For The Love Of Port

I've never really liked the Otima 10-yr old, but I have heard that the Otima 20-yr old is significantly better so when I finally found a bottle I bought it. It's quite expensive, though, considering that it has a pretty normal retail price but comes in a 500ml bottle instead of a 750ml bottle. At that price, it better be extraordinary.

I've been tasting this bottle over 4 days, and these notes are a compilation of my overall impression.

NV Warre's Otima 20 Year Old Tawny Port
bottled in 2008

Color: Fairly normal for a 20-yr old, with significant tawny coloration but still some red. The color passes through a translucent dark orange and yellow with a greening tinge before becoming clear at the rim.

Nose: Some dusty notes and a brief hint of green apples. As the apples fade, some alcohol creeps in and turns the dusty note into more of a cardboard smell. This isn't a TCA-like smell (since I seem to be immune to TCA), but an actual component of the nose. There is also a very faint liquor-like grapey smell that might also be raisins. Later I can detect some vanilla and the dust/cardboard has morphed again into something more like old, dry oak.

Palate: Strong heat, but not to the point of being hot. On Day 1 it was pretty dry in the mouth, with a high and light oily texture. It made me think of WD-40. That oily texture has subsided over the 4 days and is now almost completely gone. Some sweetness similar to golden raisins has crept in over the 4 days as well, but I would still place this on the dry side of the line between dry and sweet. The overall impression is fairly thin, both in body weight and flavor, but it also somehow seems right (or at least okay) at the same time. By Day 4 the late palate has taken on a soft cinnamon note.

Finish: The finish resembles the flavor for the first 10 seconds, then the heat starts to take over and warm your entire mouth and throat. Sweet lemon lingers behind in the mouth while the back of the roof of the mouth takes on a green apple note. Some smokey toffee can be found with a bit of work. There's plenty of acidity in the Port, but I don't really notice it as much in the mouth as I do later in the finish.

Score: 87 points.

That's considerably up from Day 1, when I probably would have given it something between 83 and 85. While a couple of days to breathe it has turned into a very good Tawny Port, I feel the QPR is poor. There are several 20-yr olds that I simply like better that can be found in the same price range, yet those other 20-yr olds all come in 750ml bottles. I get the impression that this Port is targeted not at real Port-nuts, but rather at people who have money and want to be perceived as Port-nuts. It's good enough to pass muster on quality, comes in an eye-catching bottle, and is (relatively) expensive. The perfect recipe for an office gift at a law firm.

Glenn,
Is this your first experience with Warre's 20 year Otima? I ask because this is normally a very good 20 year old tawny. I bought a case of it to too long ago as it is one I really enjoy. I suspect from your description it may have been corked. While much rarer, it is still possible to get corked bottle that is sealed with a T-cork. I would suggest trying another bottle to see if that changes your opinion of it.

Andy Velebil wrote:Glenn,
Is this your first experience with Warre's 20 year Otima? I ask because this is normally a very good 20 year old tawny.

For me, Warre's Otima is one of the best mainstream tawny ports made. The 20 year especially. I prefer 10's to have more vanilla and sweetness to offset the younger age, but I would not change a thing to their 20 and put it on equal standing with Sandeman, Noval, Ramos, and Ferreira.

Andy Velebil wrote:I suspect from your description it may have been corked.

As you know, I can't seem to smell or taste TCA. I'm beginning to learn how to tell when it is present because of other effects it has on the wine, but I get none of the primary indicators of TCA that other people smell and taste.

So when I detect cardboard in a Port, it's probably not TCA. It's just the way I'm describing a note - usually something similar to dust or minerals - that I'm noticing. I know it's a bad description to use because of its relation to TCA, but I just haven't come up with a better descriptor yet. In this particular bottle it started out as dust, changed into cardboard, then changed again into and old, dry oak. So I think it was probably just some otherwise normal component that I was noticing.

That said... it is of course still possible that this bottle was corked, but I didn't notice any of the secondary effects of TCA that I can usually pick up. (It didn't seem flat or dead, for example.) To the best of my knowledge I've never had a corked tawny before, though, so the secondary effects might be completely different and I wouldn't know what to look for. This bottle improved significantly over the 4 days, and might have continued to improve if it had lasted longer.

My guess is that I'm just not fond of the Otima style. I think I can tell that the 10-yr and 20-yr are related stylistically... it's just not a style that is ever going to be on my list of favorites.

I like it - anything above 80 is supposed to mean "very good" or better, after all - but given the large number of other 20-yr old ports out there that I like better (and which have better QPR due to bottle size) I probably won't bother getting any more Otima myself. Of course if you want to bring one with you to a tasting some time I'll be happy to help drink it!

Very descriptive TN, thanks Glenn ... and it should make for an interesting thread.

I am in agreement with Andy. Although TCA is lost on Glenn (I've witnessed this with shock & awe on several occasions) he is fortunate to be so "immune." I wish I was! But as Andy alluded to, T-stopper corks can and occasionally do wind up with TCA too. However, TCA does not even need a cork, to be present in a wine. But that's another topic for another thread. Although maybe not as strong in PPT in this case, instead of "flat or dead" the flavors can still be there but may also show as slightly muted or in the case with bottle-aged Ports ... fruit filled and delicious underneath a veneer of muck. Some have no issue ignoring the muck (or not perceiving it at all) and still enjoying a fully flawed bottle. I have seen this with not only Glenn, but many others over the years. Just think how many more bottles of Port they can enjoy!

That said, like Moses and Andy, I think the 20 year old Otima is a wonderful version of Tawny and provides me with an enormously different experience than what is in the 10 year old bottling, which is mediocre for my palate. The 20 on the other hand, is delightful, with excellent texture, deeply nuanced and a fine long finish. YMMV.

In a nod to Glenn, I do wish this was priced based on the size instead of comparable to other fine 20's that come in 750 ml.

This just may be the funniest thing I've read on this year:

I get the impression that this Port is targeted not at real Port-nuts, but rather at people who have money and want to be perceived as Port-nuts. It's good enough to pass muster on quality, comes in an eye-catching bottle, and is (relatively) expensive. The perfect recipe for an office gift at a law firm.

I'm with Glenn on this one. I've had it twice and while good, I found it to be rather poor value for money compared to Sandeman, Taylor, Ferreira or Barros. Too much alcool coming through for my taste...

Anything in a clear bottle worries me

Steve