1963 Croft Vintage Port

[Tom Archer]

Putting away a small job lot of bottles after collecting them from EHD, I had a bit of a surprise.

One of the bottles was a Croft '63, and, as usual, held it up to the light to check the level.

The level was very good indeed - half way up the neck - but then I noticed something odd - the cork was floating in the wine!

Only the plastic capsule was keeping the wine in the bottle, yet there was no seepage.

I immediately stood the bottle up, and decanted it yesterday.

At first sip and again 3 hours later, the wine seemed OK, but a bit rough.

In the glass it is a fine tawny colour with a clear edge.

24 hours on and it is now very well composed, with a delightful bouquet that reminds me of the Croft '45. On the palate it is well dimensioned with plenty of grip, followed by a long smooth finish.

There is no real evidence of the wine having suffered at all, other than to observe that if I were tasting this blind, I would guess it to be a '55 rather than a '63 - it's maturation is far more advanced than other 63's I've known.

My best guess is that this bottle has spent most of it's life stood upright, resulting in the cork drying out and falling into the licquor. It has also probably been in warm surroundings, resulting in accelerated maturation.

Yet it has survived to give me some excellent drinking!

Without another bottle to compare, I will put my score in parentheses:

( 9-8 )

Tom

[Derek T.]

WOW

I had a bottle of Croft 63 last year that also had the cork floating in the wine and the seal maintained entirely by a plastic capsule. Surely this cannot be a coincidence and Croft must have had a batch of faulty corks?

Derek

[*sweetstuff]

WOW

I had a bottle of Croft 63 last year that also had the cork floating in the wine and the seal maintained entirely by a plastic capsule. Surely this cannot be a coincidence and Croft must have had a batch of faulty corks?

Derek

Or...the two of you are drinking wines from the same source, one that doesn't believe in 'putting down' port.

Hugh Johnson and several other writers have, of course, reported on this phenomenon, that is, wine with fallen-in cork but still drinkable.

[Moses Botbol]

I have had two '63 Crofts this year and both had corks that were fine. It must have been shipper.

'63 Croft is one my favorite Ports from the 60's on. What a wonderful sleeper port with a unique flavor profile.

[Tom Archer]

Or...the two of you are drinking wines from the same source, one that doesn't believe in 'putting down' port

This can't be disproved, but is very unlikely in this instance. I have five more bottles of Croft '63, from two other sources - all look fine with good levels.

Tom

[Derek T.]

I also have other bottles from the same source with the cork intact.

Tom,

Do you know where yours were bottled and by whom? I can't check mine at the moment as I am away from home but perhaps we do have bottles from the same original source.

Derek

[Tom Archer]

There may be exceptions, but all the bottles I have seen have the same label and format, green glass, no paper seal, and carry only Croft's name.

I assume therefore that the wine was bulk shipped to the Uk and then bottled here by Croft themselves.

Tom

[SEAN C.]

I have two different cases of '63 Croft each possibly bottled differently. One has wax capsules, the other lead. I have never had a problem with the corks on either or noticed any cork floating ..but I will have to re-check the bottles. I've only had about 7 bottles of 63 Croft ..some from the cases and from other sources. The 1963 Croft Is one of my favorites and usually an exellent value ..I actually brought a bottle with me today to drink for Christmas!