For The Love Of Port

I have a bottle of port that I bought for less than $10 in the bargain bin at the wine shop a couple of years ago. I wasn't particularly interested in port at that point in time, but that seemed like an attractive price. I can't quite figure out what kind of port I've got -- hence "mystery wine" -- but I've got a guess. The label just says "Van Zeller" and below this it has "unfiltered reserve" and below this it has "bottled 1999" and below this it says "bottled by Niepoort." I don't have the bottle in front of me, so there may be minor variances from the exact language above, but that's substantively what is on the label. A dayglow green label stuck on by the wine shop designates the wine as "Quinta Mina LBV 1994." So, I would guess that this is a 1994 unfiltered LBV port produced by Cristianne van Zeller and bottled in 1999. I feel this is a reasonable quess. What I'm puzzled about is why IF this is truly associated with Quinta Mina that this fact would not be proudly indicated on the label? And why wouldn't the label announce this as a "late bottled vintage" port rather than merely as a "reserve?" I'm not accustomed to seeing ruby ports stipulate when they are bottled or that they are "unfiltered," so I'm guessing this is not a ruby reserve. Kind of mysterious to me. I'll be interested to see if the cork provides any corroboration of the Quinta Mina link asserted by the dayglow green label stuck on by the wine shop. Partly my puzzlement is that the labels on current port releases seem very definite and clear, no guesswork involved.

Is it a t-cork or driven?

Moses: Good question. I think it is a driven cork. I certainly didn't see any indication of a rim such as I would expect with a t-cork, stopper cork treatment.

I drank 1/2 of this port (de Zellaer by Cristiano van Zeller reserve port bottled 1999 by Niepoort -- presumably a 1994 LBV) tonight (Sunday evening). The cork was a driven cork and in good condition: not soaked through, no leakage around the cork. The level of the port was 1/2" or less below the cork. The cork said "bottled 1999," which supplied no new information. The wine was, in my limited opinion, very good. Sure worth $9.99. I have been burned MANY times buying discounted wines, but not this time. I decanted it into my decanter until I saw some sediment. I set the bottle aside, hoping to be able to pour off some good wine for a sample after 1/2 hour, but no such luck. Too much sediment -- which means that I had a good pour and didn't stir up the sediment much. The port had thrown a substantial sediment -- looked like coffee grounds when I poured it out of the bottle into the sink. I decanted this port 3 hours before I began drinking into a wide decanter, providing a substantial amount of surface area for the port to interact with the air, especially as I reserved about 1/2 of the port in a separate bottle for consuming Monday evening.

The color was light ruby or garnet color, with slight but distinguishable bricking at the edges. The color was a bit lighter than a Warre Warrior reserve ruby port I had drunk on Friday and Saturday evenings. The bouquet was moderately pronounced. I can't put my finger on and identify what the nose comprised, but it reminded me much of a good Corton Clos du Roi red burgundy that I drank once. I seem to have a hard time responding to the bouquet of wine -- I assume it is my fate to be under endowed with this sense -- but I love nuanced and fine bouquets. This port provided me much satisfaction in the bouquet. The flavor was rich, sweet but balanced with acid. I had several different fruit impressions. The first impression was prunes. On further thought I also tasted cherries. I thought I tasted something like licorice or anis. The aftertaste was moderate in length.

I tried this port with some walnuts, not a bad match and did not detract from the port. I tried with some stilton cheese: the cheese was good, but frankly I think it diminished the port some. All in all, the port was best drunk on its own. Over the two previous nights I had sampled a Warre Warrior port, and it, by contrast, was improved by complementing with walnuts, figs, and stilton (each separately).

I am a new comer to port and am just experimenting and discovering port. This was a very satisfying and rich wine experience -- it provided me with some of what has attracted me to exploring port further and spending some $$$ buying some vintage port for the future.

I finished this bottle tonight. The port tasted very similar to how it tasted last night, little evolution that I discerned, but I did not desire or expect any evolution. I had poured somewhat less than half the wine into another bottle with a Tee-stopper immediately after decanting. On further thought tonight the bouquet held some leather and the fruit flavors I tasted further included currents. I'm sure this would be considered 'petite biere' to experienced port drinkers, but I was impressed and pleased.

You may be a newcomer to Port, but you wrote a great TN on this...well done!