For The Love Of Port

Decanted 5 hrs. Cork was soaking wet, but came up in one piece with the help of Durand. No leakage. Many very small sediments. Dark, dark purple colour and no signs of anything brown. Aroma was then (not surprisingly) dominated by dark berries and influenced by soil and some oak. Full body. Powerful, some elegance, berries, prunes, some nice “polished” tannins towards the end. Long aftertaste with a tiny bit dryness. A wonderful 1980 vintage port. 93 pts.

I think 1980 is an underappreciated vintage with multiple powerful Ports, to which it seems we can add Ramos Pinto the the list. I wish they could be found more easily.

Agree with you Eric! 1980 vintage ports are late bloomers.
1980 Ramos Pinto 10 years ago was nowhere near where they are now.

Have had many Gould Campbell last couple of years as they have been available in Denmark at a reasonable price.
Also had a couple of 1980 Quarles Harris which were quite nice.
Not many 1980-VP left in our cellar now as we only have 2 btls GC, 1 btl Warre and 1 btl Ramos Pinto.
Have never tasted the 1980 Warre, so I am looking forward to that one.

Call me another fan of '80 Ramos and most '80 vintages as well. Had an '80 Graham not too long ago.

I have no idea what the distribution and marketing arrangements of Ramos Pinto were in the past - or now, for that matter - but bottles from the 70s, 80s and especially the 90s are easily found in Portugal at auction, invariably going for favourable prices relative to their quality. A fair few bottles, particularly from the 90s vintages, likewise turn up at auction in Belgium and the Netherlands, generally by the case, where they fetch better (but still reasonable) prices.

My observation is that Portuguese bidders prioritise producers over quality, paying well over the odds for, say, an indifferent Noval or Niepoort VP whilst ignoring far and away better quality wines which can be had at a fraction of the typical hammer price for said Noval or Niepoort. For example, some (though not all) of the Messias Cachao VPs from the 70s and 80s are very good in my experience but can be acquired at auction in Portugal, where they are ubiquitous, at negligible cost. Even good Graham VPs, whilst certainly fetching better prices than Cachao, can be had for a good deal less than what bidders pay for pedestrian Noval and Niepoort VPs.

At any rate, having started to imbibe VP in quantity only over the last couple of years, I initially found the Ramos Pinto style to be something of an acquired taste. Having bought a fair bit of it early on, based simply on my review of prices and tasting notes, there was nothing for it but to soldier on through the initial purchases, to the point that I have got to truly enjoy it.

1980 was squeezed between the hype of the 1977 and 1983 VPs. Many of the 1980 VPs are special!

Ramos Pinto VP's had been quite popular around MA for a long time, but in the last 10-15 years they are not as common as they were in the 90's. Not sure if distribution has changed or other brands have done a stronger marketing pitch.