Need a little help...

[seriouscol]

Hello,

I'm a new subriscriber to this forum and fell in love with Porto wines 2 years ago...
I've tasted some nice tawnies and vintages, and now I'd like to buy higher amounts of these two ports... I've got some offers from french importers of well known Porto houses, and I'd like you to help me choose the right ones, because I have to order by cases of 6 bottles...
For tawnies, I've tasted ten and twenty years and I rather like 20 years... I tasted Infantado and did not like it (too dry) and Fonseca (found it too alcoholous in the end of mouth)...I've also tasted Niepoort 10 years and found it much more balanced but a bit too young...I'd like to have more rancio... What to think about those ones: i've read a lot af nice things about them!

Tawnies:
- Noval 20 years
- Taylor 20 years
- Niepoort 20 years
I can here buy one case

Vintages:( Tasted Noval 2000: wonderful, made me love portos..., Warre 1997: did not love it, Infantado 1997: too dry for me and some other ones...)
- Niepoort 2000/2003=> seems very well , especially 2000, Roy says
- Taylor 2003 => seems amazing but needs centuries of cellaring
- Noval 2003 (not Nacional)
- Fonseca 2003
For vintages, I can buy 2 cases

Could you please help me ??? I don't really know which ones to buy, all seem to be very nice ones...

Thanks in advance for your help :)

Regards,

David

[Al B.]

David

Welcome to the forum and the world of port. It's a great place to ask questions like the one that you have just posed.

Sadly, I can't help you with the question on the Tawnies as I rarely drink these.

I'll happily give you some of my thoughts on the Vintage Ports if you can answer one question for me - are you looking to buy these wines and drink them soon or to buy them and to store them? (If you are looking to store them, how long do you expect to store them for? When do you want to start drinking your vintage ports?)

Alex

[seriouscol]

Hello Al,

And first thanks for your answer :)

No matter for the tawnies, I hope that someone else will help me :)

I should have answered your question about vintages storage in my initial post :) sorry for that...

As I've said, I'd like to buy two cases of 6 for a beginning, and surely more year after year...

So, maybe I could buy one case to be drunk through the next 10 or 15 years, and another case to be kept in my cellar for a long time (I 'm 30 years old)...That's the reason for I had in mind to buy one case Taylor's 2003, which can be wait 20 or 30 years , and some other VP to be tasted now and be drunk through the next 10 years or more, like Fonseca, Niepoort or Noval, which are said to be sooner drinkable
It's surely the wiser way for a beginner...I' also want to have fun and pleasure now :)
Of course, if you thing that it isn't the right way, just tell me what you think :)

I hope this answer will help you for responding me... Just one last thing: I apoplogize for my poor english... Sadly, I can't do better...

[Al B.]

David

Thanks for the additional information and please don't worry about your English, it is perfectly good enough for us to inderstand you.

It is actually quite difficult for me to give you any solid advice because I have not tried very many of the wines from 2003. Although I own some of them, I have only tried the Noval 2003 from the ones that you have listed - which I thought was a fantastic wine (and I also thought the 2000 was fantastic). I would happily buy 6 of these for maturing over the next 20-30 years.

Its a little more difficult when thinking what to suggest for drinking over the next 15 years while waiting for the Noval to mature. The 2000 ports have shut down now and have a lost a lot of the initial fat fruit that made them attractive in their early youth and the danger is that the 2003 ports will do that quite soon. However, if you go for one of the ports designed for earlier drinking or one of the current releases of Single Quinta ports, you may find that this effect is not as bad as it might be otherwise. Examples would be Noval's Silval port from the most recent year you can find or something like the recently released Taylor's Vargellas from 1998. You could also buy some unfiltered LBV ports to drink while you wait for your vintage ports to mature - Warre and Noval make some very good unfiltered LBVs.

However, I should also make a plug for the port that is my personal favourite - Quinta do Vesuvio. These are ports that are extremely fine and are certainly approachable in their youth but are better left for a good few years if they are to be experienced at their peak.

I hope this helps you with some thoughts, but one of the best things you can do is to find a group of people who also like port and sample as many different ports as you can at tastings and offlines. This way, you will get to learn other ports you like and dislike and can start to develop a buying strategy that fits your pocket, your objectives and your preferences. Another good thing is to read as much of the past postings on this site as you can, and make sure that your profile and registration contains your real name and an indication of where you are in the world so that people near you can include you in events that are organised.

Alex

[Kris Henderson]

Hi David,

I've tasted both the Taylor and Fonseca 20 year Tawny. I would guess that if you didn't like the Fonseca 20 year tawny, you won't like the Taylor 20 year tawny. I've also tasted the Niepoort 10 year but not the 20 year. I would expect the Niepoort 20 year to have just what you're looking for. The 20 year old tawnies have a more of a woodsy, nutty, slight oxidation flavor than the 10 year old tawnies. I have not tried the Noval 20 year tawny but their Colheita's are very good so the Noval tawny is probably a safe bet.

For vintages, you mentioned you want to buy one case for near term drinking and one case for longer term drinking. The 2003 Taylor will no doubt be spectacular in 20 or 30 years. For near term, are you able to get anything from the 80's or early 90's? These drink well now but will also easily age 10 to 20 years. 1994 Dow, 1985 Fonseca, 1994 Graham, 1985 Graham are Ports I've had that drink well now and will provide pleasure over the next 10 to 15 years.

Kris

[Jay Powers]

For the 20-year tawnys, I do not like the Fonseca either. The Niepoort is much better to my mind, and you might consider the Sandeman 20-year as well. I might not buy an entire case at once, if you want them freshest they are typically botled every single year.

For aging, of the VP's you mentioned I would go with the Niepoort 2000, which is a very very nice port (but as Alex says, might be closed now). You might also consider the Vesuvio 97/00/03, Grahams 00 is a fantastic port as well.

For drinking over the next 10-15 years the choices are huge. Grahams 94, 85, 70, and 66; Vesuvio 94 (buy two cases...one to drink now-15 years, and one to drink 15-30 years!), Fonseca 85, Warre 94 (cheaper but very nice), Dow 94, Martinez 94...the list goes on and on.

Hope that helps.

Jay

[Frederick Blais]

For the tawnies I can't think of one in the selection that has rancio flavors, Noval is probably the less sweet though.

For the VP, if you liked a lot the Noval 2000, got for Noval 2003 and Fonseca 2003. Both you aged superb and are great at the moment if you'd like to sip them when young.

[Todd Pettinger]

For the VP, if you liked a lot the Noval 2000, got for Noval 2003 and Fonseca 2003. Both you aged superb and are great at the moment if you'd like to sip them when young.

I would concur with Fred's assessment of the Noval '03. It is fantastic... huge dark fruit, concentrated, opulent mouthfeel, unbelievable length. I would like to buy at least one case of the Noval '03. I can recommend it very much if your price is good where you come from.

Todd