1980 Borges Vintage Port

[Mike J. W.]

Won as a throw in at an auction. I now see why. I think it had the plainest label I've ever seen on a Vintage Port. They definitely did spare the expense. The bottle looked like it was in good shape, until I removed the black foil. Riddled with dried mold all over the top. First thing I did was remove the hardened mold and wipe down the rim and cork before attempting to remove the cork. I was able to remove half of the soaked cork but then had to push the the other half into the bottle. Not too much sediment and it decanted easily although there was some fine grains that slipped through. The color was a light rose / garnet. There was a whiff of alcohol along with a light hint of what I would call TCA smell. I let it sit for 6 hours before trying it. It was meh. Not too much flavor although it did smell and taste somewhat medicinal. First night, I'd rate it an 83 or 84.

+36 hours on and the Borges has darkened considerably. You can taste a little more fruit now, but there's still that slight medicinal taste. It's not terrible, but then again, it's not good. I'd like to try a pristine bottle of this. It wouldn't be a world beater but I could see it possibly getting an 89 or maybe a 90. But not this bottle. I'd give this one an 86. Drinkable, but not one that I would buy again unless I knew the provenance.

[Frederick Blais]

I wouldn't have such high hopes of finding a better bottle. Your comments relate to my experience of this Port.

[Will W.]

Prior to the 1970s, Borges vintage ports made for, at best, second-tier drinking - although this producer held a great deal of tawny stock, some of it very good. In 1975, Sociedade de Vinhos Borges S.A., then owned by Banco Borges & Irmao, found itself a ward of the Portuguese State, which that year had nationalised all of the Portuguese banks. Portuguese officialdom having learned nothing from the then-longstanding Casa do Douro debacle, State ownership of Borges gave rise to an inevitable and deleterious effect upon the quality of Borges vintage ports. In 1998, what was left of Vinhos Borges, after other producers (notably Taylor Fladgate) had picked over the nationalised carcass, found its way back to private hands. As Fred implies, one should expect nothing but disappointment from any Borges vintage port produced during the last quarter of the twentieth century.

[Glenn E.]

I have a 1970 Borges, and also got to taste one ~6 months ago, and thought it was nice but not great. I gave it a 92. If all you can produce from 1970 is "nice but not great" then that's a fairly strong indicator that one should not have high hopes for other vintages.

[Will W.]

I have a 1970 Borges, and also got to taste one ~6 months ago, and thought it was nice but not great. I gave it a 92. If all you can produce from 1970 is "nice but not great" then that's a fairly strong indicator that one should not have high hopes for other vintages.

Likewise with the 1960, which I had a few years back. The ‘63, which I imbibed more recently though did not bother to score, would have failed to hit 90 points had I been minded to put pen to paper. If the firm had a business plan in the 1980s, I would guess that it involved going toe-to-toe against Real Companhia Velha (Royal Oporto) in the domestic market - which may well have been the plan prior to nationalisation - whilst avoiding the risible depths being plumbed by Real Vinicola.