1985 Niepoort Vintage Port

Written by Roy Hersh

Wednesday, 04 June 2008

1985 Niepoort Vintage Port - Dirk's dad Rolf, finished his last Vintage Port with a bang.  I have not had this Port in over a decade and don't own much of it, so it was great to revisit this after possibly a dozen years.  Decanted for six hours earlier, the color was dark ruby with a lighter edge, right from the get go.  Initially a sweet and floral nose with expressive big bang raspberry up front.  It was really tasty from the moment it was decanted and just got better and better with medium weight early on along with ripe plum and blackcurrant flavors.  The structure was soft with no tannins showing and a medium length finish with a slight touch of heat late during the aftertaste.  As this evolved, it gained lots of weight, showed a delicious purity of grape with just loads of fruit exploding like fireworks on the 4th of July.  Fine and round tannins reared their head long enough to provide a glimpse.  This is a really delicious drink at 8 hours after decanting and I would suggest drinking this anytime soon and through 2025.  I'll admit it took me by surprise, as my earlier notes  from years ago, did not do it justice.  I had a sticker on the back of the bottle:  Purchased August 1994 at $23.99 in Manhasset, NY.  I'd take another case at that price!   93+ points ~ 6-4-08