What have you opened this week?

[Tom Archer]

Offley 63

Very much in the same league as the Sandeman - hot to start, struggling to integrate it's alcohol for the first couple of days and then becoming tired. Firmly in the drink-up category now. Score 1-0?

Warre 63

Totally different beast - rich dark, fully mature, but will probably still be drinking well when it reaches it's centenary. Score 9-9

[Mike J. W.]

Offley 63

Very much in the same league as the Sandeman - hot to start, struggling to integrate it's alcohol for the first couple of days and then becoming tired. Firmly in the drink-up category now. Score 1-0?

Warre 63

Totally different beast - rich dark, fully mature, but will probably still be drinking well when it reaches it's centenary. Score 9-9

I have 3 or 4 of the '63 Warre in my collection, but I've never tried one. Maybe for Christmas this year.

[Al B.]

Purely coincidence, but I also opened a Warre 1963 this week (bottled in the UK by Mayor Sworder). Mine wasn't as good as Tom's. Mine was quite evolved and elderly, holding together but quite light. While I enjoyed it, I wasn't amazed by it.

[Roy Hersh]

2000 Quinta do Noval. I don't know why I chose this youngster, but it had been about 12 days since my last sip of Port and maybe I was getting desperate. 3 hour decant and then consumed six hours later. Very very solid and I guess this was worth buying a case of. Very yummy and given our dinner, it was very hard for me to determine tannins.

[Al B.]

Given the warm weather (at least as far as we're concerned) I opted for a bottle which could be served straight from the fridge - a bottle of Barros 1998 colheita. It reminded me why I prefer to drink bottle aged Ports. It was perfectly fine, but not a wine I'd actively seek out to drink again.

Others enjoy colheitas far more than I do so take my comments above with a pinch of salt.

[Tom Archer]

Dow 1985

This is a wine I encounter from time to time and really can't make my mind up about.

It's dark, it's very dour, and this bottle has just the faintest trace of VA. Surly would be a good way to describe it.

Is it poised to blossom in another twenty years time, or just morph into a a grumpy old man?

Not sure..

[Eric Menchen]

a bottle of Barros 1998 colheita. It reminded me why I prefer to drink bottle aged Ports.

Maybe that has more to do with Barros 1998 than colheita in general? I see you can pick that up for $31 today. That's less than just about any VP.

[David Spriggs]

Dow 1985

This is a wine I encounter from time to time and really can't make my mind up about.

Same here. I don't have any in my collection due to the unease. I haven't had any with VA, but that's not uncommon with VP from that time period. I've had some wonderful examples and others that are forgettable at best. Some people say that the ones in the green bottle are best, but who knows. The bottle variation is just too much for me.

[Mike J. W.]

Smith Woodhouse 2001 LBV. The jury is out on this one. I decanted it for 3 1/2 hours before I tried it. It's dark purple and smells sweet and peppery, but the alcohol is pretty prominent right now. I'll see if it's settled down by tonight.

[Eric Menchen]

1992 Fonseca VP, 375ml

[Al B.]

A half bottle of Kopke 20YO white. This is a remarkably complex wine for a 20YO - or maybe that's what all 20YO whites taste like.

[Tom Archer]

Fonseca 66

One of the great joys of using a computer program to select one's next bottle is the lack of guilt when obliging it's choice.

Harvey's bottled - an odd (and very grimy) bottle that was part of a mixed lot acquired last year at modest expense

An absolute delight, this has to be the spiciest of all the Fonseca VPs - my first ten point score of the year..

[Andy Velebil]

I didn't open it per se, but I did have a glass of Cockburn's 20 Year Tawny at a restaurant this past Saturday. They also had a Dow's 10 yr Tawny that was $1 less per glass. It wasn't a hard decision for $1 more to upgrade to the Cockburn's.

[Thomas V]

30 Anos Blackett
1987 Wiese & Krohn

The Blackett is a funny size. It is delicious but I am fairly sure they have been blending quite a bit of white port into the blend. It has a very light colour for a tawny that age and it showcases a lot of characteristics of white port such as acacia honey, vanilla, apricots and other exotic fruits. If served blind I could easily have guess a 30 anos white port.

What are the rules for using white port in "brown" tawnies?

[Tom Archer]

From a very limited number of encounters with recently bottled TWIOAs, I get the impression that the 'expected' style of a 30yr tawny seems to be paler and rather less sweet than the 40yr, which are often very cloying until they've had a few decades in bottle

The way this class of ports is presented and regulated is very unsatisfactory, and I can't recall any producer ever robustly defending it. I really think that the only regulation should be a requirement to ensure the average age of the wine is not less than that stated on the label - at present every other aspect else gets regulated - except that..

[Eric Ifune]

Ferreira Duque de Braganca 20 year old. Bottled 2008. Maybe just starting to get a bit tired but still enjoyable.

[Tom Archer]

Ferreira Duque de Braganca 20 year old. Bottled 2008. Maybe just starting to get a bit tired but still enjoyable.

I have a stash of these that were bottled in 1979 - they are beautifully mellow now, and not a bit tired..

[Glenn E.]

1983 Graham Vintage Port for game night to celebrate a nice success at work that's been ongoing for 18 months!

As always, a superb Port. Not quite up there with F85 or G85 or TV87, but in my opinion on par with just about anything else from the entire decade. (Maybe not D80 or RP83, either, but it's close!)

[Mike J. W.]

1983 Graham Vintage Port for game night to celebrate a nice success at work that's been ongoing for 18 months!

As always, a superb Port. Not quite up there with F85 or G85 or TV87, but in my opinion on par with just about anything else from the entire decade. (Maybe not D80 or RP83, either, but it's close!)

I think the Gould '80 is strong contender as well. Not a Fonseca '85 but very good nonetheless (Haven't had the Vargellas '87 yet, but I have 2 in my cellar).

[John M.]

1983 Graham Vintage Port for game night to celebrate a nice success at work that's been ongoing for 18 months!

As always, a superb Port. Not quite up there with F85 or G85 or TV87, but in my opinion on par with just about anything else from the entire decade. (Maybe not D80 or RP83, either, but it's close!)

I think the Gould '80 is strong contender as well. Not a Fonseca '85 but very good nonetheless (Haven't had the Vargellas '87 yet, but I have 2 in my cellar).

I have GC 80 and 83 Grahams--you the 87 Tvar! Sounds like a Contest!!