1959 Antonio Jose da Silva Vintage Port

[John Danza]

• 1959 Antonio Jose da Silva Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto (9/22/2024)
  Made by Quinta do Noval. Antonio Jose da Silva bought QdN in 1894 and replanted all the vines after phylloxera devastated the vineyard.
  
  What a difference a couple of days makes. On the first day, after four hours decant, the color is very light brown, almost more like a light gold. There's a lot of alcohol heat and moderate sweetness with a ton of acidity.
  
  Two days later, an amazing transformation. The color has gotten darker, into a medium brown. The mouthfeel has gotten much denser. The alcohol heat is gone. It's a great wine to drink. Medium sweet with good acidity. The wine screams to be paired with nuts or pecan pie. (92 pts.)
  

Posted from CellarTracker

[Mike J. W.]

I have a 1941 (maybe 1940, I'd have to check) bottle of this with the same exact label. I always assumed it was a Colheita because it said "matured in wood" but it didn't have a bottling date, so I guess it is a vintage Port?

[John Danza]

I have a 1941 (maybe 1940, I'd have to check) bottle of this with the same exact label. I always assumed it was a Colheita because it said "matured in wood" but it didn't have a bottling date, so I guess it is a vintage Port?

Definitely a Colheita, but hard to say what the bottling date is. I'll post the number on the IVDP cert that's on the bottle to see if anyone can help by dating the cert.

[Andy Velebil]

Definitely a Colheita, but hard to say what the bottling date is. I'll post the number on the IVDP cert that's on the bottle to see if anyone can help by dating the cert.

Would possibly help.

If not mistaken, the label wasn't used beyond the early 1970's. (About 1974-ish, give or take). Your bottle is also listed as 1 pint, 9oz. The USA stopped that in 1976.

[Glenn E.]

I have a 1941 (maybe 1940, I'd have to check) bottle of this with the same exact label. I always assumed it was a Colheita because it said "matured in wood" but it didn't have a bottling date, so I guess it is a vintage Port?

"matured in wood" is pretty much always going to be a tawny Port. Having the bottling date on the label wasn't something that was done consistently until... the 70s, I think? And even then it wasn't required until even later than that. I can't remember when that happened off the top of my head, but maybe Andy or Stewart will remember.

[Eric Ifune]

I have never seen a 1959 Port. Great in the rest of Europe.

[John Danza]

I have never seen a 1959 Port. Great in the rest of Europe.

1959 (my birth year) was awful in Portugal. I know that the Nieporte family made some that they only keep for the family, and Dirk refuses to sell me a bottle. There's a Ramos Pinto in the FTLOP tasting notes. This bottle popped up unexpectedly on WineBid about a year ago and I jumped on it.

[John Danza]

Definitely a Colheita, but hard to say what the bottling date is. I'll post the number on the IVDP cert that's on the bottle to see if anyone can help by dating the cert.

Would possibly help.

If not mistaken, the label wasn't used beyond the early 1970's. (About 1974-ish, give or take). Your bottle is also listed as 1 pint, 9oz. The USA stopped that in 1976.

The Selo De Garantia number is 708318. Anyone know how to decode these?