For The Love Of Port

FYI - Free Port Tasting In Seattle this Saturday...

FREE WINE TASTING
SATURDAY, APRIL 12
2003 VINTAGE PORTS
http://www.mccarthyandschiering.com

Our free wine tasting this Saturday, April 12 from 11 am - 5 pm at both shops will feature 2003 Vintage Ports.

We recently tasted a selection of 2003 Vintage Ports and were struck by the purity of the fruit character in these wines. The 2003 vintage was much cooler in the Douro than in other parts of Europe, and yet it was warm enough to ripen the fruit to perfect maturity. There were rains during the summer months that added moisture to the soils and refreshed the grapes. The yields from this vintage were very low, off 30 - 50% in many cases, causing prices to rise. Come in and taste a selection of these wines on Saturday, April 12th. If we have a Port tasting, the sun is sure to come out!

2003 Dow's Vintage Port 90.00 74.70 VS

2003 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port 63.00 52.29 VS

2003 Graham's Vintage Port 96.00 79.68 VS

2003 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port 375ml 54.00 44.82VS

2003 Croft Vintage Port 1.5L 190.00 157.70VS

Hi Stewart,My wife and I will be at your queen ann shop on saturday to taste the Vintage Ports your are serving.We are always interested in participating in all Port tastings events locally and want to thank you for sharing this information on this forum.
Dave & Vicki Federal Way,Wa.

Those prices are so high comparatively to what they are being sold for elsewhere. However, a free tasting sounds good. Unfortunately I will be out of town. So who is doing the Tasting Notes?

Dave,

FYI, Stewart is the Technical genius of this website and was posting an email he rec'd from the wine shop, which he has no affiliation with, except as a consumer/customer.



Roy

Roy Hersh wrote: Unfortunately I will be out of town. So who is doing the Tasting Notes?

Roy

I will be out if town too so its someone elses turn for a detailed report of how the younglings are coming along.

The Ravenna location of M&S is my favorite wine store in Seattle. They do a tasting every Saturday so these are low-key events with small pours, just enough to get a feel for the wine. It served me very well while in college and learning about wine. It will be difficult to take detailed notes but I'll be sure to write something down and report back with general impressions. It will take a lot of restraint for me to not walk out of there with a mag of the 2003 Croft, which would be my first.

My wife and I are going to try to make it to one of the stores, but we're not sure which one yet. We'll probably try to get there relatively early (11:30-12:00) so that we can do the tasting and then get some lunch.

We went to the Queen Anne store and got there right about noon. They only had 3 of the 5 Ports open at the time, and though I didn't take notes I did get some general impressions. (Thus the post in this thread instead of in the Tasting Notes forum.) The 3 I was able to taste (in order of tasting) were:

2003 Smith Woodhouse
2003 Dow's
2003 Graham's

The Smith Woodhouse had an almost Bordeaux-like nose - compared to what I have come to expect from VP, it was almost sour. But not in a bad way. However, this did not at all carry through to the taste which was very fruity, sweet, and full of black/purple berries. The tannins were soft and almost invisible. This one is ready to drink right now, though another handful of years might give it a little more depth. The Smith Woodhouse reminded me very much of the Broadbent Auction Reserve that I like, but for a VP that's not necessarily a good thing. The lack of depth and "flat" delivery is fine for a $20 Ruby or Reserva, but probably isn't going to impress anyone in a $60 VP. I bought a bottle anyway because a) it was the cheapest of the 3 they had open, and b) it's ready to drink now.

The nose on the Dow's was fruitier and much more in line with my expectations. The tannins still showed strong in the mouth, but they weren't overpowering. I'd probably give this one another 5-10 years to mature, but it seems like it's going to be a good one. Lots of berry flavors, both black and red, but not as in-your-face sweet as the Smith Woodhouse. I'll probably pick up a case of this Dow's once I acquire a new (larger) wine fridge for storage since it seems like it's going to mature sooner (10-15 years) rather than later (30+ years), but is still complex and satisfying.

The Graham's had the most complex nose, something like a Bordeaux blended with a Merlot and then sweetened up to be a Port. I felt like I would have been happy to just smell the Graham's until it had all evaporated, it was that nice. This one is far too young to really be drinking yet, though, as the tannins were nearly overpowering for me. It needs at least 10 more years I would guess, and probably 15. But it's going to be a powerhouse of a Port when it matures! I'm considering getting a case of this one to lay down, too, but need to try some of the other big names for comparison.

I was bummed that they weren't ready to open the Croft or Taylor Fladgate yet, specifically in the case of the Taylor Fladgate, because I really wanted to be able to compare it to the Dow's and Graham's. I'm still working on arranging the various brands in my head, and this would have been my first opportunity to do a decent sized horizontal.

Good notes Glenn. I went to the Ravenna shop and they were pouring the same Ports. The pours were very small but it was free so I can't really complain.

I found the 2003 Smith Woodhouse very fruity with red and dark fruits. Some alcohol showing through on the nose with relatively soft tannins. A good Port but currently lacking complexity to make it great.

The 2003 Dow's was a darker red than the Smith Woodhouse. Showing lots of fruit and some alcohol on the nose. The palate is medium to full in body with moderate sweetness, elegant, well structured and balanced leading on to a long nicely complex finish.

The 2003 Graham's showed lots of spice fruit, cherry, and plums. Big and powerful on the palate with strong tannins, nicely sweet and a long complex finish.

The Graham's was my favorite with the Dow's being a close second, and Smith Woodhouse third.

Glad to see you both ranked them in the same order...to bad about the other two..the Croft is amazing!