2007 Quinta do Vale Meão Vintage Port

[Eric Menchen]

Intense stem aromas, with eucalyptus and assertive herbs, and a little orange. The flavor is also very similar, with lots of stem and lots of tannins in the mouth at the same time. This is strong juice with some nice grip, but that is the thrust of this wine. I don’t particularly want to drink this now, but am curious about the potential when the tannins settle a little and the secondary flavors become more prominent. It did improve a little on the last sip. 90 points.

[Rune EG]

This was a bit shocking.
I have been through the whole Meao VP-range as part of FTLOP-tours in 2012 and 2014, and in both cases the 2007 was "the winner". In my book it was like 96-level. I also think the 2007 Meao was no. 3 when Roy tasted all the 2007 VPs.

When you tasted it September 2017 it was 10 yrs old. Do you think it was deeply in the closed phase?

[Eric Menchen]

Perhaps all the good stuff was closed, leaving just the tannins. There is also a personal element here. I couldn't really enjoy 1994 Taylor around 2008-9 as it was just big tannins to me. Today I think that Taylor is starting to open up. I've had it multiple times since and it keeps getting better. As you can see from my notes, we had a nice lineup of the Vale Meão VPs. On the day in question, the 2003 was my clear winner. I gave it 93+ and think it has room for improvement. The 2007 has room for improvement too, but on this day it wasn't a great wine.

[Glenn E.]

This was a bit shocking.
I have been through the whole Meao VP-range as part of FTLOP-tours in 2012 and 2014, and in both cases the 2007 was "the winner". In my book it was like 96-level. I also think the 2007 Meao was no. 3 when Roy tasted all the 2007 VPs.

It was my #1 Port of the 2007 vintage, and yes the 96 range is where I would expect it to be. I gave it 96 points (behind only the 97-point 2011) on the 2014 Harvest Tour with you.

But I noted that I was a little surprised by its good showing in 2014, because for me a 7-year old VP should be starting to close down. I would absolutely expect that at 10 years old. So while I do find Eric's 90 points somewhat surprising, the lower score is (at least to me) to be expected at this age.