Decant: None - South Africa. Barrel sample of the Tinta Barroca from bush vines. No surprises in the colour, being an opaque and deep purple. Full of fruit on the nose, ripe pears (that's where they come from!), blue berries and vanilla fudge. Very sweet but with a cough-sweet kick in the back of the throat. Lots of tannins in the mid-palate with morello cherry dominating the fruit in the mouth and a good dose of acidity. The aftertaste is respectable but is better in the blended ports.
This was then compared to a barrel sample of the Tinta Barocca from trellis trained vines. The main differences noted were that the trllised vines showed more of a white pepper tone on the nose, mixed in with the sweet fruit. While respectably tannic, the trellised vines seemed to exhibit tannins which did not last as long in the mouth or on the aftertaste as the bush trained vines. NR points
TN: 2008 Bredell's Vintage Port
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