The Best Port you've opened or tasted during 2021

[Roy Hersh]

Every year, we ask our Forum members to share which was their TOP Port of the year. As it has become obvious that narrowing it down to just one bottle was next to impossible for most, please provide your short list/or by category, which Ports you found to be exceptional and stand out experiences ... in a good way, please.

These can be young or old, ancient or otherwise, from wood-aged Ports, Vintage or whatever was truly spectacular for you. Thanks for sharing!

[Mike J. W.]

For me it's a tie between a Kopke 40 y.o. Tawny and a Manuel Carlos Agrellos 40 y.o. Tawny bottled back in 1988. Both were excellent.

[Eric Ifune]

Messias 1966 Colheita
1931 Niepoort VP
DR Cask 1 and Cask 3 100 year old tawnies
Brunheda, village of Brunheda, Cask 52 >80 year old and Cask >125 year old
Portal 90+ year old tawny
Mourao 140 year old tawny and 130 year old white

[Glenn E.]

2021 has been a good year for Port! As with 2020, I've consumed more Port this year than has been my norm prior to the pandemic, so I have quite a few more options from which to choose. I also went on PHT2 this year, and THAT was pretty spectacular! I cut things off at 97 points to keep the lists under control, though since I don't drink as much VP I'll list those down to 95 points.

So... by category, sorted by score-vintage-name...

Vintage Port
97 - 1970 Fonseca
97 - 2011 Quinta do Vesuvio
97 - 2017 Niepoort Bioma
96 - 1970 Graham
96 - 1970 Fonseca
95 - 1931 Niepoort
95 - 1970 Niepoort (bota bottle)
95 - 1970 Taylor
95 - 1970 Taylor (allegedly slightly corked)
95 - 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio
95 - 2015 Viera de Sousa
95 - 2017 Niepoort

Tawny Port
100 - DR 100 Year Old Cask Sample, Cask #3
100 - Quinta de Brunheda Muito Velho Cask Sample (125+ years old)
100 - Quinta do Mourao Very Very Old Tawny Port (approx 140 years old for new category)
99 - DR L70 (b. 2020)
99 - Quinta do Mourao "100" Very Old Tawny Port (old blend)
98 - Quinta de Brunheda Cask 52 Cask Sample
98 - DR 100 Year Old Cask Sample, Cask #1
98 - DR L70 (b. 2017, bottle #32)
98 - Quinta do Mourao "60" Very Old Tawny Port (500 ml bottle)
98 - Quinta do Portal Vinho Velho 90 Year Old Tawny Port (cask sample from demijohn #5 of 7)
97 - Quinta de Brunheda 40 Year Old Tawny Port (b. 2018)
97 - DR L70 (b. 2018, bottle #61)
97 - DR L70 (b. 2018, believed to have been bottle #62)
97 - 1952 Dalva Golden White Colheita (b. 2009)
97 - 1976 Krohn Colheita (b. 2015)

White Port
99 - Quinta do Mourao "90" Very Old White Port
99 - Quinta do Mourao Very Very Old White Port (approx 130 years old for new category)
97 - Quinta de Brunheda Cask 50 White Port Cask Sample
97 - DR Muito Velho White Port (50 Year Old, b. 2021)
97 - Quinta das Lamelas Very Old White Port (60 Year Old)
97 - Quinta do Mourao "60" White Port

Special Mentions
97 - 1987 Niepoort Garrafeira (b. 1991, d. 2018)
96 - Quinta de Prelada 50 Year Old White Port Cask Sample (b. 2021 - pre-production sample)
96 - 1948 Quinta do Mourao "Mother Wine" Origin series
96 - 1972 Quinta do Mourao "Mother Wine" Origin series
95 - Quinta de Brunheda Tonel #3 Cask Sample (b. 2019)
94 - 2008 DR Colheita Branco - amazing QPR for 16 EUR!

[Luc Gauthier]

Hope you had time to vaccinate

[Glenn E.]

Hope you had time to vaccinate

I heard that alcohol kills germs!

[Luc Gauthier]

I knew there had to be an imPortant reason

[Mike K.]

I drank far less Port this year than the last few, but the ones that stood out:

Taylor Very Old Single Harvest 1961
S. Leonardo '100'
S. Leonardo '50' White

[Moses Botbol]

The best port of the year was all opened and drank in one night in early December. Just made it in time to have a little something to talk about. Not the most impressive year for vintage ports. Some years are better than others.

[Roy Hersh]

I also found 2021 was filled with a bunch of new and old Ports and my consumption which was high in 2020, was topped by 2021.

The two that stand out the most for me:

1945 Graham's Vintage Port

and

Quinta do Mourao Very Very Old Tawny Port (140 yr. old) Cask sample.

[Luc Gauthier]

Two that stood out for me :

Both are colheitas : Noval 2005 and Quevedo 1992

[LOUISSS J]

Two that stood out for me :

Both are colheitas : Noval 2005 and Quevedo 1992

I should open this bottle soon. Can't wait to taste it.
And the best Ports were Taylor Fladgate Vintage 1992 at the end of the year and the Kopke 30 years at the start of the year.
Also great surprise for the Sandeman Vintage 2011. It was really great and powerful.

[Andy Velebil]

here are a few of my top ones.

A very rare 1897 Graham's VP from magnum
1924 Dow's VP
1931 Niepoort Garrafeira (served double blind) bottled 1935, decanted 1988

[Frederick Blais]

Cough Cough, title says best Port you have opened... not tasted :) Also it is singular, not plurial....

I'd have to go with a pristine bottle of Warre's 1980, I've been a big fan of this Port lately.

A Burmester 20 year old bottled in 1989 proved to be quite high on the list too, loved those bottle sickness beauties.

[David Spriggs]

Vintage Port:
1970 Taylor - 97
1994 Quinta do Vesuvio - 97
1970 Fonseca - 96

Tawny Port:
DR 100 Year Old Cask Sample, Cask #3 - 99
Quinta do Mourao Very Very Old Tawny Port - 98
Brunheda Tonel 52 Very Very Old Tawny Port - 98
DR L70 - bottled 2020 - - 97


White Port:
Quinta do Mourao "90" Very Old White Port - 98
Brunheda Tonel 50 White Tawny - 96

One of the most memorable:
Quevedo 40 Year Old Tawny Port - served by Frederick Blais in the Quevedo lodge - - 96

Biggest surprise:
Bulas 20 Year Old Tawny - The BEST 20 Year Old Tawny that I've had in a very long time - 94

[John M.]

Far from my most prolific year Port wise, bought far more than I drank and few Port Club meetings.

For a Tawny my best was a 30 Year Pocas. Awfully nice and a great QPR (Thanks Mike J. W.!!)

For a VP it was the 1994 Smith Woodhouse which was the WOTN at the most recent Port tasting.

Both were 95 points for me.

Cheers!!

[Glenn E.]

White Port:
Brunheda Tonel 52 white Tawny - 96

According to my notes, 48-50 were white Ports while 51-52 were tawny Ports. Did I write that down wrong?

[David Spriggs]

According to my notes, 48-50 were white Ports while 51-52 were tawny Ports. Did I write that down wrong?

You are correct and my notes are correct, but I messed up the tonel numbers. It's corrected now . Thx!

[Al B.]

I’m a bit late to the thread, but it’s taken me a while to catch up with my tasting notes.

My three standout Ports from 2021 were the Niepoort 1931 Garrafeira (the same bottle Andy mentioned above; it was superb), a Niepoort VV (1960s bottling) and a Cockburn 1969 Single Harvest Tawny.

[Roy Hersh]

A nice trio, Alex!