For The Love Of Port

7 hr decant
light red, expansive mulberry, plum, cinnamon, cherry, licorice nose; soft plum, currant flavors, strong structure, with great integration of alcohol and tannin, beautiful now but has at least 10 to 15 years at this level now and for the future, tannins not obtrusive but noticeable (a good sign), alcohol very integrated and welcoming. I think a 94 pts wine. Wish I had more since this was my last bottle.

Thank you Jim for sharing.
Glenn and I each got a case at auction recently and it is great to hear it is showing so well.
You're tempting me to open one for tonight.

Lucky you! Mine won't arrive until spring because it's too cold to ship cross-country now.

Thanks for the note, Jim!

Did open one.

The bottle was in perfect condition. No seepage. The cork nearly came out in one go. It was soaked most of the way.

It was the oldest VP I tried, so don't have much for comparison.

Still, it is v v enjoyable. So smooth to drink, alcohol perfectly integrated. Red colored, perfectly translucid - tons of sediment came out. Decanted it 4 hrs from when dessert started, 6h30 from now.

Nearly finished the bottle along w my parents and in-laws (neither drinks much). At a point had emptied my glass and smelled it. Soooo wonderful. Hard to put it in words. The aromas were so nice, like noble wood, honey.

Didn't feel old at all. In fact, could see it mellow out further.

It was v sweet. I was ok w that but it was overwhelming for my father in law.

The flip side is that I kept comparing it to the Ferreira 20 Yr and felt that the tawny would come out ahead because of the finish. Couldn't help feeling a little sad about that.

Will be opening a bottle of '70 Fonseca in a few days for my mom's 70th and am looking fwd to assessing the difference!

Lots of upside to this Graham's VP from well stored bottles. Will be v. interested to hear your comparison/contrast with the Fonseca '70, Miguel!

Roy Hersh wrote:Will be v. interested to hear your comparison/contrast with the Fonseca '70, Miguel!

Roy, you already know the answer to that one...

Any recommendations for how long to decant the F70?
Was planning on 4-5 hrs but not sure whether appropriate.

Miguel Simoes wrote:Any recommendations for how long to decant the F70?
Was planning on 4-5 hrs but not sure whether appropriate.

I go for closer to 6... 8 probably wouldn't hurt. It's a beast, even at 43 years old.

Glenn E. wrote:

Miguel Simoes wrote:Any recommendations for how long to decant the F70?
Was planning on 4-5 hrs but not sure whether appropriate.

I go for closer to 6... 8 probably wouldn't hurt. It's a beast, even at 43 years old.

8 no problem

Wow, glad I asked! Thanks guys for chiming in.

It was wonderful. Thinking I finally get all the fuss about old VP.

The finish was the best I have got out of VP yet, several notches above that of the G70 we opened over Xmas. Almond flavors along the way, long lasting.

Was surprised by the color. It was light brownish, perfectly translucid. Expected it to be of a livelier red in color, the G70 certainly was. There were tons of sediment, was impressed. The bottle was in perfect condition. No seepage, the cork was some 80% soaked and came out almost entirely in one go.

We had it at dessert w a cheesecake based birthday cake and the combo was perfect. The F70 showed a little peppery start and decent acidity that paired wonderfully w the denser/heavier cheesecake. No fruit showing anymore.

Comparing it w an aged tawny, felt less viscous in the mouth, not as stuffy in style. The flavors are similarly wonderful but the vehicle appeared a better one.

Tasting some leftover F70 side-by-side w a glass of Ferreira 20 Yr now. The Ferreira appears almost primary by comparison. Still some fruit showing on it, much sweeter, and the finish (wonderful, if a little overwhelming) only appearing a little later after swallowing it. The Fonseca though has an elegance that is wonderful - not as sweet, not as thick, almost fragile - an elegance that carries smoothly from the start in mouth to the nice long finish (still going minutes after initially wrote this paragraph). I get it now one sells in the low 40s and the other in the 120-145 range...

Makes me wonder if the $$ I spent on a case of G70 would have been better employed as down payment for a case of Fonseca 70... The Graham showed less balanced - way sweeter to begin with but the finish less strong/interesting.

Comparing to the 41 Noval Colheita, it feels like that one was able to carry a superb balance wo feeling fragile, the flavors were deep and strong.

Points wise, 95-96 for the Fonseca, 93-94 for the Graham. I'll take Roy's word for it on the 41 Noval Colheita being a 98 - I lack anything else up there on the scale for comparison.