For The Love Of Port

We've bantered the merits of whether or not Tawny Ports "with an indication of age" actually improve or become less impressive with an older bottling (say a 20 year old XYZ Tawny Port that was put in bottle in 1999 vs one that was bottled in 2008). Budweiser calls this "born on dating" if I am not mistaken.

To the point, I believe that topic has been well covered here before and even explored in the newsletter as A QUESTION FOR THE PORT TRADE.

Now, I'd like to delve into another nuance of Tawny Ports (10/20/30/40 year olds) with an indication of age:

Do you think they are better as soon as the bottle is open, when the Tawny is freshest ... or is it your experience that these Tawnies actually get better or do they lose something ... as they sit in an open bottle for a week, or two or three?

I'd really like to hear as many perspectives on this topic as possible.

Cheers!

This is something that I have quite a bit of experience with simply because I drink a lot of tawnies but I don't drink them fast enough! What I have noticed is that most bottles are excellent immediately and hold that way for a day or two. They might need an hour or two to open up after you uncork the bottle, but that's all. Then, usually around the 3rd day, they start to decline a little and get a bit funky for about a week, sometimes taking on a bit of a bitter edge and becoming rough or harsh for a few days. After that they settle down again and climb back up to a happy plateau arriving on about day 10. They can stay at that plateau for 2-3 weeks... possibly more, but I don't drink that slowly!

The freshly opened bottle and the plateau bottle are different, though. The freshly opened bottle is brighter and livelier, while the plateau bottle is smoother and more mellow. The more acidic a Port is the more likely I am to leave it until the plateau stage because - to me - doing so helps integrate the acidity.

I think the older the bottling the more decant time. Also, the older the designated age, the longer decant. A 10 year old, I would just pop and pour. A 20, I'd give a little time. A 40, several hours or even the next day.

Maybe they open up some for the first couple of hours, but shortly after that they decline for sure. I like Tawny and Colheita as fresh as possible. No question or debate on my end!

For me, about one day of air time is perfect. Upon opening many tawnies, to my palate, tend to be a bit on the tight side. The additional air time seems to bring out the nutty nuances that may not be as pronounced at the outset.

Marc

I appreciate the great answers so far!

Just to reitterate the question:

Do you think that (10/20/30/40 year old) Tawnies are better as soon as the bottle is open, when the Tawny is freshest ... or is it your experience that these Tawnies actually get better or do they lose something ... as they sit in an open bottle for a week, or two or three?

For me, after a couple or three days, they start to lose aroma. I'll drink them up by then anyhow.

I'll usually finish up a bottle over two weekends, and the trend is that it has a bit too much acidity on the first day, which is gone the next. After a week some of the complexity seems to dissapear, so for me the optimal drinking window is about 1-3 days.

-Lars

Forgive me for my delay, as I want to give my and will do so soon.

Nimrod does not completely meet the title description, but is a Reserve Tawny with (I think) 7 years.

Nimrod is fine just popped. It mellows over the next day or so, but holds well up to 10 days. I honestly can't say what happens after that since it hasn't happened here.

Nimrod is one of the few tawnys that doesn't have a bottling date on the label. If they don't improve (or worsen) over the next six months in the bottle, I expect the question will become moot as I'm running out and don't expect to get any more.

It was a good run while it lasted.

Peter,

How many bottles do you have left of the Nimrod?

26

I'll save at least one for you.
(only 44 days, now.)

I had a feeling it would be my fate to try one of the few, the proud, the remaining NIMROD bottles. Oh well, that's my cross to bear for coming to MI.

Rest assured; I'll force you.

Nimrod! Nimrod!

Martignetti's has/had Nimrod. Will have to go back for a look. Costco has Warre's Otimo 10 year

Just remember: that Nimrod has been sitting for a while. They quit bottling it some time ago. Unfortunately, Nimrod has no indication of bottling date. I expect the serial number on the seal might tell an expert or an insider when it was bottled, but not me. We should have asked Dan Carbon if he could find out. (HUH, no "kicking myself" smiley.)

Ok Nimrods, back to the topic at hand

I think this is question is more producer specific, as a few I prefer right when opened and most I prefer the second day. But in general, I prefer most on day 2-3 where IMO they typically show their best. So if I'm opening them for others where I want them to show their best, I'll crack them open the day before whenever possible.

Time for some updated discussion here!

Andy Velebil wrote: But in general, I prefer most on day 2-3 where IMO they typically show their best.

With Ferreira and Taylor I'd agree or maybe I am just turning the tide a little from my earlier post?