Which 30 for my 30?

[Andrew E]

I know I'm still young in port years, but I'm looking for suggestions on something from my birth year of 1983 to enjoy at the end of this month. I've most only had Tawnies (and probably prefer them), and I'm guessing most 1983 VP's are still "young," so I was wondering if I should be looking at any colheitas or just stick to a 30 year bottle.

[Paul Fountain]

At least you've got a generally declared vintage as a birth year! Mine is 74 and that was an ordinary vintage. It was a pretty crap vintage in Australia as well so I can't even use that as a fallback.
Anyway, a Gould Campbell 83 or perhaps a Grahams 83 would be my suggestion. I think the Cockburn's can be good when you get a non TCA-bottle but from what I've read, they aren't odds that I'd take up.

[Miguel Simoes]

I've had Graham 83 a couple of times over the last year and enjoyed both. Both times the color had faded closer to your usual tawny color and the taste wasnt particularly ruby like. Sounds like you may appreciate that.

Sadly cant help much w 30 Yr tawnies... still getting up the learning curve myself. Had one recently, the Ramos Pinto, and it v positively surprised me. And do note that I had it alongside the 1941 Noval Colheita, definitely the best port I ever tasted.

Either way, am sure you will v much enjoy whatever you end up getting!

[Carl D]

Sadly cant help much w 30 Yr tawnies... still getting up the learning curve myself. Had one recently, the Ramos Pinto, and it v positively surprised me. And do note that I had it alongside the 1941 Noval Colheita, definitely the best port I ever tasted.

Not wanting to hijack a thread but.. 1941 Noval Colheita? That's a rare beast indeed - where/how did you happen to try it?

[Tom D.]

I very much enjoyed a Kopke 30 last year.

[Andrew E]

I've had Graham 83 a couple of times over the last year and enjoyed both. Both times the color had faded closer to your usual tawny color and the taste wasnt particularly ruby like. Sounds like you may appreciate that.

Sadly cant help much w 30 Yr tawnies... still getting up the learning curve myself. Had one recently, the Ramos Pinto, and it v positively surprised me. And do note that I had it alongside the 1941 Noval Colheita, definitely the best port I ever tasted.

Either way, am sure you will v much enjoy whatever you end up getting!

Yeah I'm definitely not against a VP, I just don't know how many have hit their stride yet.

[Rob C.]

Warre 1983 is drinking nicely and my recent experience is that it does not feel too young (I think Graham is probably the better long-term port but still strikes me as "better in 5-10 years" type of port when i have had it over the last 12-24 months).

Niepoort 1983 is certainly not too young, and is very respectable and rather elegant right now (albeit perhaps not a "star"). Ramos Pinto, as noted above, is also very good (but again - if you like your port mature, certainly a port that more time wouldn't hurt imo)

In terms of colheitas, the Kopke 1983 seems to be widely available and with good reviews on cellartracker, but i have not tried it myself. If it's a wine with a link to your year of birth that you're after, i'd certainly prefer a colheita to a 30yr tawny since the 30yr tawny is unlikely to have an "exact" average age of 30 and may not have any port from the 1983 harvest in it at all!

[Miguel Simoes]

Sadly cant help much w 30 Yr tawnies... still getting up the learning curve myself. Had one recently, the Ramos Pinto, and it v positively surprised me. And do note that I had it alongside the 1941 Noval Colheita, definitely the best port I ever tasted.

Not wanting to hijack a thread but.. 1941 Noval Colheita? That's a rare beast indeed - where/how did you happen to try it?

Pls see the following post http://fortheloveofport.com/ftlopforum/ ... ita#p87938
Am looking fwd to being back in Boston to, hopefully, have it again!

[Moses Botbol]

1983 Grahams is one of the best of the vintage and can certainly be enjoyed right now. 1983 Ramos Pinto is great too. For an easier to find 30, Taylor 30 tawny is something special.

[Glenn E.]

I've had Graham 83 a couple of times over the last year and enjoyed both. Both times the color had faded closer to your usual tawny color and the taste wasnt particularly ruby like. Sounds like you may appreciate that.

I suspect that was a storage issue. I have had the Graham '83 a couple of times and mine have rivaled the Graham '85 in quality. In fact my impression has been that G83 isn't as approachable right now as G85 - it needs more time to mature. I still think that G85 is overall a better Graham, but G83 is very close or will be when fully mature.

Sadly cant help much w 30 Yr tawnies... still getting up the learning curve myself. Had one recently, the Ramos Pinto, and it v positively surprised me.

I agree that Ramos Pinto's 30-yr old is very nice. Another one that might surprise you is Sandeman's. And of course the S. Leonardo is fabulous - it is still the best 30-yr old that I've tried.

[Glenn E.]

1983 Ramos Pinto is great too.

+1. Completely forgot about RP83, but yes it is excellent.

[Eric Menchen]

I'm in the (presumed minority) camp that prefers a lot of 1983 VPs over their 85 brethren. Good recommendations above, as confirmed at the retrospective earlier this year. Search the TNs for notes from that tasting, and I think Glenn or Roy, possibly David, did a write-up for the newsletter. I like the Smith Woodhouse a lot, but if you like the more mature drinking bottles, you should consider one of the other labels mentioned.

[Tom Archer]

Most of the '83 vintage ports are drinking very nicely at the moment, Cockburn being the only one with significant issues.

As it's your birth year, I'd say go out, buy and enjoy - and not just on your birthday!

(am drinking Kopke '83 at the moment..)

[Andy Velebil]

Most of the '83 vintage ports are drinking very nicely at the moment, Cockburn being the only one with significant issues.

As it's your birth year, I'd say go out, buy and enjoy - and not just on your birthday!

+1. As our tasting earlier this year showed, most are drinking well with the usual standouts and not so standouts.

[Andrew E]

I knew I shouldn't have come here because now I want to drink all of them, haha.

Thanks guys for the recommendations so far.

[Andrew E]

I dropped the ball on getting a Ramos Pinto and Graham's VP that would ship in time, so I ended up going with the Kopke Colheita.

If anyone is still interested, the Graham's is going for $50+ on winebid.

Thanks again for all the help, and I plan on enjoying it this weekend.

Oh yeah, what's the decant time on this bottle?