Recent Vintages of Port

[Andy Velebil]

Frederick,
I have a different take on 1997s. They were absolutely beasts when young, boldly fruited and brutally tannic monsters, similar to 2007 VPs at birth, a decade later. The 1997s I've had post-Covid have been generous and easy to approach, very drinkable and excellent. Not one seemed to be suffering from being closed or difficult to drink, or needing longer decants.

I can say that not one of the more than half dozen ... were my bottles ... so I can't speak to their provenance, but here in Porto, it seems like a common vintage for 35-40+ individuals to be opening nowadays. It is not common to find older Vintage Ports to be opened here, except by older individuals with deeper cellars or collections from people in the Port trade that I drink with on occasion.

And as this thread was originally about YOUNG vintages, 2020 and younger ... today
Dirk Niepoort turned 61 and it is on his birthday that he is launching to the public, the 2020 Bioma Vintage Port.

Not entirely accurate. The current Bioma is only available to club members. So not available to the public.

[Mike J. W.]

I think the sole exception to my post above might be the 2021 Kopke Sao Luiz that we tried last May at Kopke. I liked that one a lot and it seemed to drink well for such a young Port. The trick will be finding it for sale in the U.S.

Total Wine & More has it, $60, supposedly in Norwalk CT and a few locations in TX. It might be elsewhere, but not in my state.

Thanks Eric. CT is a little out of my way and Total doesn't ship...at least out of state. I'll check some Portuguese wine stores in Newark the next time I'm there.