For The Love Of Port

What are you guys opening to celebrate Canada's day, Independance Day etc.

Back in my early days of Port addiction, I was drinking more Colheita than VP for obvious reason. It was older and cheaper than the VP available But since I discovered VP, I did not go back often enough to those Colheita.

To celebrate Canada's day, I did open a Barros 1997 Colheita(I was a heavy drinker of 86/82/77 around 1998-2000). THe color was a saturated red brick, it is looking younger than most 10 yo tawnies. The nose was attractive with grilled nuts, coffee beans, vanilla and caramel flavours. On the palace, this Port was shy and needed a good 30-1hr to reveal more. Flavours of candied fruits, coffee beans and caramel are emerging, acidity is sharp on the inside of the cheaks, mid-palate to the end, the Port is dominated by a raisiny flavours of short lenght. All in all, it was a pleasant drink, it got good concentration of flavours that could help this port developing into something better with time. Today the balance, intensity and flavour profile are not too much attractive to my palate. It does look younger at the same age than the souvenirs I have from the 1986 but definitively not as complex and balance and the cinnamon/candied orange peel I do often find in Barros was absent. To revisit in a few years to see how this teenager can learn. 14/20

I've got five 2007 Vintage Port cask samples I'm working on right now. More to come later when I am done.

I didn't open anything in particular for Independence Day either, but thanks to Roy I had a bottle of leftover 2007 cask samples to share with friends. Yum! :lick:

Believe it or not, I had a bottle of Graham's Six Grapes. I liked it significantly more the 2nd and 3rd day when the spirit calmed down. Very tasty.

We had friends visit us for the 4th of July weekend. Their visit and other causes for celebration brought out a Taylor 1960. Tasting note is here. We actually opened it on the 3rd--I hope that still counts

Roy Hersh wrote:Believe it or not, I had a bottle of Graham's Six Grapes. I liked it significantly more the 2nd and 3rd day when the spirit calmed down. Very tasty.

I don't think I've got this Port in years, I think I'll refresh my memory and go buy one in the next couple of weeks.

On Bastille Day, I opened a bottle of a port that I have never seen before - Sandeman 1967. This is what I thought of it:

Lead capsule covered in black paint which flaked off in a very annoying manner as the capsule was being removed. Clear mid-green glass, quite easy to see through. The bottle had a high fill, but was showing sone sign of seepage even though the cork appeared very sound. The cork was branded "Sandeman 1967 vintage port". The wine decanted very cleanly off a small volume of very thick and heavy sediment. A beautiful, deep ruby colour, crystal clear and very attractive. A wonderful nose, full of fruit - that typical dusty and sweet redcurrant and blood orange that is so characteristic of a middle aged Sandeman. Quite thick and rich in texture, very velvety. The flavours are rich and sweet, with the blood orange acidity giving a lovely structure as the ripe red fruit unwraps slowly. The tannins are just discernable, but are basically fully resolved. Lovely development. Ripe and sweet orange aftertaste, which is big and rich and lasts a long time. A delicious wine from an overlooked vintage, worth seeking out for excellent current drinking. 92/100. Drunk 15 July 2007 after a 28 hour decant - and was even better with another 24 hours!