Here are the results of the 10YO tawny blindtasting that was held as the inaugural testing in Århus Portwine club on the 8. of April. The grading scale was 1-10 where 10 was the best. All 26 guests were served the wines in the same order. The temperature in the room as well as in the wines rose as the evening progressed. From the tasting notes it is obvious that the guests became more and more generous with their grading as the night progressed (And more wines were consumed). For many the concept of a blind tasting was a new experience, as well as having to assess 12x 10 year old tawnies. So take the results with a grain of salt. One of the Nielsen brothers was able to identify the Kopke correctly as well as the supplier of the Bulas guess that one correct as well.
One of the biggest revelations for me during the night was the difference in color between the different producers. The Noval and Devesa was very light and clear, almost like a 30YO where the Fonseca was almost black. There was also very large difference in the taste where Krohn, Bulas & Niepoort was very fruit dominated while the Leonardo, Noval and Devesa had more caramel, sultan raisins and apple notes. For me the Leonardo (300kr) was the clear winner of the night and as good as rumoured. The Kopke (139kr) is for me still the best QPR when looking at standard retail prices. The Fonseca was the biggest surprise and a wild experience with its intensity.
I will post my taste notes when I have better time and still have some left overs of half the bottles. So I will have more time to taste them quietly.
p.s The tasting was a success and everyone want to secure a spot for the next tasting which will be vintages from 2003, 2000, 1997, 1994, 1985 and 1983.
Ahh, good old score creep! Nothing like some wine to improve your opinion of wine, haha. I suspect with how high it scored compared to the others in the front half, it would have contended for WOTN if it had ended up later on.
Bradley Bogdan wrote:Ahh, good old score creep! Nothing like some wine to improve your opinion of wine, haha. I suspect with how high it scored compared to the others in the front half, it would have contended for WOTN if it had ended up later on.
You are referring to the Leonardo?
I'm drink the final remains as we speak and doing a proper taste note. Good stuff, but the price in Denmark is on the wrong side of 45 USD. You can buy many 20YOs for that price might even a few 30YO.
We did a 10 year tasting not too long ago. The only similar ones were Noval, Ramos Pinto & Niepoort. Our relative rankings are the same, with Noval 3rd, RP 4th and Niepoort 5th out of 8.
Well Done!
Last edited by John M. on Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks for the recap on the event. Excellent summary and score creek is an issue in large tastings if people don't spit everything as they go. But who wants to do that when there is good Port to drink
I think you really hit the nail on the head about tastings such as these....you really get to see how different styles can be for the same type of product. And you can really see what types of styles different people prefer.
Bradley Bogdan wrote:Ahh, good old score creep! Nothing like some wine to improve your opinion of wine, haha. I suspect with how high it scored compared to the others in the front half, it would have contended for WOTN if it had ended up later on.
You are referring to the Leonardo?
I'm drink the final remains as we speak and doing a proper taste note. Good stuff, but the price in Denmark is on the wrong side of 45 USD. You can buy many 20YOs for that price might even a few 30YO.
Yes! That's the wine I meant. And while I love the wine and would pay more for it than just about any other 10y, you're totally right that beyond $45 it's more worth just buying a 20y.
Andy Velebil wrote: Excellent summary and score creek is an issue in large tastings if people don't spit everything as they go.
And if people do spit, palate fatigue can also cause score distortion, but in this case scores might go higher or lower depending on what you are judging to as a standard and what you taste. If you want intense flavors, you may not find them in the 12th sample. On the other hand, if that 12th sample had too much tannin (had it been tasted first), maybe you aren't so bothered by that at that time.
Bradley Bogdan wrote:Ahh, good old score creep! Nothing like some wine to improve your opinion of wine, haha. I suspect with how high it scored compared to the others in the front half, it would have contended for WOTN if it had ended up later on.
You are referring to the Leonardo?
I'm drink the final remains as we speak and doing a proper taste note. Good stuff, but the price in Denmark is on the wrong side of 45 USD. You can buy many 20YOs for that price might even a few 30YO.
Yes! That's the wine I meant. And while I love the wine and would pay more for it than just about any other 10y, you're totally right that beyond $45 it's more worth just buying a 20y.
That is the thing about the S. Leonardo 10YO. It is labelled as a 10YO, but in reality the price and the contents is more like a 20YO. So it is actually unfair to compare it to the other 10YO that stick with in the normal boundaries of a 10YO. I still love it for what it is and that is a great oak matured port wine that has a great mouth feel and taste.
Andy Velebil wrote: Excellent summary and score creek is an issue in large tastings if people don't spit everything as they go.
And if people do spit, palate fatigue can also cause score distortion, but in this case scores might go higher or lower depending on what you are judging to as a standard and what you taste. If you want intense flavors, you may not find them in the 12th sample. On the other hand, if that 12th sample had too much tannin (had it been tasted first), maybe you aren't so bothered by that at that time.
Almost nobody spat during the evening. Also I think people being rookies in doing tastings of this magnitude (large scale for us) and also being blind, many were very very stingy with their grades early on. Also even though I thought there was great variety between the different producers in both color and taste. For others tasting 12 x 10 year old tawnies was a lot of the same for them. So the taste impressions started to blend together as the evening progressed and that I think has influenced that result as well.
I did a head to head between the Niepoort(1) and the DR(3) a few days later with some of the left overs with my best friend and in that setting we both agreed that the DR was by far the better wine. Both on the nose, palate, mouth feel and aftertaste. I ranked them 88 for the Niepoort and 89-90 for the DR. That is not in line with the results from the night.
