For The Love Of Port

Here Glenn mentions that there are better ports from the 1985 vintage than the Taylor, a statement that I agree with. But that got me to thinking about the vintage in general and curious to know what others might view as the top 3-5 ports from that vintage.

Any thoughts? If I was to stock up on the 1985 vintage, what should I be aiming to buy?

Dow, Fonseca.

Graham, Dow, and Taylor.

Serveral honorable mentions: Ramos Pinto, Ferreira, & Smith Woodhouse.

I like the Smith Woodhouse and really liked Burmester at the first Gala. A bottle since has me wondering, however, if I should buy more or not.

I had the Dow, Fonseca, and Graham in mind when I wrote that, but I would also consider the Smith Woodhouse to be superior to the Taylor in 1985.

I had an '85 Burmester at the 2009 Port Gala that was superb. I have very little experience with Burmester VPs, though, so can't confidently state that their 1985 is better than the T85. That one bottle was, though, at least to my palate.

I need to re-sample the T85... it has been a while, and I've since also discovered the Churchill. The Churchill is very good, but at to me clearly not on par with the first 4 I listed. It might be on par with the T85, or it might be better... I'd want to do a taste test to be sure.

But to answer the question posed in the subject, to me the Fonseca and Graham are almost equally brilliant. I tend to prefer the Graham right now, but I suspect that the Fonseca is going to live longer. You could pick either one of those as the best of the vintage and I probably wouldn't argue.

I've had a good number of VPs from 85 and for me the Fonseca and Graham's are tops, with the Graham's being more developed. The Taylor is also delicious, but not up to the level of those two IMO.

Definitely Dow and Fonseca - serious milestones in my life.

Fonseca, Graham's, Burmester. I would not hold the Burmester for long aging though.

I'd also say that Fonseca, Graham & Burmester would be the top three.

Fonseca, Graham's, Smith Woodhouse

Cockburn and Martinez

In order of personal preference, my top half dozen:

Fonseca
Graham
Dow/Gould Campbell - virtual tie
Burmester
Smith Woodhouse

The Fonseca is my undisputed favorite of the vintage. I really like the Dow as well, but I have a soft spot for Dow in general.

I've been disappointed by most 1985's, and find that as a whole the vintage doesn't live up to its reputation. Some notable exceptions:

- Fonseca (classic port, one of the great Fonseca's, and head and shoulders the best of the vintage*)
- Graham (a very good effort)
- Kopke (suprisingly good for the producer and drinking very well now)

* Note that I've never tasted the Nacional, so I wouldn't know how it compares to that

Ronald Wortel wrote:I've been disappointed by most 1985's, and find that as a whole the vintage doesn't live up to its reputation. Some notable exceptions:

- Kopke (suprisingly good for the producer and drinking very well now)

Forgot about that one!

Just so you know that I don't just ask a question and then ignore you all, since my original post I have acquired a case of Fonseca and a case of Grahams and am on the look out for Dow at the right price. I could also do with stocking up on more Warre, but the price of this has virtually doubled in the last 2 years.

This topic caught my eye as I am looking for an 80's(ish) VP to try as my first VP. As far as maturity goes, which of the better ones of this vintage display peak or near peak maturity?

I'd have to say none of them, really. The best that 1985 has to offer are still relative youngsters.

That's not to say that they're not drinking well - they're quite good right now. But I would call any of them close to peak maturity. That's going to take another 10-20 years (if not longer).

I personally like the Graham the best of this vintage for drinking now. It's great juice!

Gould Campbell is possibly the "most under-appreciated" of the vintage, but Warre is vying for that position too, however, I prefer the Gould, but the Warre is a fine and elegant 1985 for sure, that I'd like to try again ... next to Smith Woodhouse.

Although very hard to find, the 1985 Quinta do Crasto VP was quite a surprise on the two times I've had it (one blind, one non-blind). I'd put it on par with the Warre's from this vintage and add it to the list of "under-appreciated VP's".