For The Love Of Port

Opened at 11:00 am for a dinner party at 6:00 pm on Saturday, December 19th, 2009.

Initial notes at D+1 hour from the dregs which have been allowed to settle in a Port glass. I'm hoping to have time to take notes later, but wanted to make sure to get something posted in case that doesn't happen. I have high hopes for this bottle based on one shared with JDAW in Paris in October.

1985 Churchill Vintage Port

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 the previous bottle 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.

Glenn, just curious, how long have you owned this bottle?

It is great to see another fine TN on a Churchill's VP. Very good indeed.

Roy Hersh wrote:Glenn, just curious, how long have you owned this bottle?

I bought the case on 12/7 and it was delivered on 12/9. So the bottle had been lying down in my wine fridge for about 7 days, then I stood it up again on the counter for 3 days before decanting.

10 days after shipping seemed like it should have been long enough for a 1985 to me... I'd give an older Port more time than that, but the 1985s are still youngsters. There wasn't much heavy sediment in the bottle - mostly just that really fine muck-like sediment - and it decanted cleanly and clearly.

As a further note, my brother-in-law really liked it and he didn't like the 1995 Smith Woodhouse LBV that I had open. I suspect this was due to the fact that the Churchill was considerably drier than the Smith Woodhouse, and its flavors were more red than purple/black. Between the two of us we drank all but about a glass of the bottle!

I've only had this once, this past October when we visit the Churchill's Lodge. I still have to transcribe a couple hundred TN's from the trip, but the short version is I quite liked this one and gave it 91 points.

Yes, it was a very fine bottle we had. Actually a very fine lineup across the board and having Johnny Graham there was obviously something very special. I am looking forward to a very well stocked tasting this spring in Seattle of Johnny's VPs and SQVPs too. I have a case I am tossing at this and if all participants bring a bottle too ... we're going to have one amazing tasting. Still waiting for Johnny to finalize a date.

I polished off the last glass and a half this evening, and it was still going strong. The changes since Saturday night are subtle, but enough that I'd say that 7-8 hours isn't sufficient decant time. I think I enjoyed the Port tonight the most of all, and probably would have given it another point or two now. I won't alter the TN, though, as that was the score at that time.

I'm going to enjoy having this as my "house Port" this winter!