The 2015 Vintage Port dilemma.

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Roy Hersh
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The 2015 Vintage Port dilemma.

Post by Roy Hersh »

I have now had three days of tastings with the first 12 bottles, which ended yesterday. Today I have begun my second 12 and am half way through and had to stop to post this.

Ok, I've only seen 18 bottles which is far from a comprehensive overview of the vintage as a whole. However, the first twelve were made up of mostly SQVPs and then 3 were first tier producers' bottlings. I have no idea what was in the bags until after day 3's final tasting yesterday late afternoon. I have six more in front of me at the moment and I am taking a break after making my notes on them and will return to those six and then chill down the next six and start anew.

My attention for each glass and parameters to painstakingly evaluate are:
Appearance
Aromatics
Body Weight
Mouthfeel (texture)
Structure
Flavor Profile
Finish
Overall observation
Drinking window
Rating range: e.g. 86-88 points.

Later on, I take all six impressions and blend them into a time elapsed tasting note. I look at the ranges of scores over the six tastings of each Port and come up with a single number, not always a pure and precise average, as I pay close attention to how the wines change from day 1 to 2 and also from days 1 to 3 and also 2 to 3. Then I give slightly heavier weighting to day 3 impressions. This has worked well for me over the past 2+ decades.

Now that you know my basic methodology, here is why I entitled this posting with the word "dilemma".

I pay close attention to the appearance. None of these are cloudy, because sediment is not an issue. But what I really wanted to pay super close attention to is the coloration of these Ports. Simply put, even with just the SQVPs I've had so far, not to mention a few bigger names, it is really difficult, if not impossible to see any real difference between the batch I've poured and evaluated and the 2011 colorations. So I can only imagine when I wind up evaluating the big boys and to see if they are darker than some of the 2nd and 3rd tier producers that were extraordinarily extracted from my point of view. Remember this was one of the biggest initial "push back issues" from those who claimed the 2016s are superior because the anthocyanins (color pigment in grapes) precipitated or dropped out of solution in 2015s and lacked the requisite depth of color. Concentration was also an issue supposedly. But for the moment, I am ONLY discussing the color issue. I just don't see it. Maybe that was the case back in January and February when decisions were made. But from where I sit, color is definitely not lacking in samples I've already had.
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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Al B.
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Re: The 2015 Vintage Port dilemma.

Post by Al B. »

I guess that at such an early stage of their lives, the amount of precipitation may not affect the colour seen by the eye. The only way to tell how much came out of the wine in that first winter is to know what they looked like early on and to see how much sludge formed in the barrels.

This sounds like it could make an interesting "question for the Port trade" if enough FtLOP people were interested in such a technical topic - I certainly would be!
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Glenn E.
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Re: The 2015 Vintage Port dilemma.

Post by Glenn E. »

Very interesting, as that's one of the "concerns" that I've heard about the vintage as well.

I agree with Alex, that would make a great QFTPT!
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Roy Hersh
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Re: The 2015 Vintage Port dilemma.

Post by Roy Hersh »

Look back in the original thread and I bet you will find who put forth (at least once IIRC) the issue of the coloration with 2015s.

Also, Al B. above mentions the "first winter" but with 2015 it would've been the 2nd winter.

One top Portmaker told me today, that it is definitely a possibility for color to precipitate out and a few months later to reappear. I had never heard of that before and don't know how it is possible. By the time I was going to ask that question he was on to other topics and I did not wait for another turn to ask.
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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Tom Archer
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Re: The 2015 Vintage Port dilemma.

Post by Tom Archer »

All I know is that colour intensity is now almost always measured by clever bits of equipment, and not by eye.

It seems very possible that from time to time, the winemakers will defer to 'the technology' in preference to their own experience, and arrive at the wrong conclusion.

And the colour of VP is a strangely mercurial thing - how often does one decant a worryingly pale VP only to see it darken dramatically in the decanter.

I suspect though, in this instance, that Roy was expecting a visual difference in colour, when the actual difference, and perhaps more importantly, the time relative reduction in opacity as recorded by the winemakers' equipment, was too small for the human eye to detect..
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