Vintage Ports Reaching Maturity; Keep or Drink?

[Andy Velebil]

Having had a fully mature 1987 Souza VP recently and a comment related to it in a different thread has brought up the question; Is it worth it to keep a VP for the long haul when it's clearly reached the back side of maturity?

This question doesn't have to just apply to a 100+ year old bottle of VP and it shouldn't. The vast majority of VP's don't make super old bones and instead tend to be more toward the 20-30 year mark before they peak and/or start a downhill slide.

What are your thoughts? Should you drink them while they are still somewhat alive or do you wait until they've gotten really old, oxidized and lost their overall balance?

[Eric Menchen]

... until they've gotten really old, oxidized and lost their overall balance?

Old and oxidized is one thing. I have had a few VPs that have gotten old and oxidized that were still wonderful, more of a tawny than a VP at that point. I believe Roy shared a 1935 Sandeman in 2008 that was great--such a revelation.

Lost overall balance is another thing. How has it lost its balance? Certainly the tannins and fruit may be gone. Does it still have acid to balance some sugar? Does overall balance mean everything is in balance, or that at least something is still in balance? I can certainly enjoy a wine without tannins and fruit, but if it is just an alcohol burn or acid with no sugar, then nope.

Of course the great difficulty is predicting all this. O.k., that last bottle I had was past its prime. Does that mean all of them are, or is bottle variation in play?

[Andy Velebil]

Good questions; Lets assume all other factors are the same (no bottle variation, etc).

[Glenn E.]

Objection! Counsel is leading the witness, your Honor.

There is a vast spectrum as a VP ages. It doesn't go straight from "somewhat alive" to "really old, oxidized, and lost their overall balance."

I generally prefer my VP either very young or very mature. (I don't want to say very old, because that isn't always the case, but that is usually when it's also very mature.) For me, very few VPs actually reach a pleasant maturity until they're at least 30 years old, and more often 40 especially for the bigger names. I've tasted a lot of 1980s during COVID and none of them have been past their prime yet. At least not for my palate.

Once VPs reach that "pleasant maturity" level, they stay there for some number of years (which can be 20 for a truly special, epic VP) and then start a slow decline. Eventually they'll reach Andy's "really old, oxidized, and lost their overall balance" state, but short of poor storage or some other kind of flaw I find it rare for that to happen before a VP is 50 years old. Remember, 50 years old is 1970 at this point. We're still drinking and loving 1970, 1966, 1963, and even older. And I've had plenty of "off years" that are in that age range that have not felt "really old, oxidized, and lost their overall balance."

Ultimately, I think each person is going to have a different preference. Some people like their VP at 20-25 years old... I personally think that's too young to be mature, but too old to be truly youthful. But if that's the age you like, that's when you should drink your VP!

[Eric Ifune]

To me, old and oxidized is in balance.