1997 Warre Vintage Port

[Robert O.]

Little sediment upon decanting. Stored and decanted at 55 degrees.

+4 hours decanting -- lots of chocolate and berries, supple and dense.

+6 hours -- alcohol has become less integrated. Still a lots of chocolate. Raspberries and a hint of cherry.

+28 hours -- past it's prime although still enjoyable. The complexity has disappeared, but chocolate, red berries and a hint of raisin still persist.

I fear that I missed the prime decanting time on this which I am guessing was in the 8-12 hour range. Another guess is that this wine has the backbone for another 10-15 years of improvement. I'd buy more on the strength of what I tasted last night.

[Robert O.]

I always forget to post a rating. I give this 91/100

[Andy Velebil]

I had a small glass of this at a friends wine bar a few days ago. The bottle had been open for some time so not fair to score it or write a TN, but the chocolate you describe was spot on.

[Robert O.]

I had a little of this left over a week later. Unsurprisingly, it had seriously deteriorated. Just a decent ruby now.

[Alan Gardner]

This note is extracted from a Blind Tasting on 29 May 2009 of 6 wines. The tasting compared Taylor, Fonseca Warre’s 1994 and 1997 vintages. All came from the same cellar and were decanted about 2 hours before the tasting. The tasting notes are mine, but there was also a group ranking (9 tasters).
No specific notes on colour, as all were similar – deep ruby (although the 94’s were slightly deeper in colour than the 97’s).


1997 Warre’s (poured as wine C)
Very open and fleshy fruit, on the nose – plums.
In the mouth, huge fleshy fruit which grows in the mouth and evolves to good acid, which hold through a very long finish. Drinking extremely well.
My ranking 2nd. Group ranking tied for 1st (3-way tie).