1977 Gould Campbell Vintage Port

Philip Harvey · Post by **Philip Harvey** » Wed May 10, 2006 1:30 am

Labelled as Justerini & Brooks (a UK merchant) 1977 Vintage, shipped by Smith Woodhouse, capsule Gould Campbell, and cork Justerini 1977 Vintage. Following some help from Justerinis and Symingtons, it was established that this is indeed Gould Campbell 1977. First from a case purchased a month or so ago.

Decanted 12hrs - Slight seepage under the capsule and a very crumbly cork, the bottom half of which ended up in the bottle. Thick heavy sediment. Glorious tawny/magenta with pink edges and very burgundian looking in the glass. A sweet cherry bouquet with some chocolate/coffee truffles thrown in. Unctious, sweet and smooth but with quite simple raspberry/cherry flavours at this stage. Grippy still and a touch of pepper and spirit on the finish but altogether a bit uninspiring. Sweet and fruity but that’s about it at the moment – a bit drab and underwhelming. I expected more. Hope it improves tomorrow.

After 36 hrs – (stored in the fridge in a ½ bottle and served cool). What a difference a day makes - a different wine! A much more developed nose of cherries and rose petals and yesterday's rather simple sweet fare is now bright, uplifting and fresh - like a window opened in a dusty room. Complex and slightly gamey flavours with that grippy/peppery finish creating a lovely balance. Excellent.

After 60 hrs – This just gets better – very fresh and bright still. If Robert Chevillon made port, would it look and taste like this? Superb wine. Clearly on a plateau of excellence now.

Overall impression - what a wine! This is why I love port. Just an effortless smooth glass of pleasure - it looks good, smells great and tastes wonderful. I think it's the freshness of this wine that really grabs my attention. I'm not sure where this wine goes from here or whether it will improve, but then who cares! It's wonderful now - glad I bought a case.

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Tue May 16, 2006 12:03 am

I'm really interested to see the change in the wine over such an extended period. From the way that I read the descriptions, and to Philip's palate, this wine was at its peak after about 2½ days of decanter time.

Fascinating.

Alex

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Tue May 16, 2006 1:59 am

This timescale doesn't surprise me.

The biggest thing this forum has achieved is to blow the lid on the myth that regular mature VP should be drunk the same day that it's decanted.

Look at all the 'wise words' that have been repeated by writers over the years about decanting times - yet the truth is that regular mature 20-30yr VP is almost always improved after 24hrs in decanter, and rarely shows signs of significant degradation after 72hrs.

Pity the shippers though - who have to suffer the slings and arrows of critics who don't give the product of their labours the time it needs to blossom!

Tom