What have you opened this week?

[John M.]

Pacheca basic White Port: Refreshing, elegant and light, a bit of pear. Far different than most Whites, I only had one glass so far. Will report back but so far quite surprising.

5 days later: Was best when first opened. Put it in the fridge---tastes terrible cold. I let some warm up and better---but still best when opened. Made pork tenderloin and used some in the sauce/pan drippings---that was a good use--sauce was marvelous with cherries added and a hint of nuts and orange.

For $14 not bad, but I'd rather just pay double and buy a 10 Yr White (unlike regular tawnies, 10 Yr Whites are very good)

[A.S. Demka]

Glenn opened a S. Leonardo 60 yo white on Oct. 21
Eric opened a S. Leonardo 20 yo white on Oct. 29

I just opened a S. Leonardo 40 yo white (bottled in 2019). Does this make me a middle-of-the-road person? .

[Glenn E.]

Glenn opened a S. Leonardo 60 yo white on Oct. 21
Eric opened a S. Leonardo 20 yo white on Oct. 29

I just opened a S. Leonardo 40 yo white (bottled in 2019). Does this make me a middle-of-the-road person?

I think it does!

[Andy Velebil]

Glenn opened a S. Leonardo 60 yo white on Oct. 21
Eric opened a S. Leonardo 20 yo white on Oct. 29

I just opened a S. Leonardo 40 yo white (bottled in 2019). Does this make me a middle-of-the-road person?

Depends on what comes next. Choose wisely.

[Glenn E.]

I never got around to drinking through last year's Quevedo Advent Calendar, so I've been doing that this month to make room for THIS year's calendar! I've already drank most of the white Ports - they were opened to pair with some other white Ports - so there are a few "holes" as I go through the rest of the calendar this month.

So far I've tasted through the 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 Tawny, plus the 2018 LBV and the 2021 VP. The tawnies all show much more fruit - red fruit - than most other tawnies, as well as a distinct prune note on both the nose and the palate. It makes them unique but also rather odd, so I re-confirmed that they're really just not my style. The interesting note (for me) was that the 40 out of these little 100 ml bottles did not taste like the 40 out of a 750. 750s of the Quevedo 40 are one of my favorite 40 Year Old Ports for pop-and-pour, but out of these little bottles it had that same red fruit and prune style of the others and it wasn't (again, to me) an improvement.

The 2018 LBV was definitely not my style. Very (relatively) dry and tart and dominated by red fruit flavors.

The 2021 VP was quite nice... sweeter than the LBV, smoother, and had more blue and black fruit flavors.

There's a short break for me now as I skip days for previously-consumed white Ports, and then I'll be starting on 10 or 11 Colheitas in a row! They start with 2008 and work their way back to, IIRC, 1992.

[Frederick Blais]

Glenn, a good part of Quevedo's Tawnys are aged in bigger barrels(balseiros) which really slows down the aging and preserve a fruitier style. I'm not a big fan of the young ones, but with age I do appreciate the freshness that they preserve. I've been going with the 2007 COlheita recently and it has such a beautiful flowery nose that you can't find in any other Tawnys.

Also, those 100ml bottles are really not optimal to represent the "real" product. They are hand bottle from an artisanal kind of machine. Worth mentionning that they are mostly coming straight from the barrels, they do not go trough the same process as a regular "commercial" release.

[Eric Ifune]

Brunheda 40+.

[Al B.]

This weekend opened bottles of Sandeman 1957 (fully mature and really tasty) and Fonseca 1985 (still big, bold and not yet mature).

[Andy Velebil]

This weekend opened bottles of Sandeman 1957 (fully mature and really tasty) and Fonseca 1985 (still big, bold and not yet mature).

So they tasted similar? Inquiring minds wanting know lol.

[Al B.]

Absolutely identical. I’d never be able to tell them apart.

[Glenn E.]

Glenn, a good part of Quevedo's Tawnys are aged in bigger barrels(balseiros) which really slows down the aging and preserve a fruitier style. I'm not a big fan of the young ones, but with age I do appreciate the freshness that they preserve. I've been going with the 2007 COlheita recently and it has such a beautiful flowery nose that you can't find in any other Tawnys.

Also, those 100ml bottles are really not optimal to represent the "real" product. They are hand bottle from an artisanal kind of machine. Worth mentionning that they are mostly coming straight from the barrels, they do not go trough the same process as a regular "commercial" release.

Yep, I'm aware. I agree that it's... weird... in the younger ones, but it is definitely a distinct style. And I'm not sure I would call it "freshness" in the older ones, either, as the fruit flavors take on a darker, almost stewed note once you get to about the 30 year old. So for me they're just very Portuguese in style... I might even go so far as to say too Portuguese. I would like my tawnies to taste more... tawny.

I was due to start the Colheitas today, but we're going out to dinner so I probably won't get around to it. There are 10 or 11 in a row now starting with the 2008 and going back to 1992 (I think) so I'll get a nice even progression on the aging process. I've had almost all of these before... the Advent Calendars are just fun so I buy them every year anyway. And they sometimes throw in some very cool "experiments" that make the calendars even cooler! (IIRC 2024 has some of those. 2022 did, also.)

[Moses Botbol]

This weekend opened bottles of Sandeman 1957 (fully mature and really tasty) and Fonseca 1985 (still big, bold and not yet mature).

We finished off our bottle '85 Fonseca opened earlier in the week. I wish I owned more Sandeman than I have currently. Not as popular here for whatever reason.

[Mike J. W.]

This weekend opened bottles of Sandeman 1957 (fully mature and really tasty) and Fonseca 1985 (still big, bold and not yet mature).

I'm glad to hear that my birth year represented well. As far as I know, 1957 isn't really known as a good Port year except for the '57 Kopke Colheita.

[Phil W]

Absolutely identical. I’d never be able to tell them apart.

Dear Alex, I have a case of F85, please let me know when you're not looking...

[John M.]

Tomorrow In Lovely New Jersey Mike W, Lucas and several others will be tasting (7 in total):

1966, 1970, 1977, 1980, 1983 & 1985 Graham
1985 Fonseca (To contrast against the G85)
1977 Mystery Bottle - From Mike's cellar that demanded to be included by springing a leak.

Theme is "Grahams & Friends"

Shoutout to Mike--all are his bottles-- so mega-adopting. And to Julian for making placemats for me.

[Andy Velebil]

Tomorrow In Lovely New Jersey Mike W, Lucas and several others will be tasting (7 in total):

1966, 1970, 1977, 1980, 1983 & 1985 Graham
1985 Fonseca (To contrast against the G85)
1977 Mystery Bottle - From Mike's cellar that demanded to be included by springing a leak.

Theme is "Grahams & Friends"

Shoutout to Mike--all are his bottles-- so mega-adopting. And to Julian for making placemats for me.

Nice line up. Look forward to hearing how it went.

[Glenn E.]

1985 Graham

Hadn't opened one in a while so thought I should check to see how they're doing. TL;DR it's probably time to start drinking these more regularly, though there's no rush to drink them all quickly.

In this lineup it actually seemed a bit thin, but I think that was just because nearly all of the other VPs were 10-12 years younger. I have some leftovers to double-check tonight.

This was the full lineup for the November Port Club meeting:

1997 Vesuvio
1991 Taylor Vargellas
1997 Andresen
1985 Graham
1995 Dow Bomfim

1975 Andresen Colheita
1979 Kopke Colheita (2 x 375 mixed together)
1989 Burmester Colheita
JMdF 20 Year Old Moscatel de Setubal "Alambre"
Graham 20 Year Old Tawny Port

The 1975 Andresen was my wine of the night, followed closely by the Alambre. I hope you all bought into the FTLOP buying opportunity!

Amongst the VPs I had the Vesuvio and the Graham tied.

[Moses Botbol]

Opened a 2000 Croft VP for the Tyson fight. Wow, what a port. Never had any Croft post 1994. Has to be one of the finest Croft vintages I have ever had. All stuff from Croft like touch of heat, mandarin oranges, hint of chocolate, in a superb balanced port. Top notch.

Each day was a treat, and I hope to finish it tonight.

[Andy Velebil]

I didn't open all, but drank of it. Was on a cruise this past week and enjoyed a 1994 Dow's VP (a few times), tons of Taylor's 10 and 20 year tawny (as was included in our drink package. The 20 was only a $3 upcharge.) and Bin 27.

The highlight was when me and the better half showed up for the "premium wine tasting" and ended up being the only two there. Two others no-showed. We had a private tasting with the head Somm of the ship. Awesome time and plenty of leftovers of Dow's 1994, Pio Cesar, Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin and a New Zeland Sauv Blanc. Including the Somm saving us the rest of the bottle of Krug champagne for dinner later that night as we were eating in his restaurant.

As we were allowed two bottles to bring on board, I took a 1980 Kopke Colheita b. 2008 (IIRC). It was a bit cloudy and nice, but bottle age showing. And a 2000 Quinta do Crasto Vinha da Ponte, which was a bit past peak but still showed very nicely. I'd drink them up if you have any of either.

[Andy Velebil]

Opened a 2000 Croft VP for the Tyson fight. Wow, what a port. Never had any Croft post 1994. Has to be one of the finest Croft vintages I have ever had. All stuff from Croft like touch of heat, mandarin oranges, hint of chocolate, in a superb balanced port. Top notch.

Each day was a treat, and I hope to finish it tonight.

You need to try the 2003 Croft. Perhaps their best in a very long time before that.