December VT: Any Vintage Port from the 1980's

[Andy Velebil]

Ok folks, since tomorrow is the day an executive decision has been made.

ANY Vintage Port from the 1980's (1980-1989).

I've got a 1980 Niepoort in the Decanter.

[Glenn E.]

I have a 1985 Graham on death row for this weekend. Any excuse is good enough for a G85!

[Eric Menchen]

1985 Delaforce, 1985 Sandeman, or 1983 Gould Campbell? Those are my choices of bottles that I haven't tasted before. Come to think of it, I think the Delaforce is a leaker, so it will probably be that one.

[Andy Velebil]

I'll start this out....

1980 Niepoort Vintage Port

A light ruby red with bricking at the edges is a little more advance than some other VP's at 29 years. Licorice is quite profound on the nose but a slight touch of VA and a large amount of alcohol is distracting. Alcohol and cherry cough syrup dominate a palate of fully resolved tannins. The finish is short and like the nose a large amount of alcohol detracts from the straight forward tart cherries. A straight forward Vintage Port that has no bells or whistles. This bottle was bought at auction and since this is my only experience with this vintage of Niepoort, I have no idea if this is representative of this vintage or not.
83 points
11/30/09

[Glenn E.]

I'll start this out....

Sorry Andy, but it's not December yet. I'm afraid you're going to have to open another bottle from the 80s next month.

[Andy Velebil]

I'll start this out....

Sorry Andy, but it's not December yet. I'm afraid you're going to have to open another bottle from the 80s next month.

No problem there Just going to be another busy work week for me starting today and I don't know when the next bottle of VP will get opened. So yesterday was the one day I had off work to crack a bottle.

[Roy Hersh]

Agreed, AV tried to slide in under the wire. Another bottle required.

Tonight I opened up a bottle of 1985 Dow. My daughter decanted it at noon. At 5 p.m. I poured it back into the bottle and brought it with me to Stewart's home along with a Mag of red for dinner. Anyway, the D85 was showing beautifully. We started drinking it at nearly 8 p.m. and it was beautiful and up there with some of the other big 3 of the vintage. Really very solid about a 93+ point experience. Color wise, it was showing its age, but still some youthful spirit and brash young fruit. Plenty of round tannins to carry this 2 more decades with ease. Lovely symmetry overall and a delicious Port with a beautiful long finish.

[Moses Botbol]

1985 Ferreira or 1980 Sandeman is my first pick. Hopefully be able to pull from storage in time.

[Eric Menchen]

Note for a 1985 Delaforce is here.

[Frederick Blais]

I did buy a Smith Woodhouse 85 today, it whould be pop soon!

[Frederick Blais]

Smith Woodhouse 1985 : I like this wine for 2 things, first it was good, ... very good! Second... this wine if proving that I'm still learning and needs to train my palate to learn even more!

After 3 hours in the decanter and 15 minutes in the glass, the burning alcool and volatile flavours completly disapeared and never came back. This left in my glass and the decanter a extremely good nectar. Ruby color, translucide, no trace or tawny edge, the nose is expressive with flavours of field berries, candied fruit, cinamon and candied figs. On the palate, the entry is smooth, delivery a good dose of sweetness, folowed by flavours similar to the nose, acidity and tannins are struggling for a few seconds to finally achieve a balance, which tells me that this wine is not yet to its peak. The finish is lingering displaying mainly spicy, candied figs and licorice flavours. Lovely wine with a few years ahead still to give its full potential 17.5/20

I'm saying I'm still learning because 6 years ago when I first tasted this wine, I thought it was very bad with no chance of getting better. The alcool, the volatile acidity that was present was simply so displeasing that I thought this wine had no future. Bad bottle, different batch? Who knows but now everything is integrated and further more, its showing sign that it can still improve a little.

[Derek T.]

I'll start this out....

Sorry Andy, but it's not December yet.

Point of order: In the UK the time stamp on Andy's post is "01 Dec 2009 02:58" - he may have been on the wrong continent but it was definitely December

[Eric Menchen]

And in Andy's defence, it would seem somewhat appropriate to use Greenwich time for a Port forum.

[Glenn E.]

I'll start this out....

Sorry Andy, but it's not December yet.

Point of order: In the UK the time stamp on Andy's post is "01 Dec 2009 02:58" - he may have been on the wrong continent but it was definitely December

Ah, the old "it's 5 o'clock somewhere" argument.

[Andy Velebil]

Many thanks gentlemen! Now how about cracking open a bottle and posting some TN's

[Glenn E.]

Many thanks gentlemen! Now how about cracking open a bottle and posting some TN's

Mine's coming! I was going to open it for a party last weekend, but opened a '95 Dow LBV instead. So I'll be opening it for my mother-in-law's birthday next weekend instead!

Now you have a choice, though... should I go ahead and open a 1985 Graham as I originally planned or one of the 1985 Churchills that just arrived? (And no, "both" isn't a reasonable answer as I doubt this group will even finish one bottle. )

[Eric Menchen]

From the FTLOP perspective, the Churchill. I'm guessing that everyone on this thread has had the Graham's at least once. But from the birthday celebration perspective, you should open whatever you want.

[Roy Hersh]

Agree with Eric. Go with the Churchill.

[Andy Velebil]

Well I couldn't let the opportunity pass to crack open another bottle from the 80's. After all, so many of them are drinking quite nicely at the moment. I opened this one as I had recently bought it for the very good price of $25 and I've never had a Hooper's VP from the 80's before.

Looking more like a 10 year tawny Port as the color is more rusty than ruby. Nothing flashy or complex in this bottle, but no major faults either. Just some silky white cherries and christmas cake spice which is reminiscent of an older Graham's VP and a little nutmeg and cinnamon on the finish. This bottle is clearly past it's prime and on the downhill slide, but it still offered a pleasant easy drinking VP on a cold evening.
85 points

[Glenn E.]

Agree with Eric. Go with the Churchill.

Ok then, Churchill it is!

Dinner is at 6:00 pm, and I plan to serve the Port with the main course (a beef tenderloin roast). Any recommendations on decant time?

The one time I've had this Port it was very good, but I didn't get an impression of how long it should be decanted. It's not a monster like the Fonseca, but it is still pretty young for an '85. So... decant at noon? 6 hours?