The 2015 Vintage Port dilemma.
Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 6:21 am
I have now had three days of tastings with the first 12 bottles, which ended yesterday. Today I have begun my second 12 and am half way through and had to stop to post this.
Ok, I've only seen 18 bottles which is far from a comprehensive overview of the vintage as a whole. However, the first twelve were made up of mostly SQVPs and then 3 were first tier producers' bottlings. I have no idea what was in the bags until after day 3's final tasting yesterday late afternoon. I have six more in front of me at the moment and I am taking a break after making my notes on them and will return to those six and then chill down the next six and start anew.
My attention for each glass and parameters to painstakingly evaluate are:
Appearance
Aromatics
Body Weight
Mouthfeel (texture)
Structure
Flavor Profile
Finish
Overall observation
Drinking window
Rating range: e.g. 86-88 points.
Later on, I take all six impressions and blend them into a time elapsed tasting note. I look at the ranges of scores over the six tastings of each Port and come up with a single number, not always a pure and precise average, as I pay close attention to how the wines change from day 1 to 2 and also from days 1 to 3 and also 2 to 3. Then I give slightly heavier weighting to day 3 impressions. This has worked well for me over the past 2+ decades.
Now that you know my basic methodology, here is why I entitled this posting with the word "dilemma".
I pay close attention to the appearance. None of these are cloudy, because sediment is not an issue. But what I really wanted to pay super close attention to is the coloration of these Ports. Simply put, even with just the SQVPs I've had so far, not to mention a few bigger names, it is really difficult, if not impossible to see any real difference between the batch I've poured and evaluated and the 2011 colorations. So I can only imagine when I wind up evaluating the big boys and to see if they are darker than some of the 2nd and 3rd tier producers that were extraordinarily extracted from my point of view. Remember this was one of the biggest initial "push back issues" from those who claimed the 2016s are superior because the anthocyanins (color pigment in grapes) precipitated or dropped out of solution in 2015s and lacked the requisite depth of color. Concentration was also an issue supposedly. But for the moment, I am ONLY discussing the color issue. I just don't see it. Maybe that was the case back in January and February when decisions were made. But from where I sit, color is definitely not lacking in samples I've already had.
Ok, I've only seen 18 bottles which is far from a comprehensive overview of the vintage as a whole. However, the first twelve were made up of mostly SQVPs and then 3 were first tier producers' bottlings. I have no idea what was in the bags until after day 3's final tasting yesterday late afternoon. I have six more in front of me at the moment and I am taking a break after making my notes on them and will return to those six and then chill down the next six and start anew.
My attention for each glass and parameters to painstakingly evaluate are:
Appearance
Aromatics
Body Weight
Mouthfeel (texture)
Structure
Flavor Profile
Finish
Overall observation
Drinking window
Rating range: e.g. 86-88 points.
Later on, I take all six impressions and blend them into a time elapsed tasting note. I look at the ranges of scores over the six tastings of each Port and come up with a single number, not always a pure and precise average, as I pay close attention to how the wines change from day 1 to 2 and also from days 1 to 3 and also 2 to 3. Then I give slightly heavier weighting to day 3 impressions. This has worked well for me over the past 2+ decades.
Now that you know my basic methodology, here is why I entitled this posting with the word "dilemma".
I pay close attention to the appearance. None of these are cloudy, because sediment is not an issue. But what I really wanted to pay super close attention to is the coloration of these Ports. Simply put, even with just the SQVPs I've had so far, not to mention a few bigger names, it is really difficult, if not impossible to see any real difference between the batch I've poured and evaluated and the 2011 colorations. So I can only imagine when I wind up evaluating the big boys and to see if they are darker than some of the 2nd and 3rd tier producers that were extraordinarily extracted from my point of view. Remember this was one of the biggest initial "push back issues" from those who claimed the 2016s are superior because the anthocyanins (color pigment in grapes) precipitated or dropped out of solution in 2015s and lacked the requisite depth of color. Concentration was also an issue supposedly. But for the moment, I am ONLY discussing the color issue. I just don't see it. Maybe that was the case back in January and February when decisions were made. But from where I sit, color is definitely not lacking in samples I've already had.