1980 Fonseca Vintage Port

[Andy Velebil]

I've had almost every vintage of Fonseca from the 70's and 80's, yet for some reason I had never had this one. So I thought it would be a good time to give it a go and see how it is.

Decanted about 6-8 hours. A very advanced color for a VP, far to advanced for an 80 from a top tier house such as Fonseca. It was boardering on being a ten year tawny in color. I was a bit worried straight off when I smelled it and got tons of heat with only light flower pedals and some toffee evident. This is an incredibly hot VP, fully laiden with unintegrated spirit. It was as if the fruit died out a long time ago and left only the arguardente. Other than a medicinal taste the only other thing I could gather was some light carmel. The finish was totally clipped and left me wondering what happened to Fonseca in 80 and 83? The bottle was in pristine shape and well stored, so that was not an issue. Alex R. said he's had two of these and they were identical to this one. I must say a bottle I will never buy again, even at a great price. 81 points

08/21/08

[Jan-Tore Egge]

Sounds very much like how I perceived it when I drank it four years ago. And I would like to repeat the question: what's the story behind Fonseca under-performance in 80-83?

[Andy Velebil]

Sounds very much like how I perceived it when I drank it four years ago. And I would like to repeat the question: what's the story behind Fonseca under-performance in 80-83?

And Taylor's sub par in 1983 also....I'd love to know as all I have is my own theories.