The Great Boston Port Orgy Offline - April 2008
Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 1:02 am
I have been so busy over the past couple of months with kids, work, coaching soccer, and other things in my life that I have not had a chance to post a Offline review from when I was in Boston at the beginning of April. I made myself take a few moments to review my TNs and transcribe them into legible notes on the computer because the scraps of paper they were written on were threatening to get lost in the shuffle of all the other things in my life.
Thinking back to that trip to Boston brings back fond memories of the trip, the place, and of meeting Moses and Sean C, two fellow FTLOPers who are generous, great guys.
Moses and I met up for a preview and some early-week drinking on the Monday of my trip. Getting lost going to his house, I was rushed to make my decision about what to bring over and I settled on a Madeira, as Moses indicated that he loved Madeira as well as Port. We started the evening with the
We quickly moved on to the
Along the way we also tried some of his house-tawny, the
We ended up talking about Port extensively that night, including corked wine. Indicating that I had only tried two Ports that I suspected/discovered were corked, he introduced me to a bottle he had in his wine fridge, one he knew for sure was TCA-infected. The Ferreira VP 1999 exhibited a horrendous nose of musty, wet cardboard and confirmed that the last two times I had bottles with what I suspected was TCA-taint, I was accurate. Amazingly, if you could get past the nose, the wine was actually still somewhat drinkable, still soft and sweet. The TCA was enough to really foul the nose, but the palate was only somewhat ruined. Obviously, I did not rate this experience because it was corked, but I considered myself more educated, which is a good thing.
A few nights later, we moved onto the main event at Sean's house, and if I may add, he has the coolest house I think I have ever been in. I do not know the age of the building in his area, but if forced, I would guess that his little brownstone is around 150 years old. Very cool!!!
I suffered a bit from allergies to his cat, but because he had just had all the carpets cleaned earlier that day I was not as deeply affected as I might have been in another situation. This may have dulled the palate ever so slightly, and for sure by the end of the night I was hardly able to breathe properly, but we got through the Port tastings with no major respiratory disasters and what a night it was.
All four VPs were finished decanting at 19:45 hrs. We used the Port tongs on all of the bottles and Moses and Sean indulged me and allowed me to drive the tongs on all four bottles. Very cool
After decanting, we headed out to a local eatery for some food, then headed back for the real fun - the drinking. We started drinking around 21:30 and didn't stop until the wee hours of the morning.
We tried the Ports in order ranging from oldest to youngest. Here are the TNs from each:
Thinking back to that trip to Boston brings back fond memories of the trip, the place, and of meeting Moses and Sean C, two fellow FTLOPers who are generous, great guys.
Moses and I met up for a preview and some early-week drinking on the Monday of my trip. Getting lost going to his house, I was rushed to make my decision about what to bring over and I settled on a Madeira, as Moses indicated that he loved Madeira as well as Port. We started the evening with the
Blandy's 10 Year Old Malmsey Madeira [NV]
Not the greatest of TNs because I can't read all my writing. What I can interpret looks like the following:
Dark brown colour, rich-looking. On the palate there are touches of honey, clover with a very scant trace of coffee/espresso.
Oxidized and with a bit of biting acidity. A nice follow-through and an ending that lasts a decent amount of time on the palate.
My forte is definitely not Madeira and this would have represented only the 2nd time I had tried a Madeira, and the first where there was an indicated age on the bottle.
We quickly moved on to the
Croft Vintage Port [1977]
A generous offering from Moses, this was the first time I had tried a 1977 VP and I was looking forward to it. He opened this bottle with Port Tongs - the first time I had ever seen these used and I was super-impressed to the point where I decided I had to get some!
The Port poured a bit cloudy, with a light pink colour turning towards orange. The nose was loght and floral and contained some spirit which seemed to blow off a bit after an hour. Interestingly, there was a bit of citrus on the nose as well, which I have not detected on a VP before (usually tawnies.)
The palate showed noted of madarins and candied cherries. There was not a complex structure to this Port but it was very nice for a introduction to 30+ year old VP in a quantity far more than I have been experienced before.
After two hours this bottle was polished off and the impression we both had was the Croft 1977 was a light VP. Good, but not great. Certainly not a blockbuster. I may have been generous with my score of
91 pts.
Along the way we also tried some of his house-tawny, the
Sandeman 20 Year Old Tawny Port [NV]
Helping Moses polish off a bottle of his house tawny, it was a first-time for me sampling anything by Sandeman, particularly the tawny offerings.
The colour was a light brown that resembled liquid toffee thinned with water. A smooth, beautiful caramel nose was matched by more caramel on the palate. A thin mouth-feel, certainly not as viscous as some other 20 YO tawnies, this was night and light, not overly sweet but a beautiful Port. I loved it so much I drove an hour to New Hampshire where the NH Liquor Store was selling these for $35ish/btl and brought two bottles back to Canada, where I have ot seen these for offer. Wish I could have afforded to bring more back, but I had already loaded up on some VPs at a few other wine shops before hitting NH.
We ended up talking about Port extensively that night, including corked wine. Indicating that I had only tried two Ports that I suspected/discovered were corked, he introduced me to a bottle he had in his wine fridge, one he knew for sure was TCA-infected. The Ferreira VP 1999 exhibited a horrendous nose of musty, wet cardboard and confirmed that the last two times I had bottles with what I suspected was TCA-taint, I was accurate. Amazingly, if you could get past the nose, the wine was actually still somewhat drinkable, still soft and sweet. The TCA was enough to really foul the nose, but the palate was only somewhat ruined. Obviously, I did not rate this experience because it was corked, but I considered myself more educated, which is a good thing.
A few nights later, we moved onto the main event at Sean's house, and if I may add, he has the coolest house I think I have ever been in. I do not know the age of the building in his area, but if forced, I would guess that his little brownstone is around 150 years old. Very cool!!!
I suffered a bit from allergies to his cat, but because he had just had all the carpets cleaned earlier that day I was not as deeply affected as I might have been in another situation. This may have dulled the palate ever so slightly, and for sure by the end of the night I was hardly able to breathe properly, but we got through the Port tastings with no major respiratory disasters and what a night it was.
All four VPs were finished decanting at 19:45 hrs. We used the Port tongs on all of the bottles and Moses and Sean indulged me and allowed me to drive the tongs on all four bottles. Very cool
After decanting, we headed out to a local eatery for some food, then headed back for the real fun - the drinking. We started drinking around 21:30 and didn't stop until the wee hours of the morning.
We tried the Ports in order ranging from oldest to youngest. Here are the TNs from each:
Next up was one that I was very happy to see in the line up.Warre Vintage Port [1963]
Having had so few real aged VPs before, this was a special treat. Sean C. supplied this bottle and what a bottle it was.
Light ruby with hints of brown towards the edges, this was a beautiful old Port. A touch of spirit on the nose after a couple of hours blew off after 3½ or 4 hours. The fruit was soft and muted and I detected notes of caramel, strawberry and currants.
A bit of caramel and brown sugar present on the palate. Earlier in the night there was a slight vegetal note in the back of the palate, but this did not detract too much from the wine. There was a touch of alcohol present to go along with a thin acidity. A bit of tartness showed in the back palate, but over all this was a well-integrated port that pulled it all together after 3 hours of decanter time and was nicely balanced. The mouth-feel was a bit thin compared to a couple other bottles we had that night but overall a solid, well-structured VP that was a treat with a 17 second finish.
IIRC Sean C and Moses had similar ratings to mine. I scored it at
93 pts
Taylor Vintage Port [1966]
I have always thought that Taylor made fantastic Ports and although some don’t like them as much, for me, they will always be one producer that holds a special place, perhaps it is just because they seem to be the standard that many North Americans hold Vintage Port to. Inexplicable.
Having attended a Taylor Horizontal in November 2007, this is one that was off the menu so I was delighted to try yet another example of a classic VP. Immediately after opening, this Port showed a butterscotch nose but less fruit than any of the other Ports we opened that night. It also was the weakest in colour, with a light red, fading to pink colour.
Heavy white pepper spoke volumes about this being a classic Taylor Port. It had a more complex palate than the Warre '63 with a full-bodied mouth-feel that seemed weighty and vast. Loads of sweetness up front with a silky finish once you got past the pepper spiciness.
As the night went on, this VP gained an awful lot of steam and had I rated it after only 2 hours when we started, the score was a 91/92. 3 hours in it crept up to 93. 4 and 5 hours in it had jumped up to a solid 94 pts and may have been dignified with another bump to 95 had there been any more left after 5 hours. Sadly, the decanter was drained, leaving me to wonder if perhaps we had started drinking this one too early.
Descriptors on my small scrap of paper I was scribbling notes onto went from Good (2 hrs) to Great (3 hrs) to Beautiful/Gorgeous! (4 hrs) and at 5 hrs, only one of the two words can be printed here. Both began with the letter F and the 2nd word was “Fantastic.”
:naughty:
In the end, there were no real identifiable fruit notes in this Port, but the complexity and beautiful structure, combined with a fantastic nose of butterscotch demonstrated to me just why people hold the Taylor house in such High regard. This led to a final scoring of
94+ pts
Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port [1977]
Being such experienced Port guys, I was delighted when Moses and Sean were both pleased by my contribution to this offline, which was the SW'77 VP. This is not a Port they see a lot of in Boston, and neither had tried this.
I was a lot less delighted once the bottle had its head chopped off by Sean's Port tongs and a cloudy Port emerged.
Light orange colour, not much red left. The nose of stewed tomatoes turned me off, and my initial fear was that I hauled this bottle all the way down from Canada only to find it corked. Sean and Moses both confirmed this was not the case, although the wine was very likely cooked instead. As the hours passed, less stewed tomato was present and more of the other dominant characteristic of the aroma evolved and strengthened: baked brown sugar. If you placed this Port in front of me blind, and I did not know it was wine, I might swear it was a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar melted on top, or the crust of an apple pie (without the cinnamon.)
Very sweet on the palate. Once you got past the stewy nose, which I disliked immensely, it was a good Port. A good, 23 second length added a bit to the score, but ultimately, the stewed tomato/baked smell detracted and influenced the score in a negative fashion. As the night wore on, the stewed tomatoes blew off and the mouth-feel became smoother, I was convinced to revisit the score and possibly raise it a point, but it fell short of being a great Port and in the end only earned
88/89 pts
I was disappointed that the bottle that I brought was somewhat of a dud, although had we more time, this Port may have done a bit better with 7-12 hours of decanter time. It sure would have blown off some more of the stewy nose.
What an experience! I had a blast with two really great guys who absolutely know and love their Port and if I am ever back in their neck of the woods again, I will be sure to make some time to have another offline - perhaps the Montreal guys can make it down for some fun and I'll get to meet them too!Dow Vintage Port [1985]
Moses contributed this bottle from his (at the time) recently-acquired case and I was very thankful. It is right on the edge of what he considers acceptable time that a VP must mature for before he considers drinking it.
A deep, ruby red, this Port was clear and perfect to the eye. It was precisely what a great VP should look like when relatively young and I found my eye drawn to it again and again, simply for the pure beauty of the imagery.
Grapes in the nose, this was an excellent, fresh fruit bomb. Perhaps unfair to be served and compared next to the Warre '63, Taylor '66 and SW '77 that we had that night, it was the most fruity and expressive wine of the evening. The palate was explosive with vibrant grapes and a touch of maraschino cherries. The acidity was prevalent, but kept in harmonious balance with a beautiful sweetness as well. Although you hear folks talk of the Dow house style as being dry, I found that this VP was a touch dry, but not super dry like I almost found myself expecting.
It had a short finish, only 7 seconds. Moses hated to drink something he considered pretty young for a VP, but if I were able to, I would drink this VP by the case right now, while still stashing some away for long term. Sean agreed that it has tremendous potential to age nicely and will get a whole lot better. Perhaps if I can make it to Boston in another 10, 20 and 30 years from now, Moses will have some of this left and we can test this theory out.
As the night went on, I think Sean and I returned to this particular decanter more often than Moses, and I had this as my co-WOTN (T'66 was the other) and because of this fact, this little fruit-bomb earned
94/95 pts
