For The Love Of Port

This dinner was already settled by a long time but only in the last weekend we managed to get together and drink a bunch of amazing wines. The reason for this event was a bottle of Real Vinícola da Madeira Terrantez 1795, but allong came some other beauties.

Well, the Terrantez 1795 was an incredible wine. While decanting, and trying to remove the fragmented cork, we all had the chance to taste the wine. It was really good. The wine showed great acidity, some volatile, great body and somewhat confused aromas. We started the Dinner and after 5 hours of decanting, we had this incredible wine. Became really clean in the nose, gained weight, lenght and acidity. Absolutely stunning wine. The best i've ever had, only threatned by 1910 Malvasia from Fajã dos Padres. The color, the volatile, the body, the savor, the complexity. Impressive.

Along with this wine, came some great other wines:

Noval 1880
Showed really beautifull. Delicate, with lots of flavour and complexity. Magic wine.


Fonseca Guimaraens Vintage 76 vs Fonseca Vintage 77
Great duel. I've allways loved the FG76 and F77 but never had both side by side.
It's like the beauty and the beast. The 77 showed elegance, finesse, precision while the 76 was more powerfull, more unresolved. Both huge wines but i really prefered the 77 Fonseca.

JR

Hi João,

I can only wonder what the 1795 would have been like, had it enjoyed even more time to breathe instead of being consumed after 5 hours. Nothing wrong with that, but often times with Madeira that has been in bottle for ages, as I'd bet this was ... a day or two even for Madeiras of this antiquity, will bring out the very best.

As to the 1910 Malvasia from Fajã dos Padres, was there any other name on the label besides the vineyard it came from? Or was there even a label at all. I'd love to see a picture of this bottle if you have one. Upload to PORTraits would be great for ANY of the bottles in your report.

Sounds like a fantastic time. I am very interested in your Fonseca vs. Guimaraens (1977 v 1976) VP taste off. What was the color like on the bottle of F77?

Great post that had me drooling.

Hi Roy,

Well, i don't find the photo of that bottle. It stated only the vineyard and the vintage. No producer at all


As for the Fonseca 77, the wine showed a light ruby color, but the 76 was darker.



JR

Another light '77 Fonseca. Do you remember when these were young and impenetrably purple ink opaque and brooding. I am trying to figure out why the color is fading on these so early.

What a night!

Another light '77 Fonseca. Do you remember when these were young and impenetrably purple ink opaque and brooding. I am trying to figure out why the color is fading on these so early.

Well, it wasn't that light, yes lighter than the 76, but it wasn't much lighter. BTW, we drank the wine in the night so my perception cannot be the most accurate. I had a fonseca 77 and a 63 earlier (2 months) and both were a little lighter than this one. Anyway, this was a great bottle, besides the color.

JR

Joao,

Thanks for sharing! I've not had a 1976 Fonseca so thanks for the note on it. It's interesting to read how it compared to the 1977.

Of course, that old Madeira must have been awesome. Hopefully one day I will be so lucky as to have a sip of it pass my lips.

Dear Joao,
thanks for posting the TNs, this must have been a night to remember...
I have never seen a bottle of 1795 Terrantez of Real Vinicola da Madeira, so I am curious, whether this is one more 1795 T to add to the ever growing list of Madeiras. Or could it have been a Companhia Vinicola da Madeira (CVM)?
Peter

Dear Joao,
thanks for posting the TNs, this must have been a night to remember...
I have never seen a bottle of 1795 Terrantez of Real Vinicola da Madeira, so I am curious, whether this is one more 1795 T to add to the ever growing list of Madeiras. Or could it have been a Companhia Vinicola da Madeira (CVM)?
Peter

Sorry Peter and folks,

This was indeed the Companhia Vinícola da Madeira. My Bad....


JR