What have you opened this week?

[John M.]

Half bottle of Dalva 10 Year Tawny, bottled 2018. Drank very casually as we played a game last night--seems like a typical 10 and perfect for the occasion. I suspect the "Lodge in Place" will translate to open a bottle in place since I will be home all the time. Hope you are well and safe with adequate supplies.

[Mike J. W.]

1994 Presidential Port. A lesser brand for sure, but I'll be curious to see how it is when I try it tonight.

[Moses Botbol]

Been playing Scrabble the last week and last night's game was played along an '85 Grahams VP. Was pop and pour; only drank a 1/3 the bottle. Expecting more character from the wine tonight.

[Eric Menchen]

2015 Quinta do Crasto VP. TN in progress.

[David Spriggs]

2003 Broadbent Vintage Port

[Tom Archer]

Tonight I shall be decanting the first bottle of six that I bought in 2014, of a VP that has never been mentioned in either port forum, and has only one TN on CellarTracker. However, the serial number on the label indicates that over 5000 were made (assuming they started at 1)

Infantado 1983

[Moses Botbol]

Tonight I shall be decanting the first bottle of six that I bought in 2014, of a VP that has never been mentioned in either port forum, and has only one TN on CellarTracker. However, the serial number on the label indicates that over 5000 were made (assuming they started at 1)

Infantado 1983

I had the Infantado 1985 a couple of months ago and it was really solid. I like their style port. No mention of it "in the book" either. Label was similarly numbered.

[Tom Archer]

Infantado 83

According to the label, Bottled June 86 - almost as late as is permissible for a VP. Bottle number 5823. I like this extra detail. The crowning glory would be the addition of the words 'out of.. x' after the serial number.

Mahogany in the glass, nice elegant nose with strong notes of toffee. Style wise this is closer to Niepoort than any other major producer. The wine is slightly on the light side, but that is typical of the vintage.

A good quaff that leaves me wanting to know more about this producer - Score 7-7

[Mike J. W.]

Tonight I shall be decanting the first bottle of six that I bought in 2014, of a VP that has never been mentioned in either port forum, and has only one TN on CellarTracker. However, the serial number on the label indicates that over 5000 were made (assuming they started at 1)

Infantado 1983

I picked up a couple of the '83 at an auction recently. I've had the '00 which had a pretty good QPR (got it for $30 a bottle). I have 3 more bottles of that left. I also picked up an '11 at a local store.

[John M.]

Tonight I shall be decanting the first bottle of six that I bought in 2014, of a VP that has never been mentioned in either port forum, and has only one TN on CellarTracker. However, the serial number on the label indicates that over 5000 were made (assuming they started at 1)

Infantado 1983

I picked up a couple of the '83 at an auction recently. I've had the '00 which had a pretty good QPR (got it for $30 a bottle). I have 3 more bottles of that left. I also picked up an '11 at a local store.

I had a few Infantados over 10 years ago and thought they were awful---suppose I need to revisit. Perhaps I had off bottles (the source was not the best).

[Glenn E.]

I had a few Infantados over 10 years ago and thought they were awful---suppose I need to revisit. Perhaps I had off bottles (the source was not the best).

I've had a few Infantados over the years and I'm not fond of them. I wouldn't call them awful, but for me they're really just pretty basic examples of each category.

[Tom Archer]

I've had a few Infantados over the years and I'm not fond of them. I wouldn't call them awful, but for me they're really just pretty basic examples of each category.

By bottling late, these guys are playing to the long haul, rather than the near release market. Dirk does the same, although he knows the importance of not totally trashing the near term experience.

Which age range have you been judging them on?

[Glenn E.]

I've had a few Infantados over the years and I'm not fond of them. I wouldn't call them awful, but for me they're really just pretty basic examples of each category.

By bottling late, these guys are playing to the long haul, rather than the near release market. Dirk does the same, although he knows the importance of not totally trashing the near term experience.

That seems backwards to me. Bottling late is a way to play to the near release market, not the long haul. That's specifically what LBV is all about, after all.

Which age range have you been judging them on?

I've had Infantados back to at least 1985 and as young as 2017. I've possibly had older Infantados as well, but the oldest one I can specifically remember right at the moment was a 1985.

[Mike J. W.]

Infantado 83

According to the label, Bottled June 86 - almost as late as is permissible for a VP. Bottle number 5823. I like this extra detail. The crowning glory would be the addition of the words 'out of.. x' after the serial number.

Mahogany in the glass, nice elegant nose with strong notes of toffee. Style wise this is closer to Niepoort than any other major producer. The wine is slightly on the light side, but that is typical of the vintage.

A good quaff that leaves me wanting to know more about this producer - Score 7-7

I went down to my basement and looked at my Infantado's to see if they were also numbered like yours. My 2 '83's were like yours, just a bottle no. My '92 had the bottle no. (790) AND it said "of 16,250 bottles" or something to that effect. My '00 and '11 were even more interesting in that it has the bottle number, but then goes on to say how many magnums, bottles and halves were bottled for that vintage. Pretty cool.

[Tom Archer]

That seems backwards to me. Bottling late is a way to play to the near release market, not the long haul. That's specifically what LBV is all about, after all.

Bottling late after storage in pipes tends to reduce the freshness of a newly released VP, which can count against it when less well informed critics taste the wine. However the added concentration resulting from the small amount of evaporation during that period bolsters the wine and tends to improve its long term aging potential.

LBVs are usually aged in large tonels or stainless tanks to avoid losing freshness.

[Moses Botbol]

Opened an '85 Ferreira, the biggest leaking one I could find out of the lot. Only had a couple of glasses after a pop and pour. Hoping to really drink it tonight. Ferreira and Fonseca are currently my favorite's of the vintage. Gould Campbell is up there too.

[Bradley Bogdan]

Popped a 20y Burmester Tawny. Now that things are getting warmer in Texas, time to switch back to the tawny stuff again.


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[Tom Archer]

An odd old bottle with part of the label missing

The legible bits reading:

FONSE..
Very O...
Shippe..
Guimara..

Driven cork, and as a big giveaway to age, a foil design that was only used for a few years in the early 1950s

I've owned this rather interesting bottle for over ten years now, and finally got round to decanting it yesterday. Not that I needed to, as in the event there was zero sediment.

As I expected, this was a very old tawny when bottled and now an exceptionally old one.

If anyone is thinking of writing a book on port and wants a fresh angle to explore, the ability of most good tawnies (anything above bog standard) to bottle age to advantage is definitely an area to pursue.

This bottle is absolutely glorious. Perfectly smooth and very slightly maderised, the wine is probably as dark in the glass today as it was seven decades ago.

Age knocks the rough edges off these old tawnies. Provided they have a reasonable amount of body at the outset and were not brutally fined or filtered prior to bottling, they just get smoother and smoother..

[John M.]

2002 Warres LBV for an online ZOOM meeting of our Port Club....with 10 attendees. An excellent LBV.

[Moses Botbol]

After finishing the '85 Ferreira VP, we opened a '99 Ferreira LBV. Did not mean to choose a Ferreira; grabbed the first bottle I saw in the port section of the cellar. '99 Ferreira LBV is practically a baby still. Has plenty of years left it in.