1961 Barbeitos

[Ray Barnes]

In perusing the excellent vintage chart on the MWG site - which appears to be definitive on this subject - I was delighted to see that the above produced a bual, sercial and malvazia. Since I was born in that year, and do not have the budget for 1961 Ch. Latour or Palmer (I have it on very good authority that the whole vintage is slowly going downhill), I would be very interested to find who might stock these wines and how much they might cost. The Rare Wine Co. does not have that vintage at the moment. For the record, I was born on Dec 22/61, and am making very preliminary plans for my 50th in 2011, assuming I'm still around by then.

If there is any correlation of vintage quality between Bordeaux and Madeira, I would expect these wines to be excellent. If not, I would still expect them to be excellent.

If anyone has tasted a 61 - a search for that year came up empty - I would be delighted to hear about it as well.

Thank you,
Ray

[Gary Banker]

Try Patrick Grubb in the UK. The last list I have (2006) shows two 1961s from Barbeito: bual and malvazia. He is a likely source. Fine and Rare Wines in the UK also shows up in Wine Searcher with Barbeito malvazia.

[Ray Barnes]

Thank you Gary..do you know if this company ships to the USA?

[Gary Banker]

Patrick Grubb has shipped to the USA. I don't know about Fine & Rare, you could e-mail them. Shipping can be expensive. Others here have much more experience than I have and can provide more information.

[Ray Barnes]

Thanks Gary. :) I also found a price list from a Spanish and Portugese wine specialist in Berlin. It would still be preferable to find an American source if possible. Knock on wood, i hope the feature part of my 50th birthday will be a vintage madeira tasting. When 1961 Cheval Blanc is listed at over 1000 British pounds, time to look for alternatives. Cheers...

[Glenn E.]

Krohn and Warre's both made colheitas in 1961, if you like tawny Port. A quick search using wine-searcher.com even turns some up in the US for as little as $110/bottle (Krohn). The Warre's Grand Reserve is more like $170.

Real Compania Velha, Graham's Malvedos, and Fonseca Guimaraens all bottled VPs, but those are harder to find and more expensive. Up to $600 for the Fonseca Guimaraens.

[Ray Barnes]

Hello Glenn and thanks for writing. I am getting a bit of education every day here, which is just what I was hoping would happen. Yes I love port too. Does tawny last 50 years though? I have been under the impression that it hits its peak in the 20 to 40 year range and goes downhill from there. Please let me know, I am eager to hear more. :)

I would be thrilled to offer on my big 5-0 a range of wonderful 1961s, the more variety the better, as long as they are somewhat affordable. The only 61 claret I have seen advertised for less than $200 is Ch. Talbot, which I have been told is beyond its best now.

[Glenn E.]

Does tawny last 50 years though? I have been under the impression that it hits its peak in the 20 to 40 year range and goes downhill from there. Please let me know, I am eager to hear more. :)

Absolutely! Easily the best Port I have ever tasted was a 1906 Brunheda Colheita that Roy invited me over to his house to try. It had been in cask for 101 years and was fabulous.

I have a small stock of the 1964 Quinta do Noval Colheita for my birthdays, and it has held up great for an off year. Besides, if you listen to some of the other guys here on FTLOP, 1937 Colheitas are practically magical. (I've never had one, but I will some day!) I have also had the 1952 Dalva Golden White Colheita and it was superb. And I have a bottle of the 1957 Kopke Colheita which is supposed to be one of the best that Kopke has produced since the 1800s.

Bottle aged Colheitas - meaning ones that aren't consumed right after being bottled and instead spend numerous years in bottle before being opened - can be different, though. To me they get worse after a year or two in bottle and don't really rise back up to their bottle-year quality for another 7-8 years. After that they're great, though. My 1964s were all bottled in 2006, for example, so I expect them to head downhill for the next 3-5 years then slowly start climbing back up so that they're back to "as bottled" quality right around my 50th.

Tawnies with an indication of age - i.e. 10-yr old, 20-yr old, etc - are blends and so can react strangely to time in bottle as their different components age differently. I would think that they would be back up to par after 8-10 years too, though.

Personally, I think that tawnies hold up better than rubies (assuming equally good storage conditions). But then I like tawnies better than rubies anyway, so it's not surprising that I would think they age better also.

[Ray Barnes]

That answer Glenn not only has me salivating but wishing I was living just a little further south and under different wine administration. Alright, I hope somehow to prove the wisdom of your post through my own personal experience.

One fairly marvels at the regularity of discussion and fond recollection of old wines in these forums vis a vis just about anywhere else you could mention. To steal a phrase from American Express, "membership has its privileges".

[Marco D.]

Ray,

I too was born in Dec of 1961 and have been thinking about what to do for my 50th as well. Over the last decade I have been collecting 1961s. I do have a bottle of the 1961 Barbeito Sercial, but have never tasted it (waiting for 2011). I would contact the Rare Wine Company. Even though they do not have it in stock right now, they travel to the island often... they may be able to source a bottle for you the next time they travel to Madeira.

Regarding ports, Calem made a 1961 Colheita (thanks Roy!). Taylor also made a Vargellas in 1961, but I have never seen one... Richard Mayson mentions it in his book "Port and the Douro", which by the way is an excellent read. Richard was also born in 1961.

[Ray Barnes]

Hi Marco,

I might just take up your suggestion to contact the RWC directly. Congrats to you on sourcing a 1961 Sercial, I hope to be in on your tasting observations in 3 years from now.

The best trick of all, it would be if possible, is to go to the island someday.

I'm not confining the search to that year. As far as I'm concerned, anything 1961 or older will work nicely. If I win the lottery, a 1795 Terrantez will work marvellously.