For The Love Of Port

In Deceber we'll taste a VP from a 2nd label or a lesser house owned by a premium brand.

Quarles Harris(Symington)
Gilberts(Burmester)
Gould Campbell(Symington)
Quinta do Noval Silval(Noval)
Niepoort Secundum(Niepoort)
Fonseca Guimareans (Fonseca)
Sandeman Vau Vintage (Sandeman)
Romariz(Taylor)
Smith Woodhouse(Symington)

They are probably others, these are the one I think of at the moment.

Fred,

Would an SQVP qualify for this VT? (e.g. Taylor Vargellas, Dow's Bomfim, etc?)

Derek

Derek T. wrote:Fred,

Would an SQVP qualify for this VT? (e.g. Taylor Vargellas, Dow's Bomfim, etc?)

Derek

Lets not get too wide. Let's try to find what is the quality/price/value of the port mentionned above compared to the top ones.

OK Fred, I just wanted to clarify so that I didn't go looking for the wrong thing.

Derek

Frederick,

This is a brilliant idea and selection for December. I am very much looking forward to reading what others choose to drink!

Thanks for all that you do to support this area. Now if only you'd come visit Seattle, so I could spoil you.

Just opened this 1/2 bottle and I was surprised how dark it was, no signs of fading at all.

A quick taste after decanting and the nose is still primary dark plums. The palate is a little spirity right now, but very lively and tannic. Hmm, this has gotten my attention already...but first, time for a couple hours on the bike in the hills. It should be ready for a proper TN after I get back...

+4 hours:

A wonderfully young nose of plums and violets. The palate is medium in weight with grape jolly rancher flavors initially that then give way to black plums and anise. There is still a good bit of tannins in this and the acidity...well, to say there is a lot is an understatement. The finish, being rather on the short side, is the only thing keeping this from a slightly higher score. 87-88 right now. We'll see if it improves or not over the coming hours.

+7.5 hours

Well, I just finished the last of this 1/2 bottle...should have opened a 750, but I digres. Anyways, this picked up some body weight but the fruit and finish stayed about the same. My feeling is there is no hurry to drink these, say 10-15 more years would be good. But it also drinks very good right now, so why wait

My score stays the same 87-88

Quinta do Noval Silval Vintage Port – 2003

Decanted a surprising amount of sediment out of a very dark bottle with driven cork that came out in one piece with the Ah-so. Upon decanting, the nose was full of dark berries, grapes and some licorice. Heavy tannins with plums added to the palate. Dark red deepening to purple, yet not as stain-the-glass black as it’s bigger brother the Noval 2003 VP.

+2 hours
Some chocolate is showing up on the palate, along with harsh, young, green, mouth-puckering tannins.

+4 hours
More defined chocolate on the palate. The tannins are painfully prevalent at this point (young, very green, strong and in-your-face.) Combined with biting acidity, this results in a Port that is tough to enjoy at this stage, yet as predicted. I was predicting a rather long period of time in the decanter prior to being very drinkable.

+12 hrs
This was likely the worst showing time for this Port – it had a lot of powerful, astringent tannins. Chocolate is disappearing from the palate and being replaced with a harsh alcohol. The finish is short, clipped and extremely dry.

+1 day
Harsh Harsh Harsh tannins are now fully showing through. The fruit is disappearing into oblivion. There is little sweetness as was there to some extent in the first few hours of sampling.

+2 days
Some light chocolate notes are back in, and some cherries have shown up. A bit of dustiness on the mid-palate and some alcohol showing through detract from the overall enjoyment of the Port. I was having a lot of trouble getting much enjoyment out of the Port at this point and if I was rating it at this stage, it would be mid-80s (85-86.)

+3 days
Some fruit is back and the dustiness is gone. Plums and a bit of chocolate are present. Some light cherries are touch and go on the back palate. While there is still some alcohol, the dry finish is what surprised me the most. Fans of Dow will likely enjoy this Port once they get past the exceedingly hard tannins.

My rating for this 2nd label VP will be 86. It is not to my liking and while I may purchase one or two more bottles for longer-term storage to see what it does in a decade or two, it would only be if the price was reduced a bit.

Note: I suppose this is a learning experience: always wait until the last drops have been drained from the decanter PRIOR to scoring the wine!
+3.5 days
It appears I may have been a bit hasty. About 7 hours after making the last note, I tipped back the remainder of the contents of the decanter (the fact that there is anything left in the decanter after 2 days demonstrates that this was not a big favourite of mine!) and came full circle, back to more fruit, much softer, mellow tannins, and very little abrasive alcohol. The chocolate has returned on both the nose and the palate and this latest evolution surely is the improvement I was hoping for previously.

I think that this improved version of the Silval is definitively better and is worthy of a full 3 points more than previously. While the style is overall still much more dry than I would have really preferred, the strong return of the fruit, the mellowing of the tannins and the disappearance of the alcohol makes this a 2nd label VP worthy of seeking out again.

Revised score: 89 pts.

Note: At this point there will be no revisiting this because, sadly, the decanter now lies empty.

Todd

Quarles Harris 2000 : A saturated ruby color, no sign of evolution on the rim. The nose is floral, very sweet on straberry jam. The palate is soft, tannins are barely noticeable, well balance but very sweet as Quarles Harris is often, ripe and fresh field berries flavours, good finish on spices with some tobacco. Lacking depth and concentration to age for the long haul but should be very enjoyable for the next 10-15 years. 16/20+

Smith Woodhouse 1950 Vintage Port
Very pale colour, weak orange rim. Tangarines and violet drops on the nose. Very sweet entry of oranges and, surprisingly given the colour of the wine, there are still some tannins in the mouth. Lovely peppery midpalate, together with bitters and considerable complexity. Nice floral elements in the late development of the flavours in the mouth. A gentle aftertaste that never amounts to a great deal but is perfectly respectable. 92/100.

Gould Campbell 1991

Decanted cleanly off quite a heavy crust for such a young VP. Despite the heavy crust it was still very dark. I did not take a TH for the first tasting so the next bit of this TN is from memory 24 hours on...

Decanted 3 Hours
Nice thick mouthfeel - full of very smooth chocolate and black fruits. A very satisfying glass of port with a nice warmth, reasonable levels of tannin and very well balanced. Good to drink right now.

+24 Hours
Softer than yesterday with less tannin evident and very little heat. The chocolate still dominates the flavours but more fruit now than before. Mouthwatering finish of black cherry.

This isn't a stunning wine by any stretch of the imagination but for immediate gratification I would give it a 7. Where is it going? Not enough grip to suggest it has a very long life ahead but will certainly see out the next 10 years in some style. So I will give it a 7-8.

I think this is definately a wine to buy a case of and drink one a year until gone.

Derek

2005 Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port (cask sample) – Opaque garnet color with dark raspberry, cocoa powder and fresh floral fragrances. It started out thin but gained considerable weight over the following two days. Medium-full bodied with such sweetness that it was by far the standout in terms of ripeness and residual sugar. Soft and silky smooth, with expressive black currant and pure grapy nuances. Chalky tannins come rushing in late to crash the party and leave a lasting impression on the lingering aftertaste which hints at milk chocolate. Drink now through 2022. 90-92 points 12/17/07