What have you opened this week?

[Eric Menchen]

1991 Andresen Colheita

How was it? I really like their Colheitas.

Really good. I opened this to go with dessert at the end of an Easter dinner, and didn't take notes. Roughly I'd say it wasn't as good as S.Leonardo 40 (just had one of those, which of course costs more too), but lived up to my expectations. 94 points?

[Glenn E.]

1991 Andresen Colheita

How was it? I really like their Colheitas.

Really good. I opened this to go with dessert at the end of an Easter dinner, and didn't take notes. Roughly I'd say it wasn't as good as S.Leonardo 40 (just had one of those, which of course costs more too), but lived up to my expectations. 94 points?

It's a rockin' good Colheita, Mike, and I strongly suspect that you're going to get to try it in a few weeks!

I do like the 1991 better than the 1992, but they're both excellent. And I agree with Eric that neither is quite as good as the S. Leonardo 40 Year Old... but then again, they're only 30 years old so that's not really a fair comparison!

[Al B.]

Martinez 1967 for the Easter weekend. Great Port, fully mature yet with so much life ahead of it.

[Roy Hersh]

Burmester 1952 Colheita
Kopke 1966 Colheita
150 Year Old "Vinho Generoso" - producer unknown. This bottle was brought to my table last night and a glass each poured for us. No clue as to producer, specifics of the age or where the bottling took place. There was a facsimile label, but no back label of selo.

[Glenn E.]

2008 DR White Colheita. I'm starting to run low out of the 2 cases of this that I purchased. Yes, it's that good, and pretty astounding QPR.

[Eric Ifune]

1968 Krohn Colheita.

[Andy Velebil]

1968 Krohn Colheita.

When was it bottled and how’d it show?

[Eric Ifune]

2008 and holding better than the 76. Really nice.

[Thomas V]

60 anos branco Sao Leonardo. My last bottle shared with friends on my birthday. Not as precise as previously tasted bottles from the same bottling year. But still stellar in all regards.

[Andy Velebil]

60 anos branco Sao Leonardo. My last bottle shared with friends on my birthday. Not as precise as previously tasted bottles from the same bottling year. But still stellar in all regards.

Happy birthday!

[Moses Botbol]

1991 Warre VP. Pop and pour last night. We drank about half the bottle.

[Eric Ifune]

Dows Crusted, bottled 2002.

[Al B.]

Smith Woodhouse LBV 1982. So young, so much more life ahead of it. So easy to drink. So happy I waited 5 years from opening the previous bottle. So sad this was my last bottle. So now I have to recycle the empty case.

[Andy Velebil]

A very good 2016 Quevedo LBV Port.

[Al B.]

Must be something in the air. I opened a Quinta da Côrte 2016 LBV - not a bad vintage for LBVs, it seems.

[Moses Botbol]

Finished off the '91 Warre and opened an '85 Ferreira in a super leaky bottle. The port was towards the clear side with a touch of VA. Off bottle that could been promoted as a 100 year old VP. Not sure if I'll drink some of it tonight or pour it down the drain.

[Eric Ifune]

DR 20 yo white.

[Glenn E.]

NV Sandeman Apitiv Reserve White Port
1964 Krohn Colheita Branco
1981 Kopke Colheita
1983 Graham Vintage Port
NV DR 40 Year Old Tawny Port

Opened these (along with a Quinta Vale Dona Maria Reserve Ruby and a Fonseca Bin 27 Reserve Ruby that Stewart provided) for a tasting that I donated to a charity auction last fall. Stewart and I had a great time with the 10-person tasting group, and all of the Ports were well received!

[Al B.]

NV Sandeman Apitiv Reserve White Port
1964 Krohn Colheita Branco
1981 Kopke Colheita
1983 Graham Vintage Port
NV DR 40 Year Old Tawny Port

Opened these (along with a Quinta Vale Dona Maria Reserve Ruby and a Fonseca Bin 27 Reserve Ruby that Stewart provided) for a tasting that I donated to a charity auction last fall. Stewart and I had a great time with the 10-person tasting group, and all of the Ports were well received!

That’s a really nice thing to do for a charity auction, and a very generous collection of Ports to open. Well done!

[Glenn E.]

NV Sandeman Apitiv Reserve White Port
1964 Krohn Colheita Branco
1981 Kopke Colheita
1983 Graham Vintage Port
NV DR 40 Year Old Tawny Port

Opened these (along with a Quinta Vale Dona Maria Reserve Ruby and a Fonseca Bin 27 Reserve Ruby that Stewart provided) for a tasting that I donated to a charity auction last fall. Stewart and I had a great time with the 10-person tasting group, and all of the Ports were well received!

That’s a really nice thing to do for a charity auction, and a very generous collection of Ports to open. Well done!

The highlights for the group were 3 things that the selection we provided made clear:

1. They liked getting to try Reserves and then compare those to their aged counterparts. While most did enjoy the aged wines better, the fact that the Reserves were only around $20 here in the Seattle area was a bonus to them.
2. Vale Dona Maria and Bin 27 are very different LBVs, but both really good. They enjoyed being able to see that there's quite a range even within a specific classification of Port.
3. They really enjoyed getting to taste a ~40 year old tawny and a ~40 year old VP side-by-side. We had already explained how Port is made and the difference between wood-aged and bottle-aged Port, but having the Kopke and the Graham together really drove it home.

Unsurprisingly, the DR was the star of the night, but there were a couple of people who liked other Ports. The Graham and the Krohn both received a vote as I recall.