For The Love Of Port

I'm in Asia for two weeks but didn't make the same mistake as Roy when he was working away from home - I brought a half bottle with me!

Berry Brothers sourced their 1997 from Warres.

Deep, strong and intense plum red with an opaque centre. Slightly cloudy due to the fact that it has been in hand luggage. Not decanted but opened 24 hours ago.

Fabulous nose that can be picked up from the other side of the room. Smells reminiscent of blueberries, loganberries and over-ripe raspberries. A hint of alcohol behind the fruit.

Smooth into the mouth and as much delivered as promised by the nose. Strong acidity balanced by the fruit, which is sweet but not over-ripe. Lots of plums and blackcurrants. Not complex but lots of up-front fruit. Tannins come through after a lot of air contact but are supple and hidden by the fruit. Very well balanced. Length a little short, but what there is is very pleasant.

How will this develop with age? - I have no idea at all, but its great to drink now and I can thoroughly reccomend it.

Alex

I have bought from Berry, and have no issue with their integrity as a wine merchant.

But why do I hate these "own brands" so..

hmm...

This is the first time that I have ever bought an "own brand" like this. I bought it only because I was picking up a pre-order from Berry Brothers shop at Heathrow and saw it on the shelf, waving to me. That's when I realised I was in danger of doing a "Roy" and being port-less for two weeks.

I bought the half as much as an experiment as anything else, to see what it would be like. For £10.80, I have been very pleased. I can't imagine that I will buy huge quantities of them in the future, but I can now accept that this is because of my own prejudice and not because of any lack of quality on the part of the wine.

Alex

As an experiment, I emptied the last half glass out of the half bottle this evening - 6 days after opening the half bottle.

The nose on the wine is warm and inviting. Sweet fruit dominates with alcohol clearly present but not dominating.

In the mouth the entry is very smooth. Much of the fruit has dropped away but has been replaced by spicy alcohol and lots of bitter chocolate and coffee flavours with black cherries coming through on the aftertaste. Length is excellent and full of coffee which fades to sweet, red grapes.

Since opening, this half bottle has been with me in my hand luggage for 6 days and 16 hours of flying time. Its been subjected to temperatures ranging from 20C to 35C and it is still fabulous.

In fact, I think I prefer it now to the evening that I opened it and poured the first glass. Score 92/100.

Alex

Alex,

I have noted this before. The notion that vintage port "does not keep" may be true in some situations, but the reverse may also be sometimes true.

I recently wrote a fairly negative TN on Fonseca '83, but have to also note that the dregs of the decanter (drunk after about 48 hrs) were significantly better - including a little bouquet - that was noticeably absent in the first instance.

Maybe we need to conduct a 48 hrs after dregs survey!

Tom