2011 Maynard Vintage Port

[Al B.]

Decant: Not Known - Very subdued on the nose. Thick in texture with a lovely density to the palate. Plenty of sweet fruit makes itself seen before the tannins sieze hold and grip firmly. The fruit is gorgeous and mouthfilling and continues right through the long finish as a show of sour blackcurrant that accompanies the tannin's dark chocolate persistence. Enjoyable and powerful. 91-93. 91 points

[Jørgen Thomsen]

Maynard's vintage 2011

maynard2011.jpg (24.98 KiB) Viewed 170 times

I just read the 2011 Vintage Port Review from 2013 by Roy Hersh:

I’m a sucker for tannins and am less likely to be bothered by them than just about anyone I know. However, these were really quite punishing, if not over-the-top, which detracted from the overall drinking pleasure. I was left wondering if the fruit could ever live up to the challenge.

Having bought 6 bottles I became a little worried, but after just opening one bottle and pouring a glass without any decanting,
I am not at all worried any more. Now 5 years after there are still some tannins, but not at all unpleasant and unusual.
There is a lot of fruit and taste in this wine easily reaching 92 pt, which my cotasters also agree upon.
It will be interesting to see, what happens in the next couple of days.

Update:
We tasted the port for a couple of days and from the fruit-driven start it calmed down with integrated alcohol and tannins, the latter coming a litlle more forward, but not unpleasantly, just as expected from a port of this age. Our general opinion is, that this is an average vintage port, which at this stage should be drunk just out of the bottle without decanting.

Now we are continuing by tasting the 2011 Alves de Sousa which is a really interesting port (especially at USD 37,6 + 25% VAT = 47/bottle). A pity I won't be able to taste it in 30 years.