For The Love Of Port

Friday night I hosted two fellow FTLOP'rs at my house for a dinner, some Douro dry wines, and of course, Vintage Port...with a surprise or two thrown in for good measure. It was a true pleasure to finally get to meet and share a few glasses (ok, a lot of glasses ) with Marc Jackson and Alex Rodriguez.

A great time was had that streached late into the early morning hours. It was the first offline for Alex, and hopefully there will be many more to come...as I found out he lives less than 10 miles from me....ahh, someone to drink with thats close Marc, thank you for making the drive out, I know it was a bit of a trek for you and I know we will be sharing more in the future.

I put their knowledge to the test with a couple of blind bottles thrown in for good measure...but more on that later. As I am in the middle of my work days right now, I don't have the time to get all the TN's up for another day or two, but hopefully Marc and Alex can start things off.

Marc and Alex, thanks again for a great time and it was a true pleasure to finally meet you guys in person.

Thanks Andy for hosting last weekend's offline! The evening started out with a duo of Douro table wines from Niepoort that ranked as some of the finest that I've tasted. After some fine appetizers and a nice steak our attention then turned to some serious port tasting. The lineup included Fonseca '85, Gould Campbell '83 & a Quinta Do Noval '95. The tasting notes are on the way, but this evening offered us the opportunity to do some interesting comparisions of the various ports before us. After we had tasted the Gould Cambell, Fonseca & Noval Andy pulled a fast one and broke out a couple of bagged wines that each of us evaluated blind - more on that later on! After the fortification portion of the evening was over we viewed some very interesting images of the Douro. Without a doubt a GREAT time was had by all!!!

Looking foward to the TNs. Does this mean you are going to join Andy on what is shaping up to be an amazing 2007 Harvest Tour?

Roy Hersh wrote:Looking foward to the TNs. Does this mean you are going to join Andy on what is shaping up to be an amazing 2007 Harvest Tour?

Roy,
I am twisting his arm hard......

Oh No! Does this mean that you are also going to be a two timer on the tour?? :twisted:

-Dave-

dspriggs wrote:Oh No! Does this mean that you are also going to be a two timer on the tour?? :twisted:

-Dave-

Yeah, that is the plan :twisted:

David, I guess you will just have to go a third time!

Seriously though, we should have an offline here in NorCal. I don't have any extra beds at Casa de Powers, but I do have a couch and an ocean-front hotel about 3/4 mile from my house. We could start with a Douro red or two and move on to some nice ports (or just stick with the ports). Andy could drive (5 hours if he has the special ID on his plate which will prevent the CHP from pulling him over, 6-7 otherwise) or fly up.

It's been a while for me, but we could always go surfing to work off those hangovers the next morning . Maybe Derek, Tom, and Alex can fly in just for the fun of telling us how cheap Port is in the UK (which I will gladly accept if they bring the proper offering of cheap UK port with them). Then we will surf circles around them the next morning and they can depart hungover and shamed

PM me

Jay

I'm thinking about the 2007 Harvest Tour! From all accounts it was an amazing experience and one that should not be missed.

OK, the hand is doing better so I can type more than a few one handed sentences. Here are the TN's from the dinner....

For the appetizers, I started with the 2005 Niepoort Tiara: I didn't take any formal notes on this one as I've had it several times before. It is always a very nice crisp and acidic white that just goes down so easy, and this was no exception. Citrus notes and a medium finish make this quite the refreshing starter. 90 points

As we moved into the main meal (where my motor-mouth got me in a bit of trouble with the grill ) I served the 2001 Niepoort Redoma: This was decanted about one hour prior to dinner. This was the first major Portuguese dry wine purchase that I made, and after drinking this, I was glad I got them. Still very dark color and a nose that was just great and reminded me of some Bordeaux that I've had (which isnt much). Lots of cedar, tobacco, some very nice drying tannins, the acidity on this was starting to drop out and it finished with a medium/long finish. This really seemed to be right about its apex and will hold here for about 2 more years. If you've got some, I'd slowly start drinking them and enjoy. 92 points.

Now the fun began, and why everyone was over. The first up was the 1995 Noval VP. This was decanted about 2 1/2 hours prior to drinking. It was just starting to show its age on the rim with a little bit of bricking. The nose was showing more mature nuances and a lot of alcohol. Some Eucalyptus, grape, darker berry notes, on a very hot palate. The finish was relatively short. This was obviously suffering from to short a decant. I had some left over and tried it over the next three days. Day 2 was much better and the alcohol had integrated much better. But it was obvious that this was a mid-term drinker and is just now starting its drinking window and will be there for the next 8-12 years. 86 on Friday, and upgraded to 90 points on day 2.

Next up was the 1983 Gould Campbell VP : I decanted this for about 8 hours by the time we started on it. We all agreed it was not corked, but the nose and palate was not giving up much. THere was no signs of fading or bricking and this was no where near showing its 24 years of age. On the palate the fruit was subdued but no showing much in the way of mature fruit flavors yet. We wondered if this was just still very tight, as the color and lack of mature fruit seemed to indicate this. There was tons of tannins and acidity in this and it had a long finish. I tried this on day 2 and it had opened up some, showing a little bright fruit, but still not what other recent reviews of this have mentioned. I didn't score this I feel this was an off-bottle and will have to open another to compare it too.

Then we moved on to the 1985 Fonseca VP: Decanted 3 hours. Very dark with no signs of age at all. Black berry and mahogany nose. This was a full-bodied wine on the palate, just filling the mouth with big tannins and acid (but very balanced), grape jolly rancher, dark blackberrys and a ultra long finish. This was so punshing to drink due to the tannins and due to such a short decant and needs lots more time in the cellar. A great wine and one of the best examples of a 1985 VP that I've had. 95 Points.

Now the fun began. I figured I would put the guys to the test and I brought out two bagged Ports. The first was a 2000 Fonseca LBV: Not decanted, but the bottle was opened about 4 hours prior. The nose had some faint grape and blueberry, with some excessive heat showing. THe palate was a bit simple and drying, but pleasant berries and a medium/short finish. I'm not a big fan of Fonseca LBV's, as to me, they seem a bit too simple and this was no different. I gave it 86 points that night. However, I am just now having a couple glasses of the bit that remained. The heat has finally started to subside allowing the fruit to show better. I'd give it a 87 today.

The final blind Port was one that I knew they had never tried and I knew they would never guess it...but they were in for a rare treat...a 1964 Krohns Colheita Branco : This is a white Port Colheita. I've only heard of two others, and only tried one other (although I'm sure there are probably a few more out there). This was decanted about 10 hours. Very pale orange with a slight redish hints in it. Nose of honeysuckle, nuts, apricot, and orange blossoms. The palate was very thick and just filled the mouth with apricot, walnuts, cedar, honey, carmel, and a touch of residual sugar showing. It was very well balanced and complex, with a very long finish. I must say this improved by leaps from the small sample I tried 10 hours earlier when i opened it. My recommendation is to decant this for at least 8-10 hours before for it to show its best. Although not up the very impressive Dalva, it is still a solid 93 points.

By now it was very early in the am and it was time for the guys to head home. I can't thank Marc and Alex enough for coming over on short notice and it was great to meet more people from this forum.

The Postman must have lost my invitation to the offline at Casa de Velebil!

:)

Sorry , but this literally was last minute....like 4-5 days prior