What have you opened this week?

[Mike J. W.]

1994 Taylor
1994 Fonseca
1994 Noval (Two bottles. First was bad. Second was only a little better.)
1994 Vesuvio
1994 Warre
1994 Niepoort
1994 Burmester
1994 Smith-Woodhouse
1994 Smith-Woodhouse LBV
1994 Heitz Port (O.k., not a real Port, but that's what the label said.)
1994 Martinez
1994 Quinta do Crasto
1994 Graham (brought by friends)
1994 Dow (brought by Stewart)
1994 Churchill
1994 Delaforce
1994 Romariz

I see that you were really thirsty this week.

Which were your Top 3 and the worst 3?

[LOUISSS J]

1994 Taylor
1994 Fonseca
1994 Noval (Two bottles. First was bad. Second was only a little better.)
1994 Vesuvio
1994 Warre
1994 Niepoort
1994 Burmester
1994 Smith-Woodhouse
1994 Smith-Woodhouse LBV
1994 Heitz Port (O.k., not a real Port, but that's what the label said.)
1994 Martinez
1994 Quinta do Crasto
1994 Graham (brought by friends)
1994 Dow (brought by Stewart)
1994 Churchill
1994 Delaforce
1994 Romariz

I see that you were really thirsty this week.

Which were your Top 3 and the worst 3?

Oh wow! Nice selection! Also how is the 1994 vintage rendered in its evolution?

[Eric Menchen]

Which were your Top 3 and the worst 3?

They were tasted blind, and not in the order listed. My favorites were #1, #5, and #6. Least favorites were #11, #15, and #16. I'll need to get the secret decoder ring from someone else to figure out what those were. As I recall, #1 was Quinta do Vesuvio, and 5 and 6 were not the heavy hitters one would expect.

Oh wow! Nice selection! Also how is the 1994 vintage rendered in its evolution?

There were lots of great wines here, with plenty of life in them. Three or so suggested they would be better with even more time. There were a few bad bottles, but I think they were singularly flawed bottles, not an indication that the vintage or that particular brand is on the decline.

I did take notes and will post them after I get the decoder.

[Moses Botbol]

1985 Fonseca VP. Open and poured into decanter. Had one glass the first night and another on the 2nd. Seems like this vintage is not in the same place it was 5-10 years ago. In an awkward phase where it tastes a little off.

I've tried from different cases and do not like at the moment this vintage as much as I did a while back. I have a feeling this is just a stage for the port or me.

[Glenn E.]

2008 DR White Colheita
DR L70 Very Old Tawny Port, bottle #30

[Glenn E.]

Which were your Top 3 and the worst 3?

They were tasted blind, and not in the order listed. My favorites were #1, #5, and #6. Least favorites were #11, #15, and #16. I'll need to get the secret decoder ring from someone else to figure out what those were. As I recall, #1 was Quinta do Vesuvio, and 5 and 6 were not the heavy hitters one would expect.

Oh wow! Nice selection! Also how is the 1994 vintage rendered in its evolution?

There were lots of great wines here, with plenty of life in them. Three or so suggested they would be better with even more time. There were a few bad bottles, but I think they were singularly flawed bottles, not an indication that the vintage or that particular brand is on the decline.

I did take notes and will post them after I get the decoder.

1: Vesuvio
2: Smith Woodhouse
3: Churchill
4: Taylor
5: Dow
6: Smith Woodhouse LBV
7: Heitz (California)
8: Quinta do Crasto
9: Niepoort
10: Romariz
11: Burmester
12: Fonseca
13: Warre
14: Graham
15: Delaforce
16: Quinta do Noval

2023-05-27 23.01.54.jpg (304.21 KiB) Viewed 2291 times

(picture is in alphabetical order, not service order)

My favorites (best first) were Vesuvio, Smith Woodhouse, Taylor, and Dow. Those 4 were a pretty significant step above all of the others. Others at the table had the Smith Woodhouse first, and for me the difference was only half a point. It was rockin' and I can't argue with anyone who liked it best.

My least favorites (worst first) were Delaforce, Graham, Heitz, and Fonseca.

Yes, you read that right. There was nothing definably wrong with either the Graham or the Fonseca, but for me they were each about 7 points lower than they should have been at 88 and 90 respectively. The Fonseca was Wine Spectator's #1 wine of 1997, they rated it 100 points at the time, and I gave it 90 in this tasting.

The Heitz is the first time I've ever been fooled by a California "port". I've been tested blind on numerous occasions, but I've always been able to pick out non-Port wines. This time, even with Stewart claiming it wasn't Portuguese, I was almost completely fooled. The only saving grace is that my note does say "not right but also not wrong" so it seems I did think something was off, but just couldn't complete the throught.

88 points for a Graham. I'm going to go sit in the corner and weep.

[Mike J. W.]

I wonder with the Graham's and Fonseca '94's if it was bottle variation? I recently had a '94 Graham's and it blew me away. The last Fonseca I had about a year or so ago was strictly "meh", but the one I had about 2 years ago was fantastic. Go figure

John M and I had the '94 SW a year or two ago at a tasting and we were both loving it. The last '94 Vesuvio I had a year or two ago was closed.

[Moses Botbol]

Day 3 on the Fonseca '85 have turned for the positive. Finally opening into something that is in line with expectations.

[Eric Menchen]

88 points for a Graham. I'm going to go sit in the corner and weep.

I usually don't prefer Graham, but I scored this one a 93. So I'm going to suggest it was out of house style, more to my liking and less to Glenn.

[Eric Menchen]

Also opened:
1960 Fonseca
1957 Kopke Colheita
1974 Quevedo Colheita

[Eric Ifune]

San Leonardo 30 yo.

[Randy Katz]

San Leondardo 40 Tawny

[Moses Botbol]

Finished the '85 Fonseca last night. I really took about a week in the decanter to come around. Crisis averted. Need to plan a better pop and pour candidate.

The first night was a let down and luckily did not drink more than a glass.

[Glenn E.]

S. Leonardo 20 Year Old White Port.

It's a gorgeous, sunny afternoon in the PNW and this is perfectly delicious, slightly chilled, while sitting in the shade on our back patio.

[Lucas S]

Finished the '85 Fonseca last night. I really took about a week in the decanter to come around. Crisis averted. Need to plan a better pop and pour candidate.

The first night was a let down and luckily did not drink more than a glass.

I don't pretend to be nearly as experienced with VP as most of you, but if you're open to something still fruity, my notes say that the 2000 Ferreira works well as a pop n'pour.

It did not need much decanting to be good and the tannins were resolved.

[Mike J. W.]

1980 Andresen Colheita (bottled 2012). Smoky, liquid butterscotch with the right amount of acidity to balance it out. It's got a very long aftertaste. Delicious!

[Phil W]

I wonder with the Graham's and Fonseca '94's if it was bottle variation? I recently had a '94 Graham's and it blew me away. The last Fonseca I had about a year or so ago was strictly "meh", but the one I had about 2 years ago was fantastic. Go figure

John M and I had the '94 SW a year or two ago at a tasting and we were both loving it. The last '94 Vesuvio I had a year or two ago was closed.

I have loved Graham '94 from around 8-10 years ago when it seemed to me to be one of the first to enter its initial mature drinking phase, despite only being around 20yrs old. However in the last 3yrs or so I've been much less impressed, and I'm hoping it's just going through another semi-closed phase. Loving the Vesuvio '94 recently; next year should be interesting to see where everything is at 30yr.

[Mike J. W.]

I wonder with the Graham's and Fonseca '94's if it was bottle variation? I recently had a '94 Graham's and it blew me away. The last Fonseca I had about a year or so ago was strictly "meh", but the one I had about 2 years ago was fantastic. Go figure

John M and I had the '94 SW a year or two ago at a tasting and we were both loving it. The last '94 Vesuvio I had a year or two ago was closed.

I have loved Graham '94 from around 8-10 years ago when it seemed to me to be one of the first to enter its initial mature drinking phase, despite only being around 20yrs old. However in the last 3yrs or so I've been much less impressed, and I'm hoping it's just going through another semi-closed phase. Loving the Vesuvio '94 recently; next year should be interesting to see where everything is at 30yr.

I'm going to do a '94 Horizontal with a bunch of my college buddies next year (Sep. 2024). I'm hoping they'll all be open for business by then

[Moses Botbol]

Last night was a '95 Fonseca VP. Much better for a pop and pour than the '85 Fonseca last week was. Amazing amount of sediment. Needed to move around the cheesecloth to funnel it all through. Soft sediment. The '95 started out rich, sweet and fruity. I don't recall the '85 as being as fruity-sweet 10 years ago. The '85 did have a more powerful feel to it back then.

I should've opened both at the same time. Didn't know I even had '95 Fonseca.

[Thomas V]

Last night was a '95 Fonseca VP. Much better for a pop and pour than the '85 Fonseca last week was. Amazing amount of sediment. Needed to move around the cheesecloth to funnel it all through. Soft sediment. The '95 started out rich, sweet and fruity. I don't recall the '85 as being as fruity-sweet 10 years ago. The '85 did have a more powerful feel to it back then.

I should've opened both at the same time. Didn't know I even had '95 Fonseca.

The 1995 is a Guimaraens as I recall.