For The Love Of Port

I've not done so many TNs, and have not had so many VPs, but here goes:

Opened and finished on Nov 21, 2009.

Decanted at 10:45 a.m. (accidentally had the stopper in for the first 6 hours of decant time...oops) Target was 8-10 hours decant time per Roy's suggestion.

Open: A small taste upon opening showed strong alcohol, especially on the nose.

6 hours: another small taste, the alcohol was still quite noticeable but a bit softer. The stopper was removed at that point.

10 hours: much more integrated now. Alcohol virtually gone. Very smooth with medium fruit, like cherries maybe. Very nice, medium finish and smooth until the end. We drank it over the next two hours and it was getting better as we went. A bit of spice as well, but very nicely put together.

95 points

Bryan,

No worries about not having done many TN's, you did a great job describing what you tasted

As you got to experience, this is a smoking good VP...just ask Roy what his daughters name is.

Probably my favorite port of all time....

One of my favorite Vintage Ports too... right up there with the 1963 Fonseca and 1985 Graham.

1970 Taylor is a classic. Is this your first time having this vintage? Good reivew.

Had a 1966 Taylor a few days ago; a different animal than the '70. I was suprised that the one glass left in the bottle was really good 24 later from decanting. Taylor's vintages can really age well.

That is the first time for that vintage, and in fact, only the second VP I've had (the other was the 1995 Crasto that several folks here got mags of at a good price from Vinfolio). It has been a good early exploration of VPs so far.

My wife has a strong preference for tawny and colheita, so only when I have friends in town that really enjoy port (as this past weekend), is it that easy for me to explore VPs. The night before we had a 1983 Barros colheita that was also nice, although not as good as the 87 that I still have several bottles of.

The same couple is visiting for new years, and I have a 1970 Fonseca in the lineup for that visit.

Bryan H. wrote: My wife has a strong preference for tawny and colheita, so only when I have friends in town that really enjoy port (as this past weekend), is it that easy for me to explore VPs. The night before we had a 1983 Barros colheita that was also nice, although not as good as the 87 that I still have several bottles of.

The same couple is visiting for new years, and I have a 1970 Fonseca in the lineup for that visit.

1970 Fonseca will be as equally good and different than Taylor. Maybe your wife will like the Fonseca more? For not drinking much VP, you can sure pick them!

I too love Barros Colheita.

Remarkably, the wife did not even try the Taylor. Neither of them did, so my friend and I polished it off ourselves. The wives went the champagne route that night.

More for me I suppose, although in the long run, there would be a smaller share for me of a much bigger VP pie if I could get her into VPs.

Hard not to pick good bottles with all the advice here...

Bryan H. wrote:Remarkably, the wife did not even try the Taylor. Neither of them did, so my friend and I polished it off ourselves. The wives went the champagne route that night.

More for me I suppose, although in the long run, there would be a smaller share for me of a much bigger VP pie if I could get her into VPs.

Hard not to pick good bottles with all the advice here...

Does your wife drink the equal to '70 Taylor in Champagne normally?

We are big fans of Schramsberg sparkling wine, as our our friends that were visiting. I would not call that the champagne equivalent of a 1970 Taylor perhaps, but the wives were quite happy with it, particularly as they had a bottle of Reserve, followed by a bottle of the standard Blanc de Blanc. I find the Schramsberg Brut Reserves, and most of the time their signature J Schram, to be quite good.

But, I like where I think you are headed, if I can get equivalent Champagne for her and VP for me. Still, there is the issue that she likes port, but wants to open tawnies all the time. There are worse things, of course...

Bryan H. wrote: But, I like where I think you are headed, if I can get equivalent Champagne for her and VP for me. Still, there is the issue that she likes port, but wants to open tawnies all the time. There are worse things, of course...

Just curious to hear what other Champagne fans are drinking. There are several on a cigar forum I am on. Champagne and cigars is quite common. The acid works well with cigars like Madeira and Port does.

Depending where you live, you can get Barros Colheita in half-bottles. Work with your local liquor store and call the distributor for Barros. If you don't mind the wait, Barros should be able to fill you half-bottles.

Moses Botbol wrote:Just curious to hear what other Champagne fans are drinking.

For Thanksgiving we opened a 1998 Argyle "Extended Tirage" (Oregon Sparkling Wine). Very good, but not great. I prefered the 1997 version of this wine.

David Spriggs wrote:

Moses Botbol wrote:Just curious to hear what other Champagne fans are drinking.

For Thanksgiving we opened a 1998 Argyle "Extended Tirage" (Oregon Sparkling Wine). Very good, but not great. I prefered the 1997 version of this wine.

We opened the the Kirkland/Costco Champagne that I have been aging a couple of years. Have not detected any difference on the cellaring yet. For port I opened 1990 Grahams Malvedos.