For The Love Of Port

The first tastes from the magnum of 1980 Taylor's were reminiscent of concord grape juice, this later evolved to hints of nectarine, and peach with black pepper on the finish. It was extremely youthful both in appearance and taste with much more fruit than I am used to from a Taylor's. The nose was ...

I hated to use the Port tongs on the 1980 Warre because it had a beautiful raised glass date and logo but I needed the cork for my collection so the glass was "sacrificed". After several hours of decanting the '80 Warre still had some alcohol on the nose followed by cinnamon. It was a very...

I decided to revisit the 1983 Cockburn plagued by constant notes of TCA but kept my hopes low. After an hour and half of decanting the first sip showed a lot of alcohol but thankfully no TCA whatsoever. The tastes were of grape, dark fruit, and blueberry with apple and spice on the finish. In the gl...

The 1983 Offley was extremely dark in the glass with a color similar to young burgundy and black grape. The primary scents were of sweet pastry dough, flowers, and cherries. It was thick and rich in the mouth, with loads of fruit, especially cherries and a bit of blueberry. The '83 Offley really shi...

There was huge flake like sediment in the funnel after decanting the 1983 Hooper's vintage Port. The only other time I have seen this type of sediment was from a 1985 Croft which was not exactly the greatest Port I have ever imbibed. In the glass it had a medium ruby and rust color with a light edge...

Glenn E. wrote:Thanks for the note... I have two of these, and based on your impressions I think I'll keep them for another 10 years or so.

Yeah if you don't have to drink them I would wait..they are very good now though!

1931 Quinta Do Noval Nacional
1963 Quinta Do Noval Nacional
ANY Fonseca from the 1800's because I don't own and have never seen one for sale!
or any "comet vintage"

Hey Julian I'm in on anything in the US and I have a 1927 Delaforce I can bring.

Nice notes..for some reason the only Quarles Harris that I have ever had tasted similar, it was from 1940 and I think a colheita. I had notes of maple syrup, brown sugar, etc.
I'll have to try and find some of this!

This was the second time I have enjoyed the 1948 Graham's. Upon opening I was greeted with a very fruit forward and youthful nose for a 50 year old Port. The dark purple and ruby color could not have been more perfect, it looked at least 20 years younger. On the palate there was tons of white chocol...

There was not enough time given to properly decant the 1963 Burmester and as a result it had a strong nose of alcohol mixed with a strange canned tomato smell. It was cloudy in the glass and brick red in color. There was a ton of acidity in the mouth and it initially tasted like sugary cotton candy ...

The 1985 Dow was a perfect color in the glass, very rich, dark and similar to black raspberries. The taste was smooth with loads of grape and cherries and was a bit of a dry finish. The Dow had a great balance of fruit and sugar versus alcohol and acidity. I imagine it will be a good Port for long t...

I haven't run into any problems with my '77 bottles they have all been very good ..just not as good as the '70 . The one we had in Portugal was very strange indeed ..maybe I have just been lucky with my stash? I do think that the Taylor and Fonseca (1977) are not drinking the way I want them to righ...

I agree ..this Port is more like the 100 pointer that WS gave to the 1977..I just recently picked up another case of this and have been trying to go heavy on this over the '77.
It is however getting harder and harder to find the '70 at a reasonable price!

There were four bottles in that lot, I was in the room and didn't bid on them because there were better bottles in that auction ..plus I had to follow a strict budget. I managed to get other items that were even more rare than the '27 Fonseca. I still do need a few 1927's (Fonseca) though because I ...

This bottle of the 1983 Fonseca was remarkably different from our previous tasting. In the glass it was a dark blackberry color and had almost no alcohol on the nose. On the palate were wonderful flavors of grape and black raspberry. Five hours of decanting was just what this Port needed to open up ...

I am usually a fan of the underrated 1980 vintage as I have found most to be very enjoyable. I had high hopes for the 1980 Fonseca but it was overall pretty average and not the best of the vintage. The initial scents were heavy with alcohol, concord grape juice and a strange bit of dishwasher deterg...

The '77 Fonseca was, as expected youthful in the glass and had a perfect color that any Port house would love to duplicate. It was similar in terms of balance to the 1970 Fonseca but not quite at it's perfect drinking peak. The primary tastes were of fruit, mainly strawberry and apple with a bit of ...

The 1975 Fonseca was light and thin in the glass. It had a pale ruby color and an initial taste of pink grapefruit and cloves. The finish was dry and tart. Several hours later it became much more refreshing and palatable. It was still light in style and similar to other '75 vintages I have had, defi...

The 1970 Fonseca was fresh and vibrant in the glass with a heavy fruit nose and dark garnet color. It was perfectly balanced on the palate with hints of blackberry, dark cherry, and date. Three hours later it developed a caramelized sugar smell and smooth refined taste of fruit and caramel that was ...