1977 Dow Vintage Port

[Mike C]

Hello all, from Santa Fe, at 7,000 ft! I've just come upon this site and have been appreciating your collective wisdom and experience. I've been enjoying port for years now, and, while I can't match many here in terms of breadth and (particularly) depth of experience--not to mention wallet!--it seemed like a good idea to join.

Presently I own less than a dozen bottles, but am an opportunistic buyer when the price is right. The nicest port I have are 3 bottles of '94 Fonseca and another 3 of '94 Taylor. These are to be drunk at my daughters' college graduations and weddings. The first such event will be in about 15 years from now.

On to the title of this message. Visiting my parents in Connecticut for Christmas, while helping retrieve wrapped presents from their undisclosed location on Christmas Eve (...all right, it was a chilly downstairs storage closet), I unearthed an opened bottle of this '77. It had a cork rammed into it and looked to contain about a cup of fluid. My father must have opened it some time ago and then forgotten it.

I pulled out the cork and sniffed. A wave of intense alcohol hissed its way into my nose. With some disappointment, I resolved to revisit the situation the next day. I loosely re-corked it and continued the present-fetching. Given it already seemed shot, what harm could another 12 hours do...?

Next day. I went back down and secured the bottle. Brought it to the kitchen and decanted it. First surprise: the port was a deep amber color--nothing like what I expected. It was the color of dark honey; or maybe a fine small-batch bourbon. It took a long time to strain all the gunk.

Then I just let it sit around for a few hours in a Pyrex measuring cup. Interestingly, the strong alcohol odor was gone.

I have drunk some perfectly good port in my just-40 years. A '63 Cockburn; various 77s, 83s, 85s and so on. I mention this only to provide some perspective on the following. That port, sitting in its Pyrex cup, was the best port I ever had.

It was fantastically smooth, like velvety, mellow fire in my mouth. The flavor was powerful without being even a little edgy--wonderfully fruity and mellow. It finished like a dream, leaving potent flavor in my mouth and nose without even a hint of harshness. I could not believe that not only had this wine survived its unknown time in the storage room, it seemed to have thrived there. Every sip was literally amazing.

So, I guess you never can tell for sure, This wonderful, powerful, robust wine we have chosen to admire has the strength and durability to endure, and far better, even in conditions far from perfect. Cheers!

[Ted D]

Fascinating!

I've got a Mag of the 77 - no hurry obviously.

I expect to be totally bald in 30 or so years - and shall open it then!

Ted

[Roy Hersh]

Mike,

Great first posting. Welcome to the FTLOP website and we are glad you are not just one of those "lurkers" out there. This was a fun post and now it is time to see if you have a good sense of humor.

The title should be changed to Christmas Miracles. Reading it, I was reminded of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, where at the end, George says:
"Every time you hear the bells an angel gets his wings."

OK, so I have had my fun welcoming you to the website and now to hopefully offer you some insight.

The Dow '77 had oxidized in the bottle and that is why the color faded to Tawny. Although the tawny color may be derived (in a Port) from contact with the cask, it is also due to oxygen in the pipe as well.

Dow 1977 is a brash deeply extracted color normally (today) and typically shows very young. By recorking though, I believe the wine oxidized and became very smooth in texture, maintaining its acidity and residual sugar, while becoming a tawny like Port. I have experienced this with some bottles in my basement (not cellar) that were decanted and an ounce or two was left in the bottle with the dregs. I have had a look at them on rare occasions, even revisiting a VP from 1912 to see what the dregs were like nearly a year after drinking the bottle originally. I did not have the fantastic experience you did and would count yourself as a very fortunate person and one who must lead a very clean life. :o

All joking aside, thanks for the posting and we really are glad to have you join us!

[Andy Velebil]

Mike,

Welcome to the FTLOP and I am very glad you are here posting. A great first post that was a fun read.