looking for advice on 1958 VP

[Bert VD]

both of my parents were born in 1958, so they will be 60 this year. and i want to surprise them.

so my brother and me will cook them an awesome dinner. we are taking our time to look for recipes that sound a bit crazy and unusual. the kind of things you might get in a Michelin star restaurant.

and obviously i want to get a bottle of VP from 1958 to drink that same evening. i found out it's not a well known vintage and it is not that easy to find. but not impossible i guess. so what would you recommend? and more important: where to find it?

so far i've read good things about:
-Real Vinicola 58 VP
-Calem Quinta da Foz 58 VP

i try to stay away from tawnies as i don't like them so much myself and well, i'd like to get a sip as well :-p
but feel free to mention other ports and other wines from 1958 as well!

[Eric Menchen]

Checking the TNDB, there aren't a lot of highly rated bottles. A few Warre's have scored well, but many more have fared poorly. Looks like Noval Nacional might be your best bet

You might have better luck with Bordeaux, to include Sauternes if you are still looking for something sweet.

[Bert VD]

it doesn't have to be sweet. but port is the only wine a know something about. i enjoy lots of other wines (mostly full bodied reds or dry whites) but i have no clue where to begin. so i begin with port

[Moses Botbol]

I can't recall ever having a wine from that vintage. The bottle may be more of a novelty if nothing good can be found from that vintage. What year were they married?

[Andy Velebil]

Not a great year for VP at all. If you can find it, I'd say Malvedos is probably the safest bet that isn't at NN prices.

[Bert VD]

as an example; this website has a few possibilities. but they praise everything they sell because they need to make money. and you are right, there's not many tasting notes...
http://www.vintagewineandport.co.uk/vin ... /1958-wine
same goes for these, but they don't all offer port. it seems Barolo of that year is very present.
https://www.vintagewinegifts.co.uk/acat ... gifts.html
https://en.antikwein.de/Wine-1958/
https://www.winedancer.com/contents/en- ... thday.html
https://www.sodivin.com/282-vintage-wines-1958
http://www.grandibottiglie.com/shop/en/154-1958

i did find this information:
1958 Bordeaux wine is the product of a late harvest, which helped the moderate growing season. By October 6, all the chateaux were busy picking the small amount of ripe fruit they could find. Yields were very small due to replanting that took place all over Bordeaux after the devastating 1956 frost. 1958 Bordeaux wine have for the most part all faded away. 1958 Bordeaux wine was said to have been light, decent wines in their youth. The problem is, good luck finding any to discover this for yourself. Perhaps 1958 is better known as the year when Elvis Presley left the world of Rock and Roll and joined the army. If you are seeking a birth year of anniversary wine, pass on Bordeaux and look for California Cabernet Sauvignon. While very hard to find today, some of those wines have held up quite well even as they approach 60 years of age.

[Shawn Denkler]

Not a great year for VP at all. If you can find it, I'd say Malvedos is probably the safest bet that isn't at NN prices.

1958 certainly was not a good year for vintage port. Finding one is also a challenge since it was not a generally declared year and few were bottled. This was before the days of Single Quinta Vintage Port was regularly bottled. Taylor Quinta de Vargellas and Fonseca Guimareans exist. I believe the first vintage of Graham Quinta Dos Malvedos commercially released was 1962 so the 1958 does not exist except small quantities in Graham's cellar (I note that Michael Broadbent tried the 1958 Malvedos, but research is need to find the first year of release).

1958 California Cabernet Sauvignon can be excellent. The problem is finding one that has been stored well.

1958 Barolos are still drinkable. It was a very good year. Many currently on the market have been brought in from European cellars so they have had better storage than other wine types. They are more reasonable in price than other wine types from 1958 except for the very top names.

[Moses Botbol]

same goes for these, but they don't all offer port. it seems Barolo of that year is very present.

I was going to suggest Barolo.

You want something special for 1958, try 1958 Le Domaine Jean Bourdy - Château-Chalon AOC (vin jaune). It's available directly from the domaine online. Great stuff.

[Bert VD]

i did see Graham Malvedos but crusted.

currently i'm looking up info on Barolo and i will look into Domaine Jean Bourdy.

someone also suggested Riesling..

[Eric Menchen]

You could also go for something older than them--1957 has some really good colheita Port.

[Glenn E.]

Not a great year for VP at all. If you can find it, I'd say Malvedos is probably the safest bet that isn't at NN prices.

+1

[Phil W]

-Real Vinicola 58 VP
-Calem Quinta da Foz 58 VP

Hi Bert; I'm going to go slightly against the crowd here, in that most of the 58s I've tried have at least been good (as long as not faulty), with a few that were very good, though the vintage as a whole is now past its prime. Ignoring the faults (which were mostly to do with storage, not any inherent weakness in the wines), the following three have stood out for me as the best of the vintage: Fonseca Guimaraens, Martinez and Calem Foz (plus an honourable mention for the Dow).

In saying this, I would note that I have only tasted '58s from 10 different producers, not including Graham or Warre (I have in fact had the Warre once, but it was a mildly faulty bottle, so am not counting it here). I've rarely seen the FG58 or CaF58, but the Mz58 appears from time to time, so might perhaps be the most likely for you to get hold of at reasonable price, depending on your location.

[Tom Archer]

1958 certainly was not a good year for vintage port

I'm afraid I'm with Phil here - well kept bottles of '58 are a delight, and faulty ones (other than ullaged ones) are rare.

Best player is Martinez followed by Calem Foz, which I think made WOTN at the Calem vertical last year. Warre is plentiful and drinking well now (although beginning to show it's age) and the Delaforce, whilst uber rare, is a quite a treat. The Noval is pale but very elegant.

Not a vintage to dismiss. If the price is right, and the level VTS or better - go for it..

[Bert VD]

interesting, thanks for all the info

[Al B.]

I'm with Tom and Phil on this topic. Although 1958 did not produce blockbuster ports, the ports from that vintage are elegant, mature and delicious. We did a 1958 port horizontal in 2014 and many of the wines showed well.

I've seen vintage port from 1958 from Burmester (84), Constantino (86), Delaforce (89), Dow (88), Fonseca Guimaraens (90), Quinta da Foz from Calem (96 - amazing wine bottled by the Wine Society), Graham Malvedos (90 - described as Crusted on the label but actually all the juice is from the 1958 vintage), Martinez (91), Quinta de Mileau from Fonseca (late bottled in 1964), Quinta do Noval (91), Quinta do Noval Nacional (93), Royal Oporto (89), Sandeman (87), Taylor Vargellas (not tasted) and Warre (93).

(Scores are for the best bottles I've tasted.)

[Bert VD]

Thank you everyone for your input.
The prices for 1958 port were just too high for me. The date for the dinner hasn't been set yet so i might still buy something if i get the opportunity.

But as the main wine for that evening i bought a 1958 Marchesi Di Barolo and as a backup bottle Serafino Barolo Riserva Speciale 1958.
For the aperitif we will have a bottle of Ormiale 'James' sparkling Bordeaux. (http://www.ormiale.com/en/a-new-wine-in ... -bordeaux/)
(the 2016, which adds Malbec, Sémillon and Cabarnet Franc to the Merlot and Petit Verdot of the 2015 version in that link)

Now we'll need to find great recipes to pair with the wine instead of the other way around

[Andy Velebil]

Thank you everyone for your input.
The prices for 1958 port were just too high for me. The date for the dinner hasn't been set yet so i might still buy something if i get the opportunity.

But as the main wine for that evening i bought a 1958 Marchesi Di Barolo and as a backup bottle Serafino Barolo Riserva Speciale 1958.
For the aperitif we will have a bottle of Ormiale 'James' sparkling Bordeaux. (http://www.ormiale.com/en/a-new-wine-in ... -bordeaux/)
(the 2016, which adds Malbec, Sémillon and Cabarnet Franc to the Merlot and Petit Verdot of the 2015 version in that link)

Now we'll need to find great recipes to pair with the wine instead of the other way around

When you open them, let us know how the wines were (even those non-port ones).


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[Eric Menchen]

As best I can tell from the photo, those bottles look great for '58.

[Bert VD]

When you open them, let us know how the wines were (even those non-port ones).

will do!

i've had the sparkling Bordeaux recently and while i'm not a big fan of sparkling wines in general, i loved this one.
it was very smooth and full but not "lemonade". it's got some character and is quite dry.

[Bert VD]

i saw a 1958 Borges Quinta Do Junco in a shop today (400€, didn't even think of buying it) and that reminded me i didn't report back on the wines and dinner in this topic...

the Ormiale sparkling wine was a nice start, even though this bottle wasn't as good as the previous one i tasted. a bit more acidic.

we made a mushroom ratatouille as a starter.
followed by grilled deer with a light honey/passion fruit sauce, pumpkin creme, smoked celeriac and chocolate tortellini (filled with pure chocolate, course salt and a fresh basil leaf). we opened the Marchesi Di Barolo and while it was good and still had some character it declined rapidly. it became more acidic by the minute as it was poured and lasted just for the length of the meal. we didn't open the Serafina but we will soon.
the dessert was panna cotta with amarena cherries. good times