Multi: Notes from a recent Vintage Port tasting

[Kris Henderson]

SWS PORT TASTING - Seattle, WA (12/11/2005)

First of all, many thanks to Chuck Miller for hosting this event. I'd also like to thank everyone that participated and for bringing such nice bottles of wine to share. The theme this month was mature vintage port, 1985 and older. Being relatively new to wine collecting I did not have any old bottles of port that met the theme but was able to acquire a bottle of 1970 Dow. For the most part, flights were done in three's and horizontal.

Two 63's and One 64
Overall these wines showed well. The '63 Taylor had a powerful long finish but had noticeably lighter body than the '63 Cockburn and '64 Malvedos. There were no large differences in color but the '64 Malvedos was showing a little more age than the other two. The Cockburn didn't have the intensity of the Taylor but it made up for the lack of intensity with a great mouthfeel and tons of body.

• 1963 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Reddish brown color. I picked up notes of raisin and cinnamon and some heat on the nose. The palate is smooth with just a little tannin and a little more heat. Light to medium weight mouth feel. Very long, sweet finish. (95 pts.)
• 1963 Cockburn Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Reddish brown color. Raisin, cinnamon and other fruit on the nose. Very thick and viscous on the palate. Long finish. (94 pts.)
• 1964 Graham Porto Quinta dos Malvedos - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Brownish red, almost like a 10 year tawny. Quite a bit of red fruit on the nose, strawberry, raspberry, kirsch. On the palate this is very smooth with medium weight viscosity. A medium to long finish with hints of licorish. (94 pts.)

1970 Horizontal
The nose in general of the 70's didn't seem as intense as the 63's. However, these showed better extraction of color.

• 1970 Dow Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Garnet red with good concentration of color. The nose was not very intense but had notes of sweet raisins and plums. Smooth on the palate with medium weight and a little heat. Long finish with hints of dried cherries and licorish. (93 pts.)
• 1970 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  My notes are not detailed on this one other than saying it is red in color with a very long finish that goes on and on. Also noted that this was $12 on release! (96 pts.)
• 1970 Warre Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Somewhat dark red color. Smooth on the palate with a little tannin. Light body and a fairly long finish with hints of red fruits. (90 pts.)

1945 Croft
What a special treat to taste such an old and rare wine. This was subtle and had tons of finesse. My first time tasting such an old port and I hope it isn't my last.

• 1945 Croft Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Light brown translucent tawny color. The nose was dry and dusty with hints of spice and caramel with just a little heat. Silky smooth on the palate with a hint of chocolate. Medium to long finish. (94 pts.)

Dissapointing 77's
None of these wines were showing as well as they should have. It was rather surprising to come across three corked bottles in one night and two of the corked bottles were in this flight. The 1977 Sandeman wasn't even poured from the decanter as it was so badly corked.

• 1977 Gould Campbell Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Very dark red/purple highly extracted color. Corked
• 1977 Graham Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Dark red translucent color. Hard to get past all the alcohol on the nose. Medium length spirity finish. (88 pts.)
• 1977 Warre Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Reddish color with some bricking. Some spice on the nose and not a lot of fruit. Fairly sweet on the palate with some heat and a short finish. (90 pts.)
• 1977 Sandeman Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Corked! :x

1977 Horizontal Round Two
This flight of 77's showed a little better than the previous but not much. I was very sad that the 1977 Taylor was corked because that is one of my first experiences with vintage port and what turned me on to the stuff. Tonight the 1977 Fonseca was clearly the best of the 77's tasted but I was surprised to see how much age it was showing. It was only a little darker than the 1945 Croft.

• 1977 Fonseca Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  This looked very old for being a '77. Just a tinge of red left. The nose had hints of dried fruit and spice. Very smooth on the palate with good body. Nice length to the finish but not quite as long as it should be. (93 pts.)
• 1977 Smith Woodhouse Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Dark red/purple with lots of color extraction. This had a funky nose that was smoky and had hints of burnt rubber. Still lots of tannin left in this and decent body on the palate. Medium length finish. (87 pts.)
• 1977 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Medium red color and a big mouthfeel. Corked

Madeira
Madeira is amazing stuff and I always appreciate it when I'm offered a taste.

• 1906 Cossart Gordon & Co. Madeira - Portugal, Madeira
  Tan/brownish color. On the nose there is coffee, vanilla, caramel, and tons of other stuff. Very complex. On the palate this is very smooth with a little sweetness and good body. Very intense insanely long finish. (94 pts.)

Overall, an educational experience. The 70's and 63's were drinking the best tonight. The 77's were dissapointing and I was surprised to see how much age they were showing. The Fonseca looked the oldest but the Taylor and Warre's didn't look like spring chickens either. Interestingly the '77 Gould Campbell and '77 Smith Woodhouse both showed high levels of color extraction and were the exception.
Posted from CellarTracker

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Kris,

We had a different read on a few of those wines, which is to be expected. Lots of corked bottles and another 3 or 4 which showed mediocre at best. I am not sure when I will get to my tasting notes, but will try to do so, pretty soon. The Madeira was a nice wine with no flaws but was no better than 92 points or so. I can not begin to tell you how much better Madeira can get than that bottle. Even Chuck who brought it, mentioned that it was a nice wine but also felt that it is just better than average.

I am still amazed at the quantity of significantly flawed and off bottles were in one room at the same time. Very disheartening, to say the least. Wait until you have a great bottle of either the Taylor's or Fonseca '77. The Graham's 1977 was no surprise to me and typical of EVERY experience I have ever had with that scoundrel of a Port.

Thanks for the Dow '70!

BTW, it is always good manners to thank your host (Chuck Miller in this case) in these types of posts.

[NickA]

SWS PORT TASTING - Seattle, WA (12/11/2005)

The 77's were dissapointing and I was surprised to see how much age they were showing. The Fonseca looked the oldest but the Taylor and Warre's didn't look like spring chickens either. Interestingly the '77 Gould Campbell and '77 Smith Woodhouse both showed high levels of color extraction and were the exception.
Posted from CellarTracker

This really is my take on it too - I like the Fonseca for its elegant burgundian qualities, but that doesn't translate into the great Fonseca style (blind I rated this 85). Overrated was a word used to sumarise the '77 vintage at a port tasting I went too on Sunday. I could hardly disagree. The '77 SW and GC often win blind tastings - they are certainly standouts. I guess some don't get on with there relatively unevolved nature though - but quite how they manage to keep their colour (and dense fruit) compared to the others is odd.

[Stuart Chatfield]

Kris,

many thanks, useful notes - sorry to hear that the 77s either did not perform or were corked. The 77 SW and Taylor are amongst my all time favourites and I would recommend you try another 77 tasting if you ever get the chance.

Interesting to see that you gave the two 63s v. good but not great scores. V. much in line with my view of this now over-rated vintage. Do try the 66s if you ever get the chance; they have over-taken the 63s - in my view and that of many others I've read (Roy and Broadbent included).

Stuart

[Kris Henderson]

Roy, Thanks for the tips. I edited my original post to reflect them. I think you may be right about the Madeira. I really love the stuff so may have been a little overzealous in assigning points. I'm not budging from 94 points though :) I'm looking forward to reading your notes on this event. I'm particularly curious what you thought about the 1977 Smith Woodhouse. Does this port usually smell like this or was it an unusual bottle?

Stuart, I definitely have not given up on the 77's. I was thinking I should pick up a few bottles of the '77 Taylor before they get too outrageously expensive. The only '66 I have to compare to the '63's is a '66 Croft I tasted a couple months ago. Hopefully I can taste some more 66's and form a better opinion of 63 vs. 66.