For The Love Of Port

This is the first of a brace of bottles purchased in June in a vain attempt to find something to drink while better bottles lie undisturbed for a few months longer.

The bottles are disappointingly dark and difficult to decant, but at least the bottles are moulded with the seal of Croft moulded in. The wine decanted cleanly off a fair amount of very fine sediment, typical of that currently found in the '95/'96 vintages.

As the wine decanted, it released a lovely smell of ripe blueberry fruit.

An hour after decanting, this tasting note was taken:

A mid-red colour, no hint of the purple that I was expecting. Much more of the plum red with even a slight hint of orange on the edge of the rim. On the nose it revealed sweet blueberries and blackcurrants, a bit of dustiness and some pleasant herbiness. The entry is a little hollow, but some fruit develops in the mid-palate, with sweet syrup strawberries and some pleasant acidity giving structure. The aftertaste is quite huge, but starts with too much of a burn from unintegrated alcohol before this fades to leave a fruit and chocolate flavour that fades gradually. Pleasant enough, but not a fabulous wine. Drinking now this would be a little below average but will improve over the next 5-10 years. A score (for current drinking) of 88/100 or 4/5.

Alex

i'm actually happy to hear you think this will improve alex. i'm sitting on 3 bottles, wondering when i was going to try one of them. i think i will sit on them for another 3 years or so. doesn't sound too bad though.

dave

Alex,

Thanks I got 2 bottles myself and I think I'll wait a few years before trying one.

I agree it sounds like it needs more time to fully integrate, but the description sounds attractive overall. I really have liked the '95 Roriz and '95 S-W that I've had. I haven't come across too many reviews of '95 VP's but attached is a review of '95 VP's I found buried in Roriz's website.

http://www.quintaderoriz.com/press/1998 ... 01995).pdf

Bill

To open the above link, you'll have to cut and paste the entire line onto your browser search window.

Bill

Bill,

Thanks for the link, it made for interesting reading. One particular comment caught my eye where the review of the Roeda mentioned that the finish was rather short - this was certainly not my experience. The finish on the Roeda that I am currently drinking (only around a quarter of the bottle consumed so far) was very impressive, lasting several minutes as I was standing in the kitchen washing up after dinner.

And in response to comments from Dave and Andy I would say that I am enjoying this wine right now and I'm glad I opened one. It is drinking quite nicely now but I think it will be even better in 5-10 years and may have the right ingredients to go even further with grace and attractiveness. However, I'm not sure that my other bottle will be able to wait that long!

Alex

Al,
If you're enjoying it after a day or so, you know that you can decant the next bottle longer and enjoy a really nice bottle with friends. I recommend doing an periodic Wine Searcher research for the lesser known '95 VP's. I picked up the S-W and a lot of Roriz for less than $25/bottle last year and earlier this year. There are good deals out there if you are patient and persistent.

Bill