What have you opened this week?

[Glenn E.]

Another batch of birth-year Ports, this time wood aged!

Part of what made these interesting is the range of bottle age. The Warre, Messias, and Dow were all bottled in the late 1980s ('87, '87, and '89 respectively). The Rocha, Noval, and Pocas were bottled in the oughts ('04, '06, '08), and then the Kopke and Taylor were bottled in the teens ('13 and '14). The Barros was a recent (2022) bottling.

The whites were bottled in 2006 (Krohn) and 2019 (Brunheda).

So this let us look at how bottle age affects wood-aged Ports across a spectrum of years. We've all had tawnies that have been in bottle for a while, but getting to taste a range of bottle age in one sitting was a lot of fun.

Unsurprisingly, for the most part the Ports got better as their bottle age decreased. The one exception, at least for me, was the Quinta do Noval which didn't seem to display much if any bottle age - it was only barely edged out for wine of the night by the Barros, at least for me.

No, that's not the price I paid for the Dow. I wish! That sticker was on it when I got it, presumably from the original owner.

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[Mike J. W.]

DR 30 y.o. White. Slightly chilled. It is so damn good.

[Al B.]

A half bottle of Skeffington 2011 - which just highlighted what a fabulous vintage this was - and a magnum of Dow 1980 to drink at home over the August bank holiday weekend.

[Mike J. W.]

A half bottle of Skeffington 2011 - which just highlighted what a fabulous vintage this was - and a magnum of Dow 1980 to drink at home over the August bank holiday weekend.

Skeffington is damn near impossible to find in the States. I came across two bottles in a B&M a few years back and bought them, but those are the only bottles I've seen in the wild. I know that Wine Searcher has a 2 or 3 locations that sell it in the U.S., but that's pretty much it. Btw, I opened one of the Skeffington '97 and it was pretty good. Great QPR.

[Andy Velebil]

A half bottle of Skeffington 2011 - which just highlighted what a fabulous vintage this was - and a magnum of Dow 1980 to drink at home over the August bank holiday weekend.

Skeffington is damn near impossible to find in the States. I came across two bottles in a B&M a few years back and bought them, but those are the only bottles I've seen in the wild. I know that Wine Searcher has a 2 or 3 locations that sell it in the U.S., but that's pretty much it. Btw, I opened one of the Skeffington '97 and it was pretty good. Great QPR.

I may be mistaken, but I don’t think it was ever legitimately imported to the states. If it’s here it was probably a gray market import.

[Glenn E.]

1906 Brunheda Colheita, b. 2019

This was the first Port that I ever gave 100 points, way back in 2008 which was just 4 years into my Port "career". (TN here.) Roy had brought a bottle back to the US to share with Stewart for some FTLOP anniversary or another, and he saved a glass for me. That was very early in my Port drinking experience, so when I tasted it the next day I thought it was out of this world.

On PHT2 in 2019, Roy arranged for Brunheda to bottle it again and make it available to the people on the tour. I suspect that I was the only person to buy a bottle because it was rather expensive, but since it was the first Port I'd ever scored 100 points I had to have one.

So last night I opened the bottle at The Herbfarm for yet another 60th birthday celebration. It was not exactly as I remembered it - my knowledge of Port and my palate have both improved significantly since 2008 - but it was still pretty spectacular. I gave it 98 points while others at the table gave it 97.

[Eric Ifune]

San Leonardo 40 year old tawny. Bottled 2011. This was spectacular and would give a lot of current 50 year olds a run for their money.

[Mike J. W.]

Sandeman 20 y.o. Tawny, bottled 2005. I decanted it this morning and will have a regular glass tonight, although I always have a small sip when I decant. First time I've had this and it seems like a solid 20 y.o.

[Glenn E.]

San Leonardo 40 year old tawny. Bottled 2011. This was spectacular and would give a lot of current 50 year olds a run for their money.

Arguably, it probably was a 50 year old. Those older bottles circa 2010-2012 have always seemed like there were a very different, older blend.

[Eric Ifune]

San Leonardo 40 year old tawny. Bottled 2011. This was spectacular and would give a lot of current 50 year olds a run for their money.

Arguably, it probably was a 50 year old. Those older bottles circa 2010-2012 have always seemed like there were a very different, older blend.

Yup, I'm saving the rest of my old bottlings. Including that 20 year old white!

[Lucas S]

Warre's Heritage Ruby Port. Low level of sweetness for a Port, when I first opened I got the distinct impression that they added the spirit late and this was more wine-like. But wow, this is amazing value, is holding up great the following days. Not too tannic at all, smooth, delicious red fruits, some heat and complexity. If it had more concentration and less spirit, it might fake for a Vesuvio. It might be the best regular ruby I have had yet, tied with the Burmester.

[Moses Botbol]

1985 Dow Vintage on Saturday night. Elys guessed the decade after a couple of hints and then said "Dow". I think she was throwing out the first brand that came to mind. Drank half on pop and pour. Hope to finish it tonight.

[Glenn E.]

2011 Andresen LBV. Slightly drier than I usually drink, which I think works better with food. It certainly went well with steaks!

[Eric Ifune]

Andresen 40 year white.

[Andy Velebil]

1977 Warre’s VP - so lovely

1995 Quinta do Vesuvio VP - also very lovely

[Al B.]

I've just opened (and posted tasting notes elsewhere) 2022 VPs from Dow Senhora da Ribeira, Vesuvio, Capela do Vesuvio, Quevedo, Niepoort, Vargellas, Fonseca Guimaraens, Taylor Sentinels, Sandeman Seixo, Offley, Fonseca Porto, Barros, Burmester, Calem and Kopke São Luíz. Consistently excellent and not going to disappoint anyone who drinks them young or mature, I had Senhora da Ribeira as my (very slight) favourite.

[Paul C. Metman]

I've just opened (and posted tasting notes elsewhere) 2022 VPs from Dow Senhora da Ribeira, Vesuvio, Capela do Vesuvio, Quevedo, Niepoort, Vargellas, Fonseca Guimaraens, Taylor Sentinels, Sandeman Seixo, Offley, Fonseca Porto, Barros, Burmester, Calem and Kopke São Luíz. Consistently excellent and not going to disappoint anyone who drinks them young or mature, I had Senhora da Ribeira as my (very slight) favourite.

Hi Alex,
Thank you very much for your notes! I was a little bit surprised to see that Vesuvio got the "lowest" notes and some of the lesser known Ports very high marks (f.e. Barros, Calem). Can we expect to see your notes of Noval, Noval Nacional, Passadouro and Romaneira? Looking forward to it!!

[Glenn E.]

1977 Gould Campbell, from magnum

These really need a lot of decant time. I gave this one 5 hours in a ship's decanter before re-bottling, then it was consumed at a party over another 5 hours. It didn't really start to shine until the end, so I probably should have decanted it for at least 8 hours to start.

[Eric Ifune]

DR 30 year old.

[Al B.]

I've just opened (and posted tasting notes elsewhere) 2022 VPs from Dow Senhora da Ribeira, Vesuvio, Capela do Vesuvio, Quevedo, Niepoort, Vargellas, Fonseca Guimaraens, Taylor Sentinels, Sandeman Seixo, Offley, Fonseca Porto, Barros, Burmester, Calem and Kopke São Luíz. Consistently excellent and not going to disappoint anyone who drinks them young or mature, I had Senhora da Ribeira as my (very slight) favourite.

Hi Alex,
Thank you very much for your notes! I was a little bit surprised to see that Vesuvio got the "lowest" notes and some of the lesser known Ports very high marks (f.e. Barros, Calem). Can we expect to see your notes of Noval, Noval Nacional, Passadouro and Romaneira? Looking forward to it!!

I need to reach out to Noval etc again to see if they’d be willing to send me samples so I can add them to the review.

Carlos Alves and his Port-making team at Sogevinus have been on a roll for a few years. I have been really surprised in the last few vintages when a blind tasting has suddenly revealed that I have one of his portfolio as my top wine. The only Port I bought in 2018 that wasn’t keeping a vertical going was the astonishingly good Barros.

As for the Vesuvio, that was really interesting. Glenn will tell you that a score of 87-89 from me indicates a wine that will bring pleasure and enjoyment when drunk. But I did feel that the fruit was a little over-ripe and a touch too sweet compared to the freshness that most other Ports had.

But I still bought some anyway. I love Vesuvio’s variability from vintage to vintage. It’s not an homogeneous wine made to taste the same every year. It’s a joyous expression of what nature gave that specific season.