For The Love Of Port

New to FTLOP & need some advice ! Long story but have '63, '70, '74 & '75 Niepoort Colheita plus '77 Niepoort Vintage in my cellar. Which should I be drinking and which should I put at the back of the cellar and forget for another few years ? Is a vertical tasting a good idea or just enjoy one everynow and again at the end of a good meal with friends ? Would appreciate any support and advice !

Those colheitas were good for drinking when they were put in the bottle. Some people would say they were at their best when bottled, whereas a smaller number of people would say they can improve with bottle age, Dirk Niepoort among them. The 1977 VP was not ready for drinking when bottled, but probably is good now. I've never had that particular VP, so I can't say if it is going to last longer, at peak, or past.

I would probably drink those colheitas one at a time, but that is entirely a personal decision.

Niepoort is one of the producers whose Colheitas can actually improve with bottle age, so you don't need to rush to drink them. However, as Eric said they are ready to drink as soon as they are bottled and so don't actually need any additional bottle age. Drink 'em whenever the mood strikes!

The '77 VP probably still has a few years left to hit its peak, but is also probably in a very nice state right now. You would probably want to decant the VP for about 6 hours (that's mostly a guess, so hopefully someone else will confirm or correct) so plan ahead when you want to drink it.

Like Eric, I'd probably drink all of the above one at a time with friends.

Mark,

Nice to have you join us here.

to !!!

Niepoort makes some of the greatest of all Colheitas. They have been doing so, since 1863, which is the oldest Colheita I've ever had from that producer and I don't believe they bottled any before that. I've only had it a few times and each one was a remarkable experience.

The bottles you have are very good and you should follow the excellent advice from above. I just wanted to weigh in and thank you for joining us here!

Glenn E. wrote: The '77 VP probably still has a few years left to hit its peak, but is also probably in a very nice state right now. You would probably want to decant the VP for about 6 hours (that's mostly a guess, so hopefully someone else will confirm or correct) so plan ahead when you want to drink it.

My experience of Ni77 at recent tastings (multiple bottles from two different sources) is that this is a delicious but fairly delicate port that is now fully evolved - i can't see it benefitting from more time in the cellar (for pleasure, i will drink my remaining bottles in the next 3-5 years, perhaps keeping a couple for the purposes of horizontals/verticals). However, this does seem to benefit from a good 6-8hr decant and seems to put on weight nicely during that time - so don't be too worried if it is rather more pale and watery than you were expecting when first decanted (or if it has a rather bizarre short cork, which seems to have been used on at least a portion of the bottling run).

Rob,

If a VP is fully evolved, why would it require 6-8 hours in a decanter?

If it is still going to improve in decanter and fleshes out, putting on more weight and likely gaining greater mid-palate depth (my words not yours), then that seems to belie the fact of it being fully evolved. At least for me, when I have a fully evolved VP, for instance, most 1927's at this point, then I decant for sediment, no more then an hour or so ... if that, and I have no expectation that it will be better six to eight hours sitting in a decanter or even from the bottle.

Maybe we're just talking about different shades of the evolution?

Roy Hersh wrote:Rob,

If a VP is fully evolved, why would it require 6-8 hours in a decanter?

If it is still going to improve in decanter and fleshes out, putting on more weight and likely gaining greater mid-palate depth (my words not yours), then that seems to belie the fact of it being fully evolved. At least for me, when I have a fully evolved VP, for instance, most 1927's at this point, then I decant for sediment, no more then an hour or so ... if that, and I have no expectation that it will be better six to eight hours sitting in a decanter or even from the bottle.

Maybe we're just talking about different shades of the evolution?

Is it your experience that the relationship between the stage of a port's evolution and the ideal decant time required for it to show its best is absolute?

I think it is a good rule of thumb (hence why i considered the Ni77 decant time noteworthy), but it is not in my experience a hard and fast rule.

When i refer to "fully evolved", i mean that the wine is unlikely to benefit from further time in the cellar, even for those who like their port old and faded. So those like me who prefer ports in the early stages of maturity (G70, F66 etc.!) would probably consider the Ni77 to be slightly "over the hill" already, those who like ports with very tertiary characteristics (Alex B., perhaps...) might consider it to be in its "peak drinking" window, but i doubt there would be many in the "revisit in 5 years" camp.

FWIW i have had 5 bottles of Ni77 over the last 12 months or so, all pretty consistent. Over the same period, i have only had three bottles of 1927s (Taylor, Martinez, Sandeman). My experience is that direct comparisons of the two are hard: the 27s i have had were all in great condition and seemed to have an almost timeless quality, combining obvious age with astonishing youth. But i would not be at all surpised if the best bottles of those three wines outlived the Niepoort 77 by quite some time despite being 50 yrs older. However, i have not been drinking port for many years, so would be delighted to be proved wrong over the next decade (particularly as i have a number of Ni77 still in the cellar!).

Absolute? Definitely not. Not even a hard fast rule.