For The Love Of Port

I came across a bottle of 2007 Dow's crusted port on a store shelf today. I've never seen a crusted in the wild, let alone try it. Is this something awesome I need to try? Or just another LBV with a name not generally used in the US?

Cheers

Buy it. I generally like Crusted more than LBV and Dow makes a both pretty well (especially Crusted).

So long as it's not overly expensive, buy it and try it. That way you can at least experience what a Crusted is like, whatever the experience ends up being. The best part of this hobby is trying as much as you can.

Thanks guys. I believe it was $29. I'll grab one and try it this weekend.

Keep in mind that 2007 is the bottling vintage. The port is made up a various vintages mixed together. Not a bad price at $29 for one or two. Will they do case discounts?

Moses Botbol wrote:Keep in mind that 2007 is the bottling vintage. The port is made up a various vintages mixed together. Not a bad price at $29 for one or two. Will they do case discounts?

Thanks Moses. I'll need to check how much they have in stock and then if they offer any volume discount.

Mike K. wrote:I came across a bottle of 2007 Dow's crusted port on a store shelf today. I've never seen a crusted in the wild, let alone try it. Is this something awesome I need to try? Or just another LBV with a name not generally used in the US?

The scale isn't completely linear, but Crusted sort of fits between LBV and Vintage Port. It's rare enough that it's hard to give a solid answer that applies to all companies, though. As I recall, Crusted is a blend of 3 consecutive vintages and the date on the bottle is the bottling year. Which in this case means that the vintages are probably, though not at all guaranteed to be, 2003, 2004, and 2005. 2003 was fully declared and 2005 was partially declared, so that blend should be really good.

For $29 it should be a really good bargain. Give it a try and post a TN for the rest of us to see!

I've had the Dow Crusted 4 times, 2 each of 2002 and 2004. They have always shown rather well...treat decant times like a VP. Since this is young so I'd say 6-12 hours. My notes include comments about could be aged more so what not get two and set one aside for a few years.

By IVDP regulations, they must be a blend of at least two vintages.

These Ports do their best to emulate the style of Vintage Port. Well made examples age well. A group of FTLOP'ers that converged in LA at the end of last year, tried a bottling of 1929 Cockburn's Crusted and it showed very nicely for its age.

Typically, Dow and nowadays Quevedo are just about the only Crusted Ports found in the USA with any regularity.

Have never seen a crusted port in montreal

Roy Hersh wrote:By IVDP regulations, they must be a blend of at least two vintages.

While the current regulation issued in 2006 does say that Crusted Port should be a blend of different years to get complimentary organoleptic characteristics, there are some examples before the regulation of where the "blend" has been from a single harvest. Cockburn's 1977 was originally sealed with corks branded "Crusted 1977" and Noval produced a few crusted ports in the 1960s which were single vintage wines - 1961 comes to mind.

There are only a handful of producers making crusted ports these days, but long may this tradition continue. Crusted ports are delicious things to drink, I opened and really enjoyed a Graham Crusted bottled 1985 last week.

Off the top of my head, in the last few years I have seen crusted port from Churchill, Dow, Fonseca, Graham (the choice of the supermarkets in the UK) and Niepoort. I think Quevedo also make one, but I've not seen this in the UK. Any other current producers of crusted port which people know of?

When was the last Taylor Crusted?

This is one of the categories that should be promoted and evolved by the industry. So much potential and story behind it is convincing.

I have consumed the Quevedo, so it definitely exists.

Roy Hersh wrote:I have consumed the Quevedo, so it definitely exists.

i have a bottle right now, waiting to do a Quevedo vertical tasting. i happened to try it this winter and loved it.

Alex,

I think that on the Port Harvest Tour of 2006, we had a 1962 Crusted Port together at Noval.

Roy Hersh wrote:Alex,

I think that on the Port Harvest Tour of 2006, we had a 1962 Crusted Port together at Noval.

I just happened to have my tasting note book from 2006 handy and at dinner we did have the 1962 Noval Crusted. As well as a 1988 Romaneira Colheita, 1964 Noval Colheita, and then 1994, 1964 and 1963 Nacional. Oh, and a 2006 Nacional sample right from the lagar it was fermenting in. That was a fun evening!

Yes, and the surprise by Christian Seely walking out of the kitchen didn't hurt, either.

Luc Gauthier wrote:Have never seen a crusted port in montreal

Luc, it's very rare here in Edmonton, a lone sighting being a Churchill Crusted. It was a 2002 bottling and it was very nice. Obviously it was a difficult sell, first with a relatively unknown name and secondly an unfamiliar style. The local agent eventually stopped importing Churchill and discounted their entire range, the price of the crusted dropping from our customary high prices to a more reasonable C$25 which, at today's exchange rate is about US$18, so not bad at all.

I also picked up Churchill's VP and White Port, the latter being a 10 year-old oxidative style.

Cheers ..................... Mahmoud.

Roy Hersh wrote:Alex,

I think that on the Port Harvest Tour of 2006, we had a 1962 Crusted Port together at Noval.

We absolutely did, and I have a photo of the cork - which was branded "Quinta do Noval vintage 1962". Since then I have also had the 1964 Crusted (branded "Noval 1961 vintage") which carried a label reading "This unblended wine, produced at the famous Quinta do Noval and bottled in 1964, should be carefully decanted before serving."

And there are two 1965 Crusted Ports from Noval. The one we had at the Quinta in 2006, which is a single vintage 1962 bottled in 1965 and which shows why 1962 was nearly declared as a vintage, and a second blend which is 2/3rds 1963 regular Noval vintage port and 1/3rd 1962 Nacional.

It was the two single vintage "Crusted" ports from Noval which I was thinking of when I was referring back to the change in the regulations of the IVDP in 2006 which now refer to Crusted as being a blend of different years. Noval would no longer be able to make Crusted port from a single vintage.

I don't think Noval make Crusted Port any more. Shame.