TN thread for my
1985 Churchill Vintage Port has been posted
here.
Summary:
1985 Churchill Vintage Port
D+1 hour
Color: A very deep red, perhaps more garnet, with some bricking beginning. Clear and bright in the decanter.
Nose: Mild perfumed alcohol backed up by strawberries and ripe raspberries. Many floral notes float over the fruits and an earthy minerality provides substance. Also some tomato paste, which is mildly worrisome.
Palate: Initially tart, but mellows quickly in the mouth. Raspberries and red currant. Good acidity and tannins, but the tannins are almost hiding behind the acidity. Only moderately sweet... I might even go with medium dry. Insufficient quantity in this small glass to really get a feel for body weight.
Finish: Warm and fruity. Moderate length, finishes with grape skin.
D+4 hours
Color: Deep red/garnet/ruby. The bricking that I saw earlier is gone, and was probably due to fine sediment still floating in the glass.
Nose: Same as before, but I'm going to change the tomato paste to rhubarb now. There's something sugary and sweet that is very faint, and reminds me of an extremely faint VA.
Palate: First impression is still one of tartness, followed by raspberries and unripe strawberries. The tannins are coming to the fore now and stand equal to the acidity; both are good. Definitely medium dry now, and I'll call it a medium body. The late palate is taking on a tiny harsh note which bleeds over into the finish. If the alcohol were more forward or the fruits weaker, one might call this Port hot. But as it stands that's not the case, and my guess is that more time isn't going to hurt that balance.
Finish: Pleasant warmth, the aforementioned harsh note, and then a slow fade of moderate length. The heat outlasts the flavor, leaving you warm on the inside.
Score: 88 points. A moderate disappointment based on a previous bottle that JDAW shared with me in Paris, but still a very good Port and well worth the measly $26.50/bottle that I paid. QPR is very high, and I still hold out hope that the rest of the case will live up to the standard set by JDAW's bottle. As I recall that bottle was in the 92-93 range.