NV Tuke Holdsworth Porto Wine Reserve

[Glenn E.]

Purchased while in search of an "average" Port. The other candidate was a 1983 Tuke Holdsworth Vintage Port from a 375 ml bottle.

This is a stocky 750 ml bottle with a low, square shoulder. The label is rather plain and actually reads "Porto Wine Reserve" which seems strange. There is no bottling date on the front or back label. The capsule is plastic and the t-stopper is in good shape but only lightly stained on the bottom.

Tuke Holdsworth Reserve Port

Color: Dark red or magenta. Not quite opaque, but close. Clear at the rim.

Nose: Lots of purple brambles and a little bit of spirit. I'm going to go with mulberries and maybe black raspberries. There's also an underlying foundation of grape... the Concord variety. (Think Welch's Grape Juice.) It smells like a young and boisterous VP, likely on the drier side.

Palate: Medium - maybe medium dry - on entry, lots of those purple berries, but also an undertone of simple grape juice. Resolves to a more balanced (not dry, not sweet) sweetness. Decent tannins and pretty good acidity. Pretty simple and straightforward, but it nails its one note. This is a drinker, not a sipper.

Finish: Some warmth, some tannic grip, a harsh note like grape stem, and more berries (in this case, black currant). Decent length, but more in the grippiness than the flavor.

Score: 83 points. A solid ruby reserve, but very one-note. Very good QPR at $14 for a 750. Despite being purchased as a candidate for the 75-79 range, I can think of several ways this could be worse and have to call it "good" instead of "fair" on my rating scale. I could easily see this being served as the house Port of a small restaurant in a small town in Portugal, though of course any such restaurant would probably serve their own family's Port. But it's that level of Port - it's good, but it doesn't really shine in any way.