Establishing my port collection.

[Thomas V]

Just got home a 1994 Fonseca that I will be sharing with my partner in crime from my port club before he leaves for Cleveland for 1½ years.

What would you recommend for decant time on that fruit bomb? 16-18 hours?

[Edward J]

I was thinking closer to 10 years.

[Thomas V]

I was thinking closer to 10 years.

Heh good one.

Well my friend really wanted to try a Fonseca vintage and an acquaintance of mine had a few for sale at 130 USD a pop which is a bargain in Europe. And who am I to deny my friend this pleasure

[Tom Archer]

I was thinking closer to 10 years

There was a time when I would regularly pop 22yr old bottles - and younger.. - but no more.

The age at which I drink bottles has been getting steadily older over the years, as I have come to get my head round the strange roller-coaster of maturation that VP goes through. Wines can sometimes seem to be maturing unduly fast, or go through awkward phases where they afford little pleasure, or enter a Peter Pan phase when they seem to be aging without growing up.

But port's favourite party trick is to convince everyone that a vintage is over the hill, only to emerge smiling, serene and elegant - and making a mockery of the scribblings of a dozen wine writers..

I'm now coming to the conclusion that popping any VP under 24yrs old is neither a reliable drinking experience nor terribly informative, and that bottles between 24 and 36 years should only be opened sparingly, to satisfy curiosity. Only when bottles approach their big 4-0 can you really gauge their merits.

If you don't have an older bottle to pop, give your bottle a 24hr decant and enjoy - otherwise, leave it for another ten years, but preferably longer..

[Moses Botbol]

There was a time when I would regularly pop 22yr old bottles - and younger.. - but no more.

The age at which I drink bottles has been getting steadily older over the years, as I have come to get my head round the strange roller-coaster of maturation that VP goes through. Wines can sometimes seem to be maturing unduly fast, or go through awkward phases where they afford little pleasure, or enter a Peter Pan phase when they seem to be aging without growing up...


I'm now coming to the conclusion that popping any VP under 24yrs old is neither a reliable drinking experience nor terribly informative, and that bottles between 24 and 36 years should only be opened sparingly, to satisfy curiosity. Only when bottles approach their big 4-0 can you really gauge their merits.

In general, I am with Tom on this. Of course there are bottles that are an exception to this, but I try to avoid anything new than 1985 right now. 1977 hasn't really lived up to the hype FWIW.

[Thomas V]

I know it is child murder and that this Fonseca is way way from being close to mature. If it were my own I would stash it, but that just isn't the case. It was a joined purchase, so it will be consumed next Thursday.

I tend to focus my drinking of VT on 80' 83' and 85' currently. The bottles from the 70' are to rich for me and I prefer to be bolstering my cellar with 80', 90' and 00'. I also have a plan in place for buying en primeur once the 2015 vintage is generally declared. Currently I have my mind set on getting cases of Taylor's, Noval, Fonseca, Dow's, Vesuvio and Ferreira.

[Moses Botbol]

The bottles from the 70' are to rich for me and I prefer to be bolstering my cellar with 80', 90' and 00'.

In US, a '94 Fonseca costs the same as most '70 vintage bottles. I don't own any '94 Fonseca.

[Edward J]

The bottles from the 70' are to rich for me and I prefer to be bolstering my cellar with 80', 90' and 00'.

In US, a '94 Fonseca costs the same as most '70 vintage bottles. I don't own any '94 Fonseca.

Indeed here in the US you can get an '85 Fonseca for less than $100. The 1970 is right around the same price as the '94. So I've waited to acquire the '94 in preference to the 1970 at this time. The 1994 Quinta do Crasto is drinking well right now, but the rest are in a deep sleep in my cellar.

[Thomas V]

The bottles from the 70' are to rich for me and I prefer to be bolstering my cellar with 80', 90' and 00'.

In US, a '94 Fonseca costs the same as most '70 vintage bottles. I don't own any '94 Fonseca.

That is also normally the case in Denmark, but this 94 Fonseca was sold well under the normal European market price. That is why it was bought. Well also because we both do enjoy younger VPs as well and I haven't yet tried a Fonseca VP.

[Jasper A.]

I had the Fonseca 94 last year and it was a disappointment. It was completely closed and gave little taste. I hope it has more to offer for you.

[Andy Velebil]

I had the Fonseca 94 last year and it was a disappointment. It was completely closed and gave little taste. I hope it has more to offer for you.

We did the 1994 retrospective tasting in 2014 and lots of the 1994's didn't show so well. In my experience many 1994's have gone into a phase that started about 4 years ago or so. I tell people to leave them alone for the time being.

[Thomas V]

The evening has passed by on what will likely be the last summer evening of the year in Denmark. With the "Party Week" approaching in Aarhus and a famous Danish rapper singing in the background of Aarhus as the opening act, my friend and I shared the 1994 Fonseca in the fading light while we spoke of many manly things and port naturally.

After being decanted for roughly 26 hours the Fonseca had a somewhat underplayed scent. Dark brown colour when zero transparency. The juice itself had a very nice level of sweetness and tangible tannins that caressed my mouth and kept me on my toes. Predominant plums and brown sugar flavours with a mouthwatering twist of mint. At its current state the Fonseca is absolutely delicious, but I have zero doubt that it has the structure and depth of flavour to mature and improve immensely over the next 20-30 years.

Independently of each other my friend Martin rated it at 94-95 points while I being a bit more stingy gave it a hard 94 points though with room for improvement. Still lower than the 1994 Vesuvio that I tasted less than 3 months ago which I rated at a 95+ points. But I would not place the bottling we had as being in a troublesome teenage stage at the moment. It was a very enjoyable experience, though if you only have 1-2 bottles in your cellar I would refrain from opening them the next 10 years at least.

After we finished the bottle we thought to h... with it and we pop'd open a bottle of the Duke of Bragance to finish of the night.

Good night

[Moses Botbol]

Independently of each other my friend Martin rated it at 94-95 points while I being a bit more stingy gave it a hard 94 points though with room for improvement. Still lower than the 1994 Vesuvio that I tasted less than 3 months ago which I rated at a 95+ points.

'94 Vesuvio & Dow were stunners when young and should continue to impress later on.

[Thomas V]

Need some input on a potential purchase as there is a vendor that has some sales right now and I am looking into the following bottles::

For a SQ tasting I am hosting at my club:

I have an option of

1995 Quinta do Vesuvio - 113 USD
1996 Quinta do Vesuvio - 68 USD

I am leaning towards the 96 or is the 95 that much better?


For my own cellar.

I have my eyes on:

1996 Quinta do Vesuvio - 68 USD (I have nothing from the 90's and Vesuvio only from 13')
1998 SWC Madalena - 30 USD
2003 SWC LBV - 23 USD (Only have 2011 LBV's)
2008 Gould Campbell LBV - 15 USD
Kopke 2003 White Colheita - 45 USD (Had this in Porto and it is amazing)
Andresen 20YO White (50cl) - 30 USD


Other noticeable bottles. Any you would recommend

2000 Andresen VT - 49 USD (Don't have any 00, 03 or 07 VT)
40YO White Andresen (50cl) - 75 USD
2003 Romaneira VT - 30 USD (Tried it once where it had no been decanted, gave it a 87-88)
2007 Romaneira VT - 45 USD

SWC 2000/2003 VT - 67 USD (I have 2 x 1985 and have tried that many time. Love SWC)
Gould Campbell 1985 VT - 67 USD (Just got 4 x GC 1980)


Cheers

Thomas

[Moses Botbol]

Gould Campbell '85 is a good one. Smith Woodhouse's are both great buys.

[Thomas V]

Gould Campbell '85 is a good one. Smith Woodhouse's are both great buys.

The Smith Woodhouse's you are referring to is that only the vintages or the LBV and the SQ as well?

[Phil W]

Need some input on a potential purchase as there is a vendor that has some sales right now and I am looking into the following bottles::

For a SQ tasting I am hosting at my club:

I have an option of

1995 Quinta do Vesuvio - 113 USD
1996 Quinta do Vesuvio - 68 USD

I am leaning towards the 96 or is the 95 that much better?

We had a vertical tasting of Vesuvio last year (review here) which might help as some guidance. From my notes I did prefer the '95 to the '96 by a margin, but I have previously enjoyed the '96 more as well, so I don't think the price differential you quote is justified; I would probably stay with the '96. Now, whether you can argue Vesuvio to be an SQ....

For my own cellar.
Other noticeable bottles. Any you would recommend

2000 Andresen VT - 49 USD (Don't have any 00, 03 or 07 VT)
40YO White Andresen (50cl) - 75 USD
2003 Romaneira VT - 30 USD (Tried it once where it had no been decanted, gave it a 87-88)
2007 Romaneira VT - 45 USD

SWC 2000/2003 VT - 67 USD (I have 2 x 1985 and have tried that many time. Love SWC)
Gould Campbell 1985 VT - 67 USD (Just got 4 x GC 1980)

I would pick up a couple of the 40yr White Andresen - I like this very much and that seems a decent price; the 20yr is excellent VFM. I might also be tempted by the GC85 as I have enjoyed this on multiple occasions previously.

[Thomas V]

Need some input on a potential purchase as there is a vendor that has some sales right now and I am looking into the following bottles::

For a SQ tasting I am hosting at my club:

I have an option of

1995 Quinta do Vesuvio - 113 USD
1996 Quinta do Vesuvio - 68 USD

I am leaning towards the 96 or is the 95 that much better?

We had a vertical tasting of Vesuvio last year (review here) which might help as some guidance. From my notes I did prefer the '95 to the '96 by a margin, but I have previously enjoyed the '96 more as well, so I don't think the price differential you quote is justified; I would probably stay with the '96. Now, whether you can argue Vesuvio to be an SQ....

For my own cellar.
Other noticeable bottles. Any you would recommend

2000 Andresen VT - 49 USD (Don't have any 00, 03 or 07 VT)
40YO White Andresen (50cl) - 75 USD
2003 Romaneira VT - 30 USD (Tried it once where it had no been decanted, gave it a 87-88)
2007 Romaneira VT - 45 USD

SWC 2000/2003 VT - 67 USD (I have 2 x 1985 and have tried that many time. Love SWC)
Gould Campbell 1985 VT - 67 USD (Just got 4 x GC 1980)

I would pick up a couple of the 40yr White Andresen - I like this very much and that seems a decent price; the 20yr is excellent VFM. I might also be tempted by the GC85 as I have enjoyed this on multiple occasions previously.

Hi Phil and thanks for chiming in.

I think that I will stay with the 96' Vesuvio then. And regarding the SQ or not - I have been into that debate already and I agree that Vesuvio is a special case. But it also happens to be my favourite house so I will include it. (Chairman's privilege )

The 20YO White Andresen is also available at 30 USD for a 50 cl bottle.

I agree that both the 1985 GC and SWC are awesome so are their 1980 counterparts (And even the elusive 1983 GC. Must try one!!)

I have 2 x 85' SWC and 4 x 80' GC and they are not that much under market price on this offering. So I might wait a bit with picking up some of the 85' GC.

Any thoughts on the 2000 and 2003 SWC VT?

[Moses Botbol]

Gould Campbell '85 is a good one. Smith Woodhouse's are both great buys.

The Smith Woodhouse's you are referring to is that only the vintages or the LBV and the SQ as well?

Any Smith Woodhouse on your list looked good.

[Phil W]

Any thoughts on the 2000 and 2003 SWC VT?

No experience here with those yet, I'm afraid. From general experience without other information I would tend to 2003 over 2000, but that's a broad brush, not helped by most VP of that age being fairly closed/awkward at the moment.