For The Love Of Port

Steve recently posted a tasting note on a Grahams '85 that he drank over Christmas. Steve finished his note by making a comment that since this was the wine that had given him the port bug he was glad that he had not drunk this particular bottle back then.

This was my New Years Eve port. By the time we finally got through all the other wines, the port was decanted about 12 hours(I was planning on 8-9). A nice fruity nose not over the top, nice mouth feel with rasin, plum, chocolate and later a lot of coffee. The only major flaw was the finish which was quite short. A nice wine but nothing special. 91-92 points.

BTW, the 85 Grahams was the wine that got me into port years ago... I'm glad I didn't drink this wine back then.

I found myself wondering if Steve had been the victim of something that I have been worried might be happening to me. Did Steve have a weaker bottle of the Grahams '85 or perhaps its just that his port experience is so much more developed since that first bottle and he has now had the opportunity to experience other and more amazing VP's since that time?

For example, I took some colleagues to a restaurant before Christmas and we finished the meal with a glass of 1994 colheita. I thought the wine was very pleasant and enjoyable, but nothing that I would rush out and buy.

My two colleagues were so impressed with the colheita that after I left they stayed in the restaurant and worked their way through a bottle between them.

Sometimes I think that I am being overly critical when I score wines or write my tasting notes. What I may regard as flawed or out of balance may be a stunning revalation to someone who has not been as lucky as I have been with my opportunities to taste some amazing wines and ports.

I've also seen other people who just don't ever drink port fall in love with this type of wine after having been introduced to the style through a wine which I viewed as "hollow and overly acidic but with a lovely long aftertaste".

Does anyone else have similar experiences? Are we being too critical when we post our tasting notes?

Alex

Alex,

An interesting topic. I think I can say with some certainty that this is true for me. I spent many years drinking the occasional VP and never once remember finding anything wrong with any of them. About 3 or 4 years ago I became hooked on this stuff and started taking it more seriously. Since then I have had the opportunity to taste a great number of fabulous bottles and have also had the benefit of learning a great deal from the people here on FTLOP. When I sit down to taste (as apposed to drink) a VP now I very often find myself looking for flaws rather than simply enjoying the wine like I used to.

This is one of the reasons why I almost never take notes when drinking VP with friends as I prefer to enjoy the company and the wine rather than spending time trying to find the words to describe it and becoming unduely concerned about anything which appears to be less than perfect.

I often read notes here where the author expresses disapointment or indiference to a particular VP. I doubt very much that their experience of the wine would have been the same without the "benefit" of an educated palate and a brain full of past knowledge and expectations.

One thing that I have found is that my second experience of a great VP rarely lives up to my expectation of it. Perhaps this is because the memory (or TN) that I am using as the benchmark for the second bottle is being viewed through rose tinted glasses :?

Derek

I think anytime one gets fully immersed into a hobby they tend to get more critical as they become more experienced in that hobby. Just a natural progression when one gains experience. Little things not noticed earlier start to stand out as you learn more about it and have experienced a wide array of things.

For me, Dow's 1986 Q.d.Bofim was the one that I fell in love with at the very beginning of my Port drinking career and the first big purchase I made. I have struggled with this same question last year, as I have one bottle left and am not sure when to drink it. Not that it isn't ready, it is, but I know NOW it is not a hugh Port, just an average Single Quinta. But early in my Port drinking career this was a blockbuster for me. I am afraid if I open it I will be very disapointed by it. In the same overly critical way you speak about. Now, I'm not sure when I'll open it.

As for being too critical on our notes, no I don't think so. So long as we keep in mind what we are evaluating. You can't be as critical with a Grahams Six-Grapes as you would be with a 2000 Q.d. Noval VP. As that would be like comparing apples to oranges.

When drinking with others less knowledgeable than me, I have learned to let them lead the way as to wether they like it or not. If I don't like it or am very critical of it, and others love it, I just keep my mouth shut and let them enjoy it. You never know, that may be their epiphany into the Port world.

One thing that I have found is that my second experience of a great VP rarely lives up to my expectation of it.

Doesn't this also apply to some of the women from our past experience?

When drinking with others less knowledgeable than me, I have learned to let them lead the way as to wether they like it or not. If I don't like it or am very critical of it, and others love it, I just keep my mouth shut and let them enjoy it. You never know, that may be their epiphany into the Port world.

When tasting a Port that is in the low to mid-80 point range, I always try to single out its significant strength and include that feature in my tasting note ... to lessen the impact of the negative description. Nonetheless, the score provides the big picture and overall impression in my TNs.

I very much like Andy's approach and unless a Port is corked, rarely will speak first about a Port I am tasting with any individual or group ... unless asked.

For me, notes are really only about whether I would buy the port again, or must buy it, or would not buy it again. I do describe some features of the port in my notes, but the significant part of the note is the presence or absence of the astrix I place when I liked it enough to buy again, or the very rare two astrix (asterixes?).

When posting a tasting note in the forum, I describe it more than I would have in my notebook to give a better "universal" description, and in appreciation for others members notes, which are usefull for me, especially now that I have met many and drank the same wine at the same time with them.

Thus, my notes mostly do not interfere with my enjoyment, or with having the wine a second (or tenth) time. They are almost all "good" and enjoyable to me, some are "really good", and a very few are "Oh my God" good.

Jay

Andy V. wrote:When drinking with others less knowledgeable than me, I have learned to let them lead the way as to wether they like it or not. If I don't like it or am very critical of it, and others love it, I just keep my mouth shut and let them enjoy it. You never know, that may be their epiphany into the Port world.

This is so very true! Being the one who manages the cellar for my branch of the IWFS, the members typically look to me to judge whether something we're drinking is "good or not". This holds true for all wines, not just VP. If at all possible, I get others to speak first about the wine to get a feel for opinions. If I'm forced to be the first to comment, I will always lead off with the positive aspects of the wine (there's always at least one, unless it's corked or truly junk). If someone then brings up something on the negative side, then I can roll with that as well, always trying to keep the positive so that the folks who really like the wine feel good about their experience of drinking it.

The one thing I try to keep in mind is that people generally don't like to be contrary to vocal opinions. If someone likes the one but negative comments start flying, they'll tend to stay silent and feel detached from the group. Never a good thing. That's kind of how the concept of the "wine snob" got its start.

All the best,
John Danza