For The Love Of Port

I won this at auction a few months back and just picked it up. A few questions for anyone that might know.
It doesn't say "20 years old" on it so is it just a NV Tawny of some type or did they not have to show the age back in the day? How old is the bottle? Will it be any good seeing how old it is?

Honestly, I believe that this is a basic tawny (3-5 years old) from long ago.

That looks like the bottle style that they used to use - as far back as 1900 - for their basic tawny. The shape and raised AAF are telling. I don't know when they stopped using that style of bottle.

I don't recognize that label, but they've gone through many. I agree with David - this is probably a basic tawny from a long time ago. Andy is usually pretty good at estimating how old a bottle is, so maybe he'll chime in.

Basic tawnies aren't meant to be aged, but it will still be drinkable. I've tasted a basic tawny that was bottled in the 1970s before, and while it would not have won any awards it was good enough that I finished the bottle.

Thanks for the reply guys. I did see this same bottle used when they marketed a 1900 Colheita as well. This certainly isn't that but I was hoping it might be the 20 yo before they called it the 20 yo. Live and learn.

Appears to be somewhere late 1970’s??

Agree it’s probably a more basic tawny.

Mike J. W. wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:10 pm Thanks for the reply guys. I did see this same bottle used when they marketed a 1900 Colheita as well. This certainly isn't that but I was hoping it might be the 20 yo before they called it the 20 yo. Live and learn.

If is was advertised as a 20 and its not, call the auction house! They will make good---or should.

Regardless, cool bottle.

John M. wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 1:44 pm

Mike J. W. wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:10 pm Thanks for the reply guys. I did see this same bottle used when they marketed a 1900 Colheita as well. This certainly isn't that but I was hoping it might be the 20 yo before they called it the 20 yo. Live and learn.

If is was advertised as a 20 and its not, call the auction house! They will make good---or should.

Regardless, cool bottle.

I'll have to check to see if they did, but I think probably not. Regardless, it'll be interesting to see how it drinks.

Andy Velebil wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:15 am Appears to be somewhere late 1970’s??

Agree it’s probably a more basic tawny.

Thanks Andy. You're probably right.

Hi Mike,

The picture above is from the Dec. 2007 FTLOP newsletter, and the bottle on the right was bottled in 1990. Your bottle is likely from around that time period, as well, and, because the bottle on the right is clearly labeled as a 20-year, I think that you have rightly surmised that your bottle is a basic tawny. Neat looking "retro" bottle!

Jonathan

That's a cool pic. Thanks for the clarification. It's what I thought, but had to check. That seals it though. I'll enjoy it for the novelty that it is.

Let us know how they taste!

During our last visit to Ferreira's Lodge, George Sandeman and Ligia Marques explained that Ferreira was changing two of their labels. Their 10 and 20 year old Tawny Ports. No longer will the 10 year old be a Single Quinta 10 Year Old Tawny. I am pretty sure there has never been another 10 year old Tawny from a specific property, labeled with the name of the Quinta; as was done with Quinta do Porto Like the 20 year old, which lost the Duque de Braganca nomenclature on the labeling ... both 10/20 now have the same blend with a new label designation as Dona Antonia 20 Year Old.

If you remember in the last Broadbent buying op through the newsletter, I made the old Duque and this new label F20 available and same with the 10 year old SQ10T and Dona Antonia. But here is the newer image!

Roy Hersh wrote: ↑Sat Oct 31, 2020 4:09 am During our last visit to Ferreira's Lodge, George Sandeman and Ligia Marques explained that Ferreira was changing two of their labels. Their 10 and 20 year old Tawny Ports. No longer will the 10 year old be a Single Quinta 10 Year Old Tawny. I am pretty sure there has never been another 10 year old Tawny from a specific property, labeled with the name of the Quinta; as was done with Quinta do Porto Like the 20 year old, which lost the Duque de Braganca nomenclature on the labeling ... both 10/20 now have the same blend with a new label designation as Dona Antonia 20 Year Old.

Does the Ramos Pinto Quinta da Ervamoira 10 Year Old Tawny count?

Absolutely. Never would have thought of that. Is the quinta listed on the label? If so ... it counts!

Roy Hersh wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 4:42 am Absolutely. Never would have thought of that. Is the quinta listed on the label? If so ... it counts!

It was for a long time, back before the label switch. IIRC even the 20 year old is no longer labeled with the Quinta.

But yeah, "back in the day" what's now RP10 was Quinta da Ervamoira and RP20 was Quinta do Bom Retiro.

I believe that this is another single quinta ten-year-old. It was bottled in 2015, though I purchased it (out of curiosity) at Quinta de la Rosa three weeks ago - and failed to ask whether it was a one-off or they are still bottling tawnies under this name.

I've not encountered a standard tawny Duque before but I have both 20yr and 40yr tawnies under that banner, so historically not confined to the 20yr.