For The Love Of Port

The color is quite advanced for a 1994 but the nose is still sweet licorice, plums and an underlying amount of volatile acidity. In the mouth this shows some youthful fruit, fully resolved tannins and a noticeable amount of volatile acidity. Two things about this VP strikes me; I don't recall previous bottles showing this youthful nor do I recall them showing this much V.A. That all said, given Niepoort's (who made these) issue with V.A. during this period I'd not hold these any longer. As the longer one does the more the VA will show as the fruit starts to fade. Still an enjoyable bottle right now though, I'd say it's reached it peak and should be consumed soon.
90 Points

I think these are still available locally at some B&M's.

What can I say, I've never been a fan of this one. It was the first vintage for Broadbent Port and only contained a blend of two grapes; not a recipe for complexity or anything special. I remember writing this up when it was a cask sample, and was launched in Canada and did not make it to the USA for several years. When I panned this Port, badly, my friend Mr. Broadbent was so ticked off at my directness, that he wouldn't speak to me for 2 years.

I offloaded a half case to a late-comer to this board (and Port) at the time. I did sell them rather inexpensively and kept one signed bottle as a memento of Broadbent's first collaboration with Dirk Niepoort. In 1997, Bartholomew hosted a blind tasting in SF that I flew down for, where in a large horizontal of 1994 VPs and some 1994 LBV ringers, his own Port showed quite nicely at the time.

Roy Hersh wrote:What can I say, I've never been a fan of this one. It was the first vintage for Broadbent Port and only contained a blend of two grapes; not a recipe for complexity or anything special. I remember writing this up when it was a cask sample, and was launched in Canada and did not make it to the USA for several years. When I panned this Port, badly, my friend Mr. Broadbent was so ticked off at my directness, that he wouldn't speak to me for 2 years.

I offloaded a half case to a late-comer to this board (and Port) at the time. I did sell them rather inexpensively and kept one signed bottle as a memento of Broadbent's first collaboration with Dirk Niepoort. In 1997, Bartholomew hosted a blind tasting in SF that I flew down for, where in a large horizontal of 1994 VPs and some 1994 LBV ringers, his own Port showed quite nicely at the time.

Compared to a number of previous times I've had this from my own bottles and at trade tastings, this showed the youngest and perhaps the most depth until the VA marred it. That VA curse from Niepoort strikes again

FYI, According to the back label it is from 70 year old vines "...predominately Tinta Roriz, Tinta Amarelia, and Touriga Nacional grapes". I didn't realize it was mostly 3 grapes. I guess I should read back labels more often.