For The Love Of Port

Last evening I opened a 1977 Warre VP which I bought some years ago from a private cellar. Unfortunately the cork was thoroughly wet with a lot of crysthallization on top. Pulled the cork out with an ordinary corkscrew in one piece, as if the cork was to small for the bottle. The color was very pale, like a Beaujolais and at the rim even more pale. Almost no fruit was left and a strange smell and sidetaste (is that an English word?) of wet cardboard or mopping apeared. Also hints of spirit (sherry-ish). It was rather thin. Medium long aftertaste. I can say I didn't like it at all or that is was undrinkable, but it wasn't very satisfying. More a tawny than a VP. To bad for me, won't buy them again.

That's a shame to hear. While W77 does sometimes seem to have a little more variation between bottles than some of it's peers, it's usually a very enjoyable port and I would not expect the colour or taste to be anything like that which you describe; this sounds like a very poor bottle which has seen poor storage at some point.

Yes, wet cardboard is generally a sign of heavy oxidation. It sounds like you had a bottle that was beyond just turning tawny.

Sounds corked. Warre is generally a feminine style. Not dark but long and complex. If indeed it is corked, your note sounds right. The fruit would all be gone.

Yesterday evening I took the bottle to a diner with some friends. No one liked it, somebody said "cork" immediately.
So I guess you are wright, just a pitty.