I opened a Morgan Brothers 1977 last weekend and a Graham 1980 on Tuesday as my contribution towards the birthday celebration of a fellow forum member - but I won't steal his thunder and post everything that he had at his birthday tasting...
I managed to taste two of the the 94 left overs at DeVines today. Taylors was top notch imo and the Warres was not far behind.
Chris A told me about the `52 Dalva, seems I missed a real treat.
Confess was a bit disappointed, especially in comparison to the 2007 Grahams I had last weekend. Though the 2007 Grahams was 2x the price, thinking was totally worth it.
Found the Ramos Pinto to be much lighter bodied (as well as lighter colored), tasting and looking almost like a tawny.
The Grahams, on the other hand, was lush, as deep in flavor as it was impregnably black ink in color.
Am still new to this though. Is this difference something I should expect from drinking young vs older VP? Or the thing to expect from drinking a great vs a regular VP?
Confess was a bit disappointed, especially in comparison to the 2007 Grahams I had last weekend. Though the 2007 Grahams was 2x the price, thinking was totally worth it.
Found the Ramos Pinto to be much lighter bodied (as well as lighter colored), tasting and looking almost like a tawny.
The Grahams, on the other hand, was lush, as deep in flavor as it was impregnably black ink in color.
Am still new to this though. Is this difference something I should expect from drinking young vs older VP? Or the thing to expect from drinking a great vs a regular VP?
From the description of it looking like a tawny, this does not sound like a representative bottle to me.
A bottle we had last year was still very dark/opaque and youthful and - although more accessible than many other 94s i've had - in need of more time.
At the big 1880-2007 RP vertical in Germany recently (which unfortunately i could not attend ), there were also reports of it showing well and feeling like it was just starting to open up
[note: double check whether you have the 94 RP Ervamoira SQVP? Your note sounds similar to reports of that one!]
Last edited by Rob C. on Sun Nov 18, 2012 4:28 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Romaneira 40 year old
Brunheida 40 year old
1952 Dalva Golden White (in addition to the '52 Dalva after the Devine tasting)
1966 Fonseca VP
1950 Kopke Colheita
Opened a 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio for Thanksgiving. I improvised a 12 hour decant into a two liter glass bottle. I think that part was o.k., but we are in a rental that we can't seem to limit the heat in, and the bottle was overly warm. It tasted o.k., but nowhere near as good as I remembered previous bottles. I put it in the refrigerator overnight, and pulled it out the next evening so it wouldn't be cold, but not warm either. Much better, with a lot more fruit and body.
Was over at Freds place and shared a very good meal with Moses and his better half Elyse .
I don't remember the wines , however we had a 1968 Noval colheita , which was the highlight of the night
Next was a 1980 Smith Woodhouse .
Decanted for 2 hours .
Didn't open up right away . ( probably 1 more hour decanting would have helped )
While not a block buster of a VP, well worth tasting . ( 15/20 )
Vintage avant jeunesse/or the other way around . . .
Luc Gauthier wrote:Was over at Freds place and shared a very good meal with Moses and his better half Elyse .
I don't remember the wines , however we had a 1968 Noval colheita , which was the highlight of the night
Next was a 1980 Smith Woodhouse .
Decanted for 2 hours .
Didn't open up right away . ( probably 1 more hour decanting would have helped )
While not a block buster of a VP, well worth tasting . ( 15/20 )
Hey Luc, please, you need to remember that at least you have tasted some Domaine de la Romanée Conti!!!
I finished the SW 1980 tonight and it is better. Not showing anything more but everything perfectly balanced.
With the family tonight we had the 1985 Ferreira, showing good, concentrated, just a touch of volatile. Perfectly mature for my palate.
Living the dream and now working for a Port company