1985 Fonseca Porto Vintage

[John Danza]

• 1985 Fonseca Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto (3/13/2019)
  Served after a five-hour decant and left exposed to air.
  
  It's ridiculous how amazingly young this 34-year-old port is. Opaque purple with a dark ruby rim. The first thing that came to mind when smelling and tasting the wine was black licorice. There's more acidity than alcohol heat on the palate, but after a few minutes in the glass the acidity came into balance with the big tannin structure.
  
  This is one of those great ports that tastes more fruity than sweet. That's what you want if you want a wine that can be used to pair with a variety of foods. It would be easy to drink half a bottle on your own.
  
  This port isn't even close to maturity yet, but it drinks so well with the right decanting lead time. That's anywhere between 8 and 24 hours. Will the wine make it to 100 years? I don't know, but I wouldn't bet against it. (98 pts.)
  

Posted from CellarTracker

[Andy Velebil]

She is a beauty, great note!

[Glenn E.]

Yeah, this is truly a great Port. In another 50 years people will still be drinking F85 and will be marveling at its strength and character. This is one for the ages!

[David Spriggs]

This is one of the all time great Ports. I feel that it will be a 100+ year old Port. It's ridiculously young! But everyone should have a few bottles of this in their cellar. Still very reasonable priced.

PS. I'm glad that the CellarTracker cross-posting is working again!

[John Danza]

PS. I'm glad that the CellarTracker cross-posting is working again!

It's not. I just did a copy and paste of the notes and the title after the cross-post failed. Andy, anything you guys can do about that?

[David Spriggs]

PS. I'm glad that the CellarTracker cross-posting is working again!

It's not. I just did a copy and paste of the notes and the title after the cross-post failed. Andy, anything you guys can do about that?

OK. Thanks for letting me know. I will look into it today.

[David Spriggs]

The cross posting of CellarTracker tasting notes to the FTLOP site is fixed! John, Thanks for letting me know that it wasn't working.

[John Danza]

The cross posting of CellarTracker tasting notes to the FTLOP site is fixed! John, Thanks for letting me know that it wasn't working.

Thanks David!

[Roy Hersh]

Thanks David!


John,

Nice tasting note on one of my personal favorite VP's and definitely the greatest overall ... of the vintage and the decade, imo. I am down to just over 2 cases of the 1985 and have slowed down the tap. One can never own enough of that Port and they've always been so easy to drink, decanted properly, as you've rightly mentioned!

Now for a bit of saudade ... passed along in a nostalgic short story.

David Guimaraens' father Bruce, was a really nice man that I was fortunate to meet quite a few times over the years, beginning a quarter century ago and the friendship continued whenever we were in the same place at the same time, which seemed to happen quite a bit as he was very fond of coming to both Seattle and Vancouver, while Porto was still fairly new to me. Seattle was then and still is now, one of the highest Port consuming communities per capita, in America. He was the one who first told me that it was ranked fifth in the U.S. back in the day. He'd be proud to see how that Port community has expanded since then, (circa 1997).

Fonseca and Taylor sold boatloads of Vintage Port up in this neck of the woods, and only Sandeman rivaled them at all in the Pacific NW, as George also liked Seattle, but came here less frequently than Bruce. The Taylor Fonseca Company, which later became The Fladgate Partnership; Fonseca had a particularly small market share of our wood-aged Port consumption though and that bugged Bruce who blamed our local distributor. In reality it was because Kopke/Rocha had their American importer 10-15 minutes from the small town where Glenn and I live.

In a way, Bruce was an early mentor, and the last time I had the opportunity to spend quality time with him, was at an amazing tasting in Vancouver, ("3 Centuries of Port" which I wrote about prior to FTLOP) just four months prior to his passing, in August 2002. I remember that news well because my daughter was born just a few months later and I was amazed and saddened, when I learned of it. But it was huge news and he was only five years older than I am now.

That last time we were together, I asked about his assertion to James Suckling re: 1985 Fonseca VP, having told James that the 1985 was the greatest Vintage Port he had ever made in his four decades or so as a Portmaker, (for Fonseca). Known for his great belly laughs, Bruce enumerated on his early Port vintages and then those leading up to the 1992, which David participated in too. It was not until 1994 at which time David took complete control, as I am sure you know well. From what I remember of the conversation, he thought that the 1985 was not only his best VP, but would out last anything else he ever made including the not yet released 2000 Fonseca which he told me was "monumental". Part of our seated tasting that afternoon was an incredible showing of a bunch of wood and bottle aged Ports going back to 1863 Ferreira, and earlier in the day Dirk had poured me an 1863 Vezuvio too, which was also a Ferreira bottling from that same year) that he had under the table. But back to Bruce, as I digress yet again. The only thing he talked about more than Port were his children and often, specifically David.

Anyway, every time I get to consume that Port, (not since early Oct. 2018), I am amazed by the sheer youth of that 1985 and only Graham's comes even close, for my palate. I do like to give it about 8 hours in open decanter nowadays, but earlier last year I had it in a pop and pour scenario and it didn't show badly at all, just took a little while to flesh out in the glass and I don't mind assertive tannin as you'd expect. I really enjoyed your note, your rating and impressions, so thanks, John! That 1985 always brings a smile to my face and a glimpse of the big guy pops into my brain as do some of the great meals, cigars and Vintage Ports we had the good fortune to consume back then. When we shook hands at the end of the Vancouver Wine Festival, "Take my advice Roy and go heavy on the 2000 Fonseca, you won't regret it." It was only the second vintage I ever purchased en primeur first tranche in London. He wasn't wrong, but I have yet to open that case, nor just about any of my cases from 2000. Taylor is a lucky young girl. She may even get to inherit some 1985 Fonseca!

[John Danza]

That's a fantastic story Roy. Thanks very much for sharing it.

I noticed this sentence:

Seattle was then and still is now, one of the highest Port consuming communities per capita, in America.

Would that still be true if you moved?

[Roy Hersh]

Thanks John. I'll leave others to weigh in on that one.