1957 Sandeman Vintage Port

[Glenn E.]

From the FTLOP 5th Anniversary Party at the Holiday Inn Issaquah, July 31, 2010.

I was having an off palate night, possibly caused by dinner at Cucina Cucina, so my ratings were significantly lower than everyone else's. In some cases I have reverted back to my initial impressions because, in retrospect, those seem more appropriate given how others were scoring.

1957 Sandeman Vintage Port

Color: medium brown with plenty of red left. Garnet highlights.
Nose: Dusty. Alcohol, but not overwhelming.
Palate: A bit hot, soft red fruit, and a good amount of tannins for such an old Port.
Finish: More of the tannins. Tails off with apple skin.

Score: 88 points. My notes were getting sparse toward the end of the night, but as with the other Sandemans at this tasting I just wasn't all that impressed. My experience with them has them drier than Dow's Vintage Ports by a fair margin, and that's really not to my liking.

[Roy Hersh]

One of the finest, most pleasant surprises of the night (of the VPs), I loved this one. Perfectly mature and astonishingly fresh, the great dichotomy that Sandeman can achieve in older off-vintage VPs.