Alex B. wrote:
Glenn - Richard tasted the 2011 in 2023 when it had had the benefit of 10 years of bottle age. He rated it a perfect wine.
What’s your view? Do you agree?
I second Glenn's opinion on the 2011 GST. It is in a different league from all the others when doing them side-by-side. Glenn knows this already as we've discussed this in great detail, I think the last time was either 2020/2021 but definitely during Covid as he put together samples of all four vintages at that time (11, 15, 16 and 17) and delivered them to the Sammamish Port Club member's homes. (Thanks again for that Glenn!). But I completely agree with Glenn, that it just had more stuffing, that old school pre-2000 VP style, massively fruited, structured to the hilt and the best mouthfeel and opulence of any other GST, without any doubt. While I am a huge fun of Richard's articles and especially his many incredible books, we do not often agree on Madeira or Port in terms of scores and sometimes his least favorites, are some of my top wines in tastings ... and we have been at Port and Madeira tastings together since 2003, and a LOT of them over the years. Great guy and amazing writer. We just have very different characteristics that we appreciate. Yet, while I am not quite there, with a perfect score on the 2011 GST, I can certainly understand why Richard would see it that way.
The 2011 is worthy of a ridiculously high score and it will be tough to beat that GST in the future. After my recent tasting of the 2021 GST and newsletter was complete, I finally had time to look at other Port journo's evaluations of 2020 and 2021 Vintage Ports. I believe I had one of the lowest scores of anybody for both Noval and Nacional. Then again, I am not a real fan of the vintage overall. It is good but not great. Those who gave the Nacional the huge scores, I wonder if they had been blind tasting? I was scratching my head wondering if somehow I had missed something. Fortunately, I had saved my top 6 bottles and tasted again after a week and then again after two weeks, (the 2nd time was already after the newsletter had gone out)
I would have put Nacional in 6th place and was deciding if I liked the Quevedo more, for 5th place, as it was really very good and shared the same score. Overall 2021 is quite consistent. The GST was one I liked a lot. For my palate, it just didn't show the sheer overall pleasure as the 2015 or 2011, and in fact, for me ... not by a long shot. That said, for 2021 ... a vintage that was all about finesse and freshness, the GST was sweeter than anything else I tasted from the vintage, yet with great harmony and stellar acid.
Nonetheless, for sheer QPR, that Kopke S. Luiz SQVP packs a wallop in every sensorial category. Even if you are 60, I strongly suggest buying 2, one to check out now and one in 15-25 years in one's old age. It is pretty spectacular and just needs time. The other surprise beyond the very beautiful Burmester, which I am going to buy a bottle or two of ... is the Vale Meao. Oddly enough, I was not a fan of it when we had it "sighted" in a vertical, while at VM during the PHT. It was ok, too much tanky notes and obvious spirit was showing, but even just a few extra months; blind in a flight of its peers, it showed I was mistaken ... or that the bottle was not yet ready for prime time, as it had been recently bottled, which could have affected the way it showed that day in September.