Multi: 1970 vs. 1977 Vintage Port

[Steven Kooij]

(Originaly posted on the WS-forums, where this offline was organised)

August 9th, 2005: What an exceptionally great evening! First of all: a big THANK YOU to Simon Berry and Chris – our hosts at Berry Bros & Rudd. To be able to organise such a nice tasting at SUCH a special location (for free!) was sooo cool, and it was a pleasure and a privilege to meet and drink with you both.

Attending this tasting were:

bman
Gusbo & Mrs. Gusbo
Ronnie & Lady Roots
tsunami & Andrea
Aussie
David (from the WLDG)
KillerB
Petra & StevieCage

When available, the bottles tasted were bought for the occasion at BBR; only the Dow, Fonseca and Taylor ’70 were brought along for the tasting. All wines (except the Fonseca ’70) were decanted in the morning and poured back into the original bottles just before tasting them non-blind. Although socialising with the rest of the group was more of a priority to me than writing extensive notes (and spitting was NOT an option for me), here is my try:

De Bortoli 1977 8 Year Old Tawny (Australia) – interesting to say the least, and not like a Colheita at all; more like a light PX: unexpected, but not at all unpleasant. Thanks bman!

Now, for the serious stuff:

Dow 1970 VP (Courtenay Wines International, UK bottling): good nose with tar and dried fruits. Very thick, rich and medium sweet (sweeter than more recent Dow VPs). Some secondary flavours, but it is still mostly about fruit. Very smoky finish that had a distinct bacon touch to it – odd, but interesting. A nice glass, but not as good at the bottle I opened for joea last year (an Oporto-bottling that showed MUCH younger).

Fonseca 1970 VP (Morgan Furze, UK bottling): Did I like the nose of this Port! Fresh, almost floral with a lot of red fruit. Thick but smooth as silk, and a nice spiciness on the midpalate. Nice finish, but rather short. Not the best bottle possible, I think

Taylor 1970 VP (magnum, Taylor bottled): Young on the nose, with a whiff of exotic spice. Big bodied, everything is at the right place here. Quite smooth already (I thought this would show even more youthful, being poured from magnum). Goooood finish! Exceptional, and even if this was a bit more mature than it should be: still with a long life ahead of it.

Graham 1970 VP (Berry Bros & Rudd, UK bottling): The lightest nose of the ’70 VPs, but refined and complex: beautiful!. However, this was just waaaay to sweet for my taste, approaching strawberry sweets. Finish a bit sticky. A good VP for sure, just not to my liking.

Dow 1977 VP: First bottle: corked. Second bottle: cooked? Corked as well? Anyway, not good. What a pity!

Graham 1977 VP: The single bottle of the Port could not convince me. Sweet and acidic at the same time, not integrated and rather dusty. Slightly corked as well? Other loved it, though – perhaps Graham’s is just not my house.

Fonseca 1977 VP: Tasted from 2 different bottles. The first bottle was sublime – gorgeous nose, complex, floral, cedar. Very concentrated and dense – how young can this taste? This one will last for a long, long time. The best bottle of Fonseca ’77 I’ve tasted. The second bottle this evening was good for sure, but lacked some finesse – on its own super tasted, but it paled compared to the first bottle.

Taylor 1977 VP: Tasted from two different bottles. How can a nose be so delicate, yet pack so much power at the same time? Young for sure, but WHAT a joy to drink! The second bottle was even slightly better, but the difference wasn’t as large as between the 2 Fonseca bottles.

It was super to taste these Ports side-by-side, as it gave a wonderful chance not only to compare quality, but also to see how a house style is maintained over the years. I did not rate the wines, but for me the Fonseca ’77 and the Taylor ’70 were the best of the group.

Again, what a great evening – great company, great location, great wines! What more does one need?

[mwaters]

SC, I'm jealous! great notes.

[David Spriggs]

Dow 1970 VP (Courtenay Wines International, UK bottling): good nose with tar and dried fruits. Very thick, rich and medium sweet (sweeter than more recent Dow VPs). Some secondary flavours, but it is still mostly about fruit. Very smoky finish that had a distinct bacon touch to it – odd, but interesting. A nice glass, but not as good at the bottle I opened for joea last year (an Oporto-bottling that showed MUCH younger).

Thanks for the notes! Sounds amazing! As it happens, I was just offered a case of 1970 Dow - Courtenay Wines bottling. The price is good, but it seems like I should hold out for another bottling.

-Dave-

[Steven Kooij]

I'm not implying that, Dave - provenance (sp?) is everything! This specific bottle was indeed a UK bottling, but bought in The Netherlands - who knows what happened with it in the last 30 years or so...it is just that the only other Dow '70 I've tasted showed much younger, but this was by no means a bad bottle! If the price is good, I'd go for it!

[Alex K.]

It was indeed a great evening. Stevie's notes are better than mine as I was too busy yacking away to the exceptional company that I was keeping.

Just thought I'd pop over here after Roy politely singed me (see signature) over at WS, it seemed rude not to take a look.

[mwaters]

SC, can you post your pics here? I think the non WS members would really enjoy them.

[Steven Kooij]

Sure, here's the link!