For The Love Of Port

I am pouring a tasting of 1985 vintage Port from my cellar for a tasting group I belong to. I was looking for any information on 1985 as a whole, as well as any specific information on the producers or tasting notes for the following ports:
Barros
Burmester
Calem
Delaforce & Sons
Dow's
Fonseca
Gould Cambell
Grahams
Hutcheson
Messias, Quinta do Cachao
Offley Boa Vista
Quinta Do Noval
Quinta Do Noval Nacional
Rocha
Smith Woodhouse
Taylor's
Warres

I am also looking for interesting ideas on "nibbles" to serve during the tasting. I am open to any help or suggestions

Thank you all in advance........

Mark,

That's one heck of a selection of '85's you've got there. I'm very impressed by your cellar.

I drank a bottle of the Noval (not the Nacional) 85 in February this year and I was very impressed with it. Unfortunately, I can't find my tasting note but I do remember that it was so, so smooth.

Roy's tasting notes on the website cover Fonseca, Andresen, Noval Nacional and Souza. His recently posted (and seemingly controversial) Vintage Quality Chart rates 1985 as a 3 star very good year.

I don't have any of my reference books with me so can't help you on the question of the vintage generally. I never did have a memory that would allow me to remember the details of the weather each year and it certainly hasn't got any better over the last few years!

I'd be very interested to read your tasting notes once you have held your tasting.

Alex

From http://www.warre.com/:

WARRE’S 1985 VINTAGE PORT.
Warre’s Vintages are drawn from vineyards in the Rio Torto and Pinhão valleys of the Alto Douro where Warre’s have been making and buying wines from farmers for centuries. In some of these Quintas the wine continues to be made by the time honoured traditional method of foot treading in granite “lagares” which produces first class Port. A substantial part of the final lote or blend came from Warre’s own Quinta da Cavadinha.

GRAPE VARIETIES:
The grapes used in the production of Warre’s 1985 Vintage were a blend of traditional Portuguese varieties from the Douro Valley, such as Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz, and Tinto Cão.

VINIFICATION:
Warre’s 1985 Vintage underwent fermentation with natural yeast at between 24-28ºc. Once the must had fermented to the desired degree of sweetness (usually within 48 hours), fortification took place with grape brandy at 77% v/v (generally 80% must / 20% brandy).

AGEING:
Warre’s 1985 Vintage was aged in seasoned oak casks for some 24 months before being bottled without any filtration or fining.

TASTING NOTES:
Dark ruby colour. This elegant wine has a characteristic Warre flowery nose, with tremendous backbone and a rich complexity of balanced fruit on the palate. Its solidity shows it to be a lasting Vintage.

Does that help?

You can also go to The Vintage Port Site for further information on other the Symington Ports (Dow's, Gould Campbell, Graham's and Smith Woodhouse).

Cheers,
Jason

From the Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman website:

VINTAGE 1985

Notes on viticultural year and harvest
The 1985 vintage was preceded by an exceptionally cold, wet winter, with night temperatures at Pinhão well below freezing point between the 7th and 15th January. Bud burst took place early in April and flowering around the end of May. Berry set was excellent, and the young bunches perfectly formed. The summer was hot throughout the regions, with no rainfall during July and August. Picking began early at Vargellas and other Taylor vineyards in the Upper Douro Valley, the grapes having generally reached maturity by 15th September. Picking took place under clear skies, with mild, warm days and cool nights. The grapes were
healthy and evenly ripened, giving well-balanced must with high sugar levels. The cool night temperatures helped to produce long, even fermentations, allowing the musts to be well worked and producing rich, aromatic full-bodied wines with magnificent depth of colour and firm tannic structure. By the close of the harvest it was apparent that the year had produced wines of exceptional quality in all areas of the Douro and there was justified optimism among the shippers as to the prospects of a
declaration.

Tasting Notes – 25/05/2000
Deep ruby – purple inky colour. Powerful ripe berry fruit aromas. Excellent balance and complexity. Delightful fresh intensity. Big, full bodied, well structured palate. Intense mixture of rich dark fruits, liquorice and spice. Superb depth and richness. Good long finish.

Similar information is available from the Fonseca website.

Hope this helps . . .

Cheers,
Jason

Burmester

Porto Barros

Porto Calem

Delaforce (Note: This is done by Kobrand, their US importer)

Quinta do Noval

Can't find websites for Barros, Burmester, Hutcheson, Messias, Offley or Porto Rocha.

Cheers,
Jason

Hi Mark - I'm working on an '85 Quinta do Noval this week and it's pretty darn fine, perhaps leaning toward a more finesseful style of port.....it took a good day to really unwind, and on day two showed its best. Still not quite at peak, but getting closer, depending of course on how mature you like your port.....perhaps 89 very enjoyable points (that's great port in my view).

I've also opened 750's of the '85 Gould Campbell and Graham over the past year, and both were really wonderful, much bigger and forceful than the QdN, and in my view noticably better quality....the Graham borders on fantastic!

Enjoy what sounds to be a wonderful tasting.

Mark,

You must be very popular in your tasting group.

Make sure you decant the Dow '85 at least 24, preferably 36 hours, before tasting. Once it has opened out this is a full and lovely wine. Insufficient decanting leaves it pretty unsatisfying.

John

My most recent notes, all blind as that's the way I think the best objective view is gained....

Taylor ‘85

Good mid depth ruby. Spicy, slightly warm cherry/walnut/coffee nose. Lovely entry of coffee and spice, but then a bit too much alcohol. Powerful fruit and alcoholic finish. 89+? Not sure, this one might never balance out for me.

Dow ‘85

Nail varnish remover. Yuck, undrinkable. Flawed bottle for certain.

Warre ‘85

Cherry liquorice nose; good curranty fruit – some VA but adds lift. Sweet, slightly high toned fruit on palate with a warm, slightly peppery finish. 85

Grahams ‘85

Spicy, tea/coffee nose – real Christmas cake development - very attractive; lovely entry, complex plum/fruitcake palate, good warming rich sweet fruit finish. Lovely 93+ Surely the Grahams?

Fonseca ‘85

Youthful colour – primary black fruits – even some jamminess apparent. Slightly spirity plum jam fruit. Very young; full, rich full bodied fruit. Long – needs time but seriously impressive. 95+ Is this the Fonseca then?

Here are a few other websites where you might get some info that was not in Jason's list:

Dow's
Fonseca
Gould Cambell
Grahams
Hutcheson - Part of Barros
Messias, Quinta do Cachao
Offley Boa Vista
Rocha - Part of Barros
Smith Woodhouse
Taylor's
Warres

The only '85 that I have had on your list to date was the Rocha, I will omit the tasting note as it did not show well at all, but then again it was from a half bottle of dubious provenance.

--------------------------
Kevin B. Kelly
A Port Enthusiast

Mark,

I opened & drank a bottle of '85 Warre's 4 weeks ago with friends. It was double decanted for 3 hours and was prefectly mature. It was quite tasty at at its peak, IMHO!

Good luck with the tasting.

Nicos