surprised at how many ports I tasted, 35, yet so few VPs...3). I do have a 1985 Grahams I'm itching to open--just need the right setting and it unfortunately won't be New Years .

I retired this year. No balloon flight or gold watch for me. I opted for a glass of Taylor's Scion taken on the Veranda of the Yeatman. It was a sublime experience looking over the rooftops of the port lodges towards Porto.

Bill Penn wrote:I retired this year. No balloon flight or gold watch for me. I opted for a glass of Taylor's Scion taken on the Veranda of the Yeatman. It was a sublime experience looking over the rooftops of the port lodges towards Porto.

now that's my idea of a good gift!

Some of the standouts for me are (in no particular order): 1952 Dalva - again, 1963 Fonseca - again, 1952 Delaforce Colheita - had 3 times this year, 1890 Burmester Colheita and 1963 Graham.

-- Gary

Niepoort 1912 colheita
Niepoort 1977 garrafeira
Niepoort 1863
Niepoort 1957 colheita
Andersen 1937 colheita
Vesuvio 1994 vp
Graham's 1963 vp
Warre's 1977 vp

2011 was not a bad year

Hi Eduardo,

Really nice to see you here. How is the weather in Regua right now? Hopefully you've had some good amount of rain this winter so far. Glad to see you posting here now.