Dalva 20yr

[Tom Archer]

OK, I'm joining the fray with a curious bottle. I decanted it a few minutes ago, there was a modest smudge of sediment.

Dalva has never been a top league brand, but this bottle was filled in 1976 - so it's had 20 years or so in wood, and a further 30 in glass!

And the bottle was a present, which makes it even sweeter!

- So I'm tackling the juice of the fifties here....

First off and very prominant is one flavour. Fudge.

In fact , this is so dominant that there's really not a lot else to say, - on the nose, palate and finish this is liquid fudge - smooth, civilised and very quaffable.

It is just a little more aggressive than one expects from a 20yr, but overall this is a grand bottle to indulge..

.. I won't be 'doing a Derek', but it won't last long..!

Tom

[Derek T.]

.. I won't be 'doing a Derek', but it won't last long..!

Tom

Oh well, at least I now have a world-wide reputation for something

Tom, I know it must be difficult to be certain but would you say that this wine had changed significantly in the bottle over 30 years. I ask because I have 5 or 6 bottles of aged tawny from the 70's and had assumed that they would now be dead and not worth opening.

Derek

[Frederick Blais]

Interesting note Tom, you may want to put it in the main Virtugal Tasting topic of the month.

http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... php?t=1701

[Tom Archer]

Sorry Fred - still it's in the right neck of the woods...

Derek,

The post bottling evolution of Tawny's intrigues me.

I am absolutely certain that the mantra 'they don't improve after bottling' has been copied and repeated by writers who have not troubled to find out whether it is true or not.

I am almost as certain that 10yr tawny's DO improve.

Beyond that, my experiance is too thin to be certain.

However, I do have a hunch that after old wines go into decline, they eventually re-invent themselves - when have you heard someone say that a century old bottle was undrinkable?

~~~

I have not wolfed this bottle quite as quickly as I expected, which is as well. It has now gone from a rather murky fudge liquor - very drinkable, but of no great standing - to a clear and very civilised wine.

~~~

I recently saw a piece on TV when a person who presumed expertise, stated that giving red wine air was pointless, as the same could be achieved by swirling the wine in your glass.

If there's one thing I've learned over the last year, it's that entraining air does not give instant results - the chemical reaction is a slow one, and fascinating to observe..

Tom