For The Love Of Port

1985 Ferreira Vintage. Pop and pour for a glass last night. Terrific ruby color & clarity. No heat at all. Tonight should be treat to really get into it. Great port!

Croft 1985

Not quite as dire as the last bottle I opened from this case, but still a weak offering. Slight VA that mostly blew off on an otherwise slightly candied nose, colour thin but otherwise clean and fresh in the glass. Probably the weakest Croft VP of the past century, so one to drink up or pass over. Score 1-1

2011 Quevedo VP from a half-bottle.

I am introducing my new Irish neighbour to port and did so by opening first an Andresen 10YO White and following up with a Niepoort 2015 LBV. He was amazed by the quality and enjoyed it very much so. #MissionCompleted

Thomas V wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 11:36 pm I am introducing my new Irish neighbour to port and did so by opening first an Andresen 10YO White and following up with a Niepoort 2015 LBV. He was amazed by the quality and enjoyed it very much so. #MissionCompleted

Now that is being neighborly!

30 yo Sandeman Tawny bottled in 2015. Very nice, easy drinking tawny.

Another Smith Woodhouse 20 yr Tawny. Really been enjoying these, my new house aged tawny.

And Cockburn’s Fine White (with some tonic) :)

Mike J. W. wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 9:59 am

Thomas V wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 11:36 pm I am introducing my new Irish neighbour to port and did so by opening first an Andresen 10YO White and following up with a Niepoort 2015 LBV. He was amazed by the quality and enjoyed it very much so. #MissionCompleted

Now that is being neighborly!

Haha thanks. I think most of us inhere see ourselves as missionaries of Port. Got to spread the word

Thomas V wrote:

Mike J. W. wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 9:59 am

Thomas V wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 11:36 pm I am introducing my new Irish neighbour to port and did so by opening first an Andresen 10YO White and following up with a Niepoort 2015 LBV. He was amazed by the quality and enjoyed it very much so. #MissionCompleted

Now that is being neighborly!

Haha thanks. I think most of us inhere see ourselves as missionaries of Port. Got to spread the word

Yes we do!!!

1980 Borges VP.

Noval 82

The Noval signature is a very difficult one to verbalise - Noval tastes like.. err.. Noval.

Although this is not a great wine it expresses that signature very well, so a good one to try if you're not clear in your mind what a mature Noval tastes like.

This wine was made in the middle of Noval's 'difficult' period, and given the vintage itself is not that highly regarded, and also from an era that is a bit of a minefield, this is actually not a bad showing. Soft, rounded, well matured, but not going south any time soon I think - score 4-4

1985 Burmester VP

Quite nice, though others thought there was something funky about it. I didn't get that, but was reassured that it was not corked.

S. Leonardo 40 TWIOA. This one had a little bit of solvent/furniture polish in the aroma. I decanted it and things improved, but that character was still there a few days later. It was definitely tasty, but not my best bottle of this wine.

Porto Rocha Three Centuries Tawny. This is a very nice tawny. Tons of bottle stink on the nose (think sweaty gym socks) that blew off after I left the bottle sit open for a half hour. This is delicious. I won 6 bottles of this (500 ml bottles) at auction for under $23 a bottle. What a steal.

Mike J. W. wrote: ↑Sat May 29, 2021 6:14 pm I won 6 bottles of this (500 ml bottles) at auction for under $23 a bottle. What a steal.

I opened a bottle of Vesuvio 1994 at the weekend. What a great Port this is - still young and full of fruit, showed best on day 2. One day this is going to be an absolute stunner, but maybe for my children rather than for me.

Al B. wrote: ↑Mon May 31, 2021 11:06 pm I opened a bottle of Vesuvio 1994 at the weekend. What a great Port this is - still young and full of fruit, showed best on day 2. One day this is going to be an absolute stunner, but maybe for my children rather than for me.

Apparently it was Vesuvio weekend Al The 1994 is stellar but both the 1996 and 1997 is great too. Also quite a bit cheaper nowadays at least.

Last weekend’s delight. The Vesuvio 1996 wasn’t planned. But the bottle had some seepage and I decided to take no chances. If there had been a little oxidation it had not yet impacted the wine. A bit cloudy in appearance but still some kick and tannins present. Classic eucalyptus of Vesuvio and a great balance of sweetness and acidity. Elegant as I expect of Vesuvio. A pleasure to drink. 92 points.

1995 Graham's Malvedos. Bottle stink that's continued 8 1/2 hours after being decanted. This one is off. Not undrinkable but there's something definitely going on with it. Hopefully tomorrow night it's a little better.

+36 hours...it wasn't, it was much worse. I poured it down the drain. Horribly corked.

6 of the 2019 Symington Vintage Ports. Some stellar ones. Still writing up the review and will hopefully have it finished soon.

6 of the 2019 Symington Vintage Ports. Some stellar ones. Still writing up the review and will hopefully have it finished soon.

I've had very mixed messages about the 2019 vintage - will be interested to see what you've made of those six