Your biggest Port/Madeira/Douro wine discovery in 2006

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 8:46 am

Saw this on another forum and thought it was a great topic....

"Just curious ... I mean some wine experience which came unexpected, something which enriched - not necessarily changed - your personal wine world, something which made you say "wow, I didn't know that and it is so good" ..."

Mine is the 1952 Dalva "Golden White" Colheita Port. I had never even heard of a white Colheita Port before that night, on October 1, 2006. WOW, it blew my mind.

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:23 am

something which enriched - not necessarily changed - your personal wine world

Well, I could mention something, but Alex and Derek are already green with envy, so perhaps not...

Tom

Kurt Wieneke · Post by **Kurt Wieneke** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:28 pm

Perhaps the greatest port discovery for me this year was the 1987 Graham's Malvedos, which demonstrated how good a SQVP can really be - that is to say, at or above the level of Vintage Port. It also made me realize that VP's from so-called "off vintages" can have a darker, less-raisined flavor profile that I really like.

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:25 am

Douro Dry Red wines tasted on the tour in October done it for me - I can't stop buying Sainsbury's "Douro" (produced by Q d Crasto) at £6.99

As far as I can remember I had not had a Douro red before the trip and can't remember tasting one I did not like. If it hadn't been for the trip I would probably never have bought any of these and would have missed out on a great QPR wine.

Derek

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:19 am

Glossing quickly over Tom's unmentionable discovery, my vinous discovery for 2006 was discovering just how good some of the absolute top end vintage ports can become with 30-50 years of bottle age. I've never tried old Naçionals with that sort of bottle age before and its unlikely that I will have the chance to do so again in my lifetime, so that was my discovery for 2006.

A close second (believe it or not) was finding out just how good old, bottle aged Crusted Port or old, bottle aged traditional LBV's can become.

Alex

Frederick Blais · Post by **Frederick Blais** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:27 am

Great Topic!

I'll pick one and say it's the Touriga Nacional 2003 from Quinta do Crasto. Before this year I had never try anything above the reserva from this producer and the quality of this wine just blew me away. Not often I drink the same wine twice in the same month from my cellar and this was a rare exception.

Philip Harvey · Post by **Philip Harvey** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:59 am

Agreed, great topic. I have had a great time this year buying and drinking ports from lesser years (eg 1980, 1982 etc) and have had some very pleasant surprises - Ferreira 1982 sticks in my mind - and has served as a reminder of the maxim that 'there's no such thing as a bad vintage port'.

Eric Duprey · Post by **Eric Duprey** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:39 pm

I'd have to agree with Alex. My own tendency was to drink my VP's between 15 and 20 years of age, and on the trip I had my first opportunity to get a fuller picture of the aging cycle from lagar to cask to bottle and from young to old. Now I'm beginning to think I've been drinking them a bit too young for my taste. I was blown away by some of the 1970 VP's and the even older colheitas we had. I especially want to try more colheitas from the 50's, 60's and 70's.