A Brown Vintage Port?

[D Pew]

Hello everyone! I am new to these forums, and have been a port lover for a few years now. I will admit however that I am far from an expert on port.

I recently purchased a bottle of vintage port from a producer that I had never heard of before: Borges Porto. It is a 1970 vintage according to the label, although nowhere on the label does it mention when it was bottled. I opened the bottle and was immediately surprised by how good the condition of the cork was; all of the vintage ports I have had in the past that were more than a couple decades old tended to have corks that were saturated to the point that they crumble apart. This cork however seemed to be brand new, despite it being a 49 year old vintage.

Anyways, when I began to transfer the port into the decanter I immediately noticed that the port itself was a deep, opaque brown color. It almost resembles prune juice, but somehow even more brown. This is not the translucent, amber brown color that you'd expect from a tawny; it's deep brown to the point that you can't see through it. It also bears no resemblance to any vintage or ruby port I've ever had, as there is virtually no trace of red/ruby coloring in the wine. The wine itself does not smell off or spoiled, and it doesn't taste spoiled either. I don't particularly like the taste; it's very thick and essentially tastes like a glass of cranberry juice. The alcohol is almost undetectable, which is also surprising, as most ports I've drank have that bite to them. If I were served this at a restaurant I would be sure that what the waiter/waitress brought me was not port.

So I'm curious to know what is going on here. Is anyone familiar with this brand of port? Is this a type of port that I have never discovered before? Has the port gone rotten? Or is there something else that I'm missing? I've never experienced anything like this, although like I said earlier I'm not a port expert. I have attached some pictures of the port itself as well as the bottle for reference.

I would definitely appreciate the thoughts of a community that is more knowledgeable about port than I am.

Thanks!

[Moses Botbol]

An online vendor in US had a promotion on these about a year or so ago. Previous to that offer, this port was quite rare. Had it once (not from that offer) and it was middle of the pack for the vintage. Can't remember the color specifically, but it showed some age to it.

[Glenn E.]

I purchased two a year or so ago, so probably in the promotion that Moses is talking about. I haven't opened one yet, so can neither confirm nor deny your experience.

What you describe doesn't fit any experience that I've ever had with VP before, either. Now I'm intrigued... I'll have to look for an excuse to open one! The "like new" condition of the cork could simply mean that the bottle was re-corked, which isn't a terribly significant event if it was done professionally. If a stash of them was discovered and re-corked, that might explain why they hit the market a year or so ago.

[D Pew]

Out of curiosity, is the vendor you guys are referring to Last Bottle? because that's where I picked mine up (although I picked mine up within the past few months).

Glenn, if you end up opening one of yours, you'll have to let me know if you have the same experience The good condition of my bottle and the bizarre shade of brown makes me wonder if the one I purchased could have been a counterfeit.

Thank you both for chiming in!

[Glenn E.]

Yes, now that you mention it, I believe it was Last Bottle. I'd forgotten until you said it. A friend of mine also picked up two at the same time, so perhaps we'll open one soon to see what's up.

As far as counterfeits go... I doubt it. Doesn't seem worth the effort to counterfeit a $40 bottle when, from the same vintage, one could counterfeit a $150 bottle instead. I'm not even talking about counterfeiting a big name... but at least pick one that people might have heard of. Borges just doesn't seem like a counterfeiting target.

[Will W.]

Borges VPs are ubiquitous on the Portuguese market, though I gather (reading this thread) that they do not often make their way to America. They are certainly not regarded by the cognoscenti as being top-drawer, in terms of their quality. At any rate, I bought a case of 1985 VP, a couple of years ago, simply because it was quite inexpensive and I anticipated, based on my reading of a few tasting notes, that it would nonetheless be perfectly drinkable. And such has proved to be the case. However, the wine in the bottles which I have opened to date has, just as has been noted here by D Pew, proved to be quite brown in colour - unlike anything that I have ever seen in a port. I have found the appearance to be off-putting, though the wine has proved to be drinkable in a manner commensurate with the price.

[Will W.]

Borges VPs are ubiquitous on the Portuguese market, though I gather (reading this thread) that they do not often make their way to America. They are certainly not regarded by the cognoscenti as being top-drawer, in terms of their quality. At any rate, I bought a case of 1985 VP, a couple of years ago, simply because it was quite inexpensive and I anticipated, based on my reading of a few tasting notes, that it would nonetheless be perfectly drinkable. And such has proved to be the case. However, the wine in the bottles which I have opened to date have, just as has been noted here on the forum, proved to be quite brown in colour - unlike anything that I have ever seen in a port. I have found the appearance to be off-putting, though the wine has proved to be drinkable in a manner commensurate with the price.

[Andy Velebil]

Based on the color comment, I would almost say the Port got slowly cooked (exposed to heat) over a long period of time. Speculation, of course.

[D Pew]

However, the wine in the bottles which I have opened to date have, just as has been noted here on the forum, proved to be quite brown in colour - unlike anything that I have ever seen in a port.

So I'm not going crazy Thank you for shining a little bit of light on the situation. This is my first experience with Borges so it's good to hear that I'm not the only one who has experienced this.

And yes, I agree, the color was very off putting, and although I didn't particularly enjoy this port the taste wasn't terrible either. I think the strange brown coloration made me subconsciously enjoy the flavor less than I may have otherwise, which probably says more about me than the port.

[John M.]

I distinctly remember a 1961 Q. Do Noval Crusted Port that came out of the bottle light yellow then darkened to a cloudy brownish red--but more brown than red. I was afraid it was cooked....and to some degree it was (honey and cooked orange among the flavors which is odd for a ruby) yet it drank beautifully.

[Will W.]

Based on the color comment, I would almost say the Port got slowly cooked (exposed to heat) over a long period of time. Speculation, of course.

An interesting point. Perhaps what I shall do is find another bottle of the '85 Borges VP to determine whether the colour of that in the case to which I referred is typical. It tastes to me like a perfectly-passable, lower-end '85, though I hasten to add that I have been imbibing port in quantity for only a few years and have an awful lot left to learn.

[Glenn E.]

I opened one of these last night for game night, and based on our examination of the bottle I think what has happened to these is that they've been stored upright for a very long time - probably 10+ years. As D Pew said, in the glass this Port looks brown. Not tawny, not dark tawny, but brown like a leather belt. It starts out orange as you're decanting, but as the decanter fills (and then also when poured into the glass), it doesn't look at all like a VP. Somehow these pictures make it look like there's more red in it than we could see in person.

It needed 3-4 hours of decant time to reach its peak, but it's peak was a perfectly respectable 88-89 points for me. Others thought as high as 90. It started out 3-4 points lower for all of us but improved as the night wore on. We were all scoring based on how it tasted, not how we thought it should have tasted as a 1970 VP. "Should have tasted" scores would have been lower - possibly much lower - because this was showing very much prematurely aged and oxidized.

Still, it was tasty, and it would be very easy to share a bottle with someone over an evening. It was a smooth and pleasant drinker.

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