Tasting old port

[marc segers]

Hi,

I'm very new to port. I know a lot about whisky, but now we want to do a port tasting.
I have several ports but don't know what to choose.
This is what we already have in the line-up
2007 Niepoort Crushed
2000 Ramos Pinto Vintage
1985 Fonseca
1978 Kopke Colheita
1977 Dow vintage
1976 Fonseca Guimaraens Vintage
1972 Offley Vintage
1970 SmithWoodhouse vintage
1964 Kopke Vintage
1963 Warre Vintage
1952 Da Silva Colheita

I have this to put in the line up.
I wanted to give a young 2004 Morgadio da Calçada LBVand a Altro Douro from Royal Oporto just after the crushed
What would be your choiche between these ports for the rest
I have
feist 1937
Croft 300 years anniversary bottling
Rozes 1977 vintage
Fernandez Santos 1955-1972
Tawny Cockburn 20 1987
Taylor's 1977 vintage
Santos 1944
Amandio's 1945 old tawny
Diez Ultra 1951
What would be your choice if you could pick 4 extra bottles??

Regards,

Marc

[Jim R.]

Marc-welcome. I have not had many of these so I will only offer some suggestions. How many total port tasters/drinkers will be at the tasting? The more people and wines the harder it is to control/organize/manage the tasting. How many fortified wines will you be serving? I suggest limiting the number to six or eight since you are somewhat new to ports. Please keep us informed and we will see what Andy and Roy (experienced presenters) and others think. They will be able to offer knowledgeable guidance.

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Marc,

First of all, to FTLOP!

We hope you'll enjoy your time spent here sharing your Port experiences and asking any questions, like this great first post of yours.

To answer your question, if I had to limit my choices to just four of the "extra" bottles, mine would be:

1937 Feist, which I am assuming is a Colheita Port (I'd be far less curious if it was a '37 Feist Vintage Port)

Diez Ultra 1951, just because I've only had one Port from that vintage and would like to explore another. I've had the Kopke '51 Colheita 2x.

Amandio's 1945 Old Tawny, because you don't see that many Colheitas from that vintage, but the grapes were exceptional that year and I've really never had any 1945 which did not provide lots of allure.

1977 Taylor - although I've had this a few times in the past, I never tire of its beauty and youthful impact.


This sounds like an incredible night even without the extra bottles. Where is it being held?

[marc segers]

Hi Jim,

I know that we are new to port . We are a group of 7 people who are crazy about whisky , whiskey,bourbon, rye, ect.
We know what it is to taste a lot of different bottles, but port is the first time.
This tasting will start at 1 PM and wil last until 4-5 AM outdoors. So we have load's of time. In between we will have lots of food, chocolat, cheeze, glazed pork on the Green Egg,
Is there someting to clean the pallet with?? For whisky we use black chocolat with more than 70% cacao, or black coffee.
Last year we did a rum tasting and we had more than 40 different rums from all over the world.
I would like to have more port, but as my own whisky collection is over 3000 bottles, I don't know if my wife wil agree
We will try to write some notes and put them on the forum.
The Feist 1937 is a Colheita 1976
Tasting is held in Belgium

One more question,, do you know this port. Royal oporto Jubilee port 225 years celebration??

Regards,

marc

[marc segers]

Hi Roy,

the vintage ports we will decant, but how long do we have to wait before tasting, because different people say different things??

marc

[Andy Velebil]

Hi Marc,

First, let me say to the Forum, it's great to have you with us. Your time line for drinking these is large and with that much experience with high octane Whisky's, some Port should be an easy task.

As to the Ports, I'd add your two other 1977's (Taylor and Rozes). That way you could have a mini-horizontal flight of a range of producers from 1977. One of the more educational things to do as well as fun.

That leaves two more bottles...Agree on the Feist 1937, that way you have a Colheita from a vintage which generally has produced some stellar ones. It would also give you one really old bottle. Amandios 1945 would be interesting and is close enough in age to pair against the 1937 Feist.

Let me give some thought to decant times...