For The Love Of Port

I'm planning on opening one of each of these this weekend for my b-day. Very much looking forward to both bottles and want to make sure I get close on the decant time so they're showing their best.

Now, I've seen Roy's general suggestions for VP decant before (though don't have them handy) and have also been reading with great interest past notes on both of these bottles. Since I'm a matter of a couple days away from opening, I thought it might be wise to get a last minute opinion from fellow Port lovers who may have had either or both bottles very recently.

My current plan is to open both on Thursday for post dinner enjoyment with good friends. I'll likely pour a small glass or two worth of each into a 375 to try again on Friday. I'm mainly concerned with that Thursday after dinner experience, but am also curious what you think these might be like on Friday after a day in the fridge in a 375.

How are these both drinking right now? Suggestions on decant time? How are those Friday glasses likely to drink?

Thanks!

The late Bruce Guimaraens (who was the winemaker for both of these wines) said to decant a bottle of port in the morning when you plan to drink it after dinner. For these ports, I think you can stick to this rule. The Taylor's might be better the second day when it's from a pristine bottle, but if not there's the risk of spoiling it. I wouldn't take that risk.

Mike,

My suggestion is to decant for sediment and then fill each wine into a 375 up to the cork and refrigerate immediately. If you do so and then on the second day allow the wine to rethermalize to close to room temperature, you will not perceive virtually any difference in VPs of this quality and young age.

The Fonseca 1977 is not the powerhouse that Taylor is at this point. I would decant the Fonseca for 7-8 hours and the Taylor for 10. Please report back with TNs/impressions and we'll always go out of our way to assist you in the future. I hope your bottles show beautifully!

Thanks for the advice! Definite tasting notes after the weekend for both bottles. I have small concerns about one of the bottle's condition, but the place I got it from (last year) told me that if there was a problem they would take care of it.

I'd be posting more TNs on a regular basis, but frankly haven't been drinking as much Port lately. Since my best friend is under doc's orders to consume less alcohol than usual, we've been drinking more non-fortified wines and less Port. Once he's off the meds, there should be a few more deliciously fortified bottles opened to report on

Mike,

Have a happy birthday....and where do you say you lived, just in case I am in the area, I'll be more than happy to sample the bottles to make sure they are up to snuff

Please do post some TN's and let us know how things went.

Andy, I didn't realize that I needed to put location into another field in my profile to make it show up in the forum. Changed that. I'm up in Ann Arbor, MI, where it's 65 and sunny today, but is calling for 40s and snow tomorrow!

Thanks for the b-day wishes! I hope to be able to try these bottles again on another birthday. For now, it's just one of each. I'm excited!

Visits up my way are always welcome....

Roy Hersh wrote:I would decant the Fonseca for 7-8 hours ...

This is pretty much my experience with a recent bottle. At 7 hours there was still a touch of unintegrated spirit and it didn't seem to blossom. At 9 hours all was well (actually, superb! :) ).