Warre's Ruby port (24 yrs old)?

[Nicholas]

Hullo,

Me and my father found a bottle of Warre's Ruby port (No: 117957 if that's much use) in the loft that is believed to be at least 24 years old.

I know little about Ruby port, but is the bottle, regarding the suggested age above, drinkable? Does Ruby mature like vintage port?

Thanks

[Andy Velebil]

Nicholas,

Interesting find. Warre's Ruby is a very basic Port. It is aged for about 3 years before being bottle and is ready to drink on release. It is not ment to be aged in bottle like a VP, as the Ruby is filtered. So not sure how that would taste after that long...but only one way to find out!

Hope this helps and if you open it, let us know how it turns outs.

[Tom Archer]

It's very unlikely to be undrinkable, and might even be better for the time spent in bottle - but there's no point in hanging on to it, so I'd drink it now.

However, I'd decant it to entrain a little air and then let it stand in the decanter for a few hours. Despite being a filtered wine, it may have thrown a little sediment over the years.

Don't be surprised if the top of the stopper snaps off - you might need a corkscrew to finish the job.

- Tell us what it's like!

Tom

[Nicholas]

We were going to preserve the bottle until Christmas day, but I soon decided at the tender age of 18 that I may never get the chance to drink it!. So hell, I opened it.

The cork came out surprisingly well with no resistance. The aroma was quite weak however, but the fruity mixture become quite enriched after a good stir. Nothing to make you fall off your chair, but was consistently mellow. We decided to experiment the port in two ways. One was to taste it before being filtered and decanted, and the other after the procedures have taken place.
Firstly, the port had a bitter aftertaste and wasn't particularly enjoyable, but bearable - also was disappointing on the palate. We did noticed sentiment circulating in the light when the glass was discovered to be quite cloudy prior filtering. We let the port settle for approximately 2.5 hours in an open environment. The taste improved slightly and the bitterness was reduced. Soon after, the flavour came alive and was more appreciated to drink than of before.

Because Papa and I are inexperienced port drinkers, this experiment took us over half an hour to decide after exchanging views whether the port was drinkable or not!. In other words, we hadn't a clue.

[Andy Velebil]

....but I soon decided at the tender age of 18 that I may never get the chance to drink it!. So hell, I opened it.

That was the best laugh I've had today, thanks :!:

[Al B.]

Its interesting to hear that the port was still drinkable. I've been offline for about a week and a half or I would have chipped in earlier. When I read your first posting, my immediate concern was that you said the bottle had been found "in your loft".

I don't know if your loft is anything like mine, but in the summer my loft probably hits 50C and in the winter probably plunges down to 4-5C. These conditions are about as far removed from ideal storage conditions as you can get.

So the fact that the bottle was still drinkable after 24 years of exposure to this sort of environment is amazing. Thanks for posting your notes, it just goes to show that even the most basic of port wines are extremely robust products.

And if you want to continue with your port education, please feel free to join in the monthly virtual tasting and to ask us any questions that you might have.

Alex

[Derek T.]

We did noticed sentiment circulating in the light ......

This happens to me when I've had too much to drink

Derek