For The Love Of Port

On Friday will be opening the following:

1960 Martinez
1980 Dow
1977 Quarles Harris
Croft 20 Year but bottled in c.1988

We will be tasting these at 7:30 in the evening. I could open them 12 hours before (before work) or at 5:00 pm (2.5 hours before). Based on the TNs it would say Dos & QH in the morning (Glenn specifically cites a longer decant for the QH)...for the Martinez I lean towards the 5:00 pm/2.5 hours choice. Not sure about the tawny at all.

Any thoughts?..thanks.

Can you decant at lunch?

Otherwise I'd be in the camp of 12 hours for the QH and Dow and 2 hours for the others.

I could probably swing lunch.

[quote="John M."]I could probably swing lunch.[/quoted]
If so, then I'd decant the 77 and 80 at lunch. The other two a couple hours prior.


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I haven't had the D80 recently, but at last experience 8-12 hours would be good. It's a beast of a Port. I'd do it before work.

QH77 ... at lunch would probably work. At least 6 hours, as I recall, and 8 or more is even better. I last had it a year or two ago with the QH94 and QH11. Fun times. It did seem to need a surprisingly long decant for a second tier 77.

Martinez and Tawny after work. A couple hours should be sufficient for each.

I'm with Glenn on his decanting windows.

Sorry I am late to see this:

1960 Martinez - 2 hours at most.
1980 Dow - 10 hours
1977 Quarles Harris - 8 hours
Croft 20 Year but bottled in c.1988 - 60-90 minutes.

Roy Hersh wrote:Sorry I am late to see this:

1960 Martinez - 2 hours at most.
1980 Dow - 10 hours
1977 Quarles Harris - 8 hours
Croft 20 Year but bottled in c.1988 - 60-90 minutes.

Thanks. That's good because I could not go home for lunch. Opened the Dow & QH so they'll be 11-12. The others 2 hours or less.

Thank you everyone.

Please do let us know how they show. The 1980 Dow's, IF it is in exc. condition, should be a showstopper!

Roy Hersh wrote:Please do let us know how they show. The 1980 Dow's, IF it is in exc. condition, should be a showstopper!

Now this is odd....my usual decanting for a Port Club night is to decant back into the bottle, which I did. But on the initial decant I pull the funnel with the gauze out for that last couple tablespoons that's usually chock full of sediment and let it drip into a glass. I usually take a small sip of these dregs right away to test for any flaws. Then I'll save it and an hour or two before the meeting I will taste the dregs again. When I tasted the 1980 Dows it was deep red and quite lovely....by -1 hours before event it had opened up nicely and seemed ideal. But here is where it gets odd---at the tasting the port coming out of the bottle was not crimson--it was more brown and decidedly oxidized---it did not taste the same as the dregs I had had an hour before--not even close. Clearly falwed. I've never had that happen before where the dregs were different than the main bottle and this was drastic.

Any ideas?

John M. wrote:

Roy Hersh wrote:Please do let us know how they show. The 1980 Dow's, IF it is in exc. condition, should be a showstopper!

Now this is odd....my usual decanting for a Port Club night is to decant back into the bottle, which I did. But on the initial decant I pull the funnel with the gauze out for that last couple tablespoons that's usually chock full of sediment and let it drip into a glass. I usually take a small sip of these dregs right away to test for any flaws. Then I'll save it and an hour or two before the meeting I will taste the dregs again. When I tasted the 1980 Dows it was deep red and quite lovely....by -1 hours before event it had opened up nicely and seemed ideal. But here is where it gets odd---at the tasting the port coming out of the bottle was not crimson--it was more brown and decidedly oxidized---it did not taste the same as the dregs I had had an hour before--not even close. Clearly falwed. I've never had that happen before where the dregs were different than the main bottle and this was drastic.

Any ideas?

Brown color would generally indicate oxidized. Cork failure?

The cork was saturated so probably yes (no SOS). But why was the small pour just fine while the bottle was not?

John M. wrote:The cork was saturated so probably yes (no SOS). But why was the small pour just fine while the bottle was not?

Just guessing here, but maybe the dregs helped with some strength to cover up the oxidation?

John M. wrote:Now this is odd....my usual decanting for a Port Club night is to decant back into the bottle, which I did. But on the initial decant I pull the funnel with the gauze out for that last couple tablespoons that's usually chock full of sediment and let it drip into a glass. I usually take a small sip of these dregs right away to test for any flaws. Then I'll save it and an hour or two before the meeting I will taste the dregs again. When I tasted the 1980 Dows it was deep red and quite lovely....by -1 hours before event it had opened up nicely and seemed ideal. But here is where it gets odd---at the tasting the port coming out of the bottle was not crimson--it was more brown and decidedly oxidized---it did not taste the same as the dregs I had had an hour before--not even close. Clearly falwed. I've never had that happen before where the dregs were different than the main bottle and this was drastic.

Any ideas?

That's very strange. I assume you rinsed the bottle before re-filling it? Is it possible that some small amount of water remained in the bottle, and that somehow something in your local water caused the wine to spoil?

(Grasping at straws, because really nothing makes sense given the fact that the dregs glass was fine.)

I have never seen this--the bottle was well rinsed. Likely a few droplets of water but so has every other bottle I've ever decanted this way. Think its going to remain a mystery.