For The Love Of Port

Foil capsule coated in bright blue wax - unusual.

Beneath, a cork that bore the tell-tale drift mark of a hand corking machine - a bigger surprise!

Decanted at 1.30pm. Loads of fine purple sludge - you can probably identify a Vesuvio from the sediment alone!

A lot of bottle stink - in the midst of this, a hint of berry fruit could be detected.

First sip - sharp and completely lacking in composure - a real 'Kevin'

But I am optimistic. I am quietly confident that it will sort itself out.

More anon.

Tom

Six hours on - a small glass

Bottle stink gone

Good bouquet of berry fruits, but just the slightest hint of VA - not an issue though.

Assertive ruby colour, clear meniscus but otherwise looking very youthful.

Much less sharp on the palate - pulling together nicely now. Very fruity, very tannic still. By my standards, decidedly immature.

This wine is going to last for ages. Despite being a lesser year, I'm sure this will still be drinking well (and better) in 20 years.

Tom

I only own a few bottles of this Port, but have never tasted it as of yet. I look forward to doing so in the UK this October with the FTLOP gang. Thanks for your excellent observations. I am almost tempted to pop one of my own bottles, this evening. Almost. I do need to get into that '99 Dow Crusted Port. Maybe this evening with Stewart, if he'll drop by.

28 hours on and the wine is well composed.

Though smooth, fruity and unmistakeably Vesuvio with its purple reflections in the glass, this wine is still very young and tooth-grindingly tannic.

I am not going to rush to finish this decanter. Though I will keep it cool, I want to see how long it takes before there is significant deterioration. The decanter is a large ship's type, so air exposure is high.

Will report!

Tom

This poses a very interesting question as to how long we should decant these wines before we taste them later in the year.

From what I have read, both from Tom on the Vesuvio '90 and other recent Vesuvio tasting notes, it looks like an extended decanting time will be needed......but practicalities of logistics might impose some limits on what we can do.

Something to ponder while I look for a new emoticon.

Alex

Yesterday, after 48 hours, the wine was a little nuttier and less immature - to my palate, a modest improvement.

I shall leave the decanter in the cellar today and re-visit it tomorrow - four days on.

Tom

..OK, I got distracted yesterday

- Five days on.

Delightfully smooth - no rough edges at all now. Colour and bouquet both very attractive. No obvious sign of degradation. Will leave in the cellar for a few more days before I re-visit it.

Tom

Nine days on and this wine is showing no real fatigue - the bouquet is particularly good now, as is the finish.

It is certainly better now than it was after 24hrs.

There's about three glasses left in the decanter, which I'll polish off in a week's time.

Tom

Sixteen days on, and this will probably be my last report.

The wine is now a little jammy and spiritous, bouquet has also faded.

However, the wine is still way ahead of where it was after six hours, and is probably a little ahead of the 28 hour mark.

If I was planning to serve this wine at a dinner party, I would decant either 48 hours before, or on the morning of the day before.

This little exercise does make me wonder how critics can fairly judge wines that have been out of their bottles for only a few hours - and sometimes only a few minutes.

I doubt that they can compensate fully for this.

Tom

Tom,

This thread has reminded me of your suggestion of opening 6 bottles of the same VP at 6 hour intervals to find the optimum decanting time - I would still love to try that one day 8)

Derek

Derek,

Yes we must find a time for the six hour test.

I'm beginning to hunch that there's some logic - a mathematical model - that can be used to loosely predict both optimum decanting times and subsequent keeping times, based on the robustness of the blend, the standing of the vintage and the age of the wine.

Early days yet, and I need to do more experimentation, but I'm already confident enough to assert that most vintage port is drunk far too soon after decanting, and, perhaps more controversially, that most critics judge VP when it is not at its best.

Tom

Tom one thing is for sure, every one has his own taste, so wathever model you build, as good as it can be, will only be valuable for your own taste buds!

Another thing to consider, is that the decanter after 3 days may hold only 400ml of wine. If you find your wines better after the 3rd day and you say" I'm going to decant the next bottle and only drink it after 3 days" you will not get the same results. Because 750 ml in the decanter during 3 days is not the same as 750, 500, and 400ml of port in decanter during these 3 days.

My model shows that you don't drink enough port every day when you open a bottle, you should take more than 2 sips per day!

Tom,

I must hand it to you, there is no way I could get a bottle to last that long. I think my max was about 2 weeks once, and I was out of town for almost a week during that time.

But, it was fun to read your impressions after that long in the decanter.

...bear in mind that I own eight decanters...

Tom