Annual Tasting with my College Buddies at the Shore.

[Mike J. W.]

This weekend is my annual get together with my college buddies down the shore. I always bring the Port and I try to theme it to the the last digit of the current year (2026, so a Port ending in a 6 where possible). I mix it up at times and do one day based on the year and another based on a theme like White Ports or LBV's. Here's the line-up for this weekend. Hopefully we don't run into any bad bottles, but the risk is greater with older VP's.

Friday Night
1. 1966 Dow VP
2. 1966 Croft VP
3. 1966 Warre VP
4. 1966 Taylor's VP
5. 1966 Fonseca VP
6. 1986 Graham's Malvedos
7. 2016 Dow VP


Saturday Night
1. Agri-Roncao DR 30 y.o. Tawny (bottled 2023)
2. S. Leonardo 30 y.o. Tawny (bottled 2019)
3. 1976 Krohn's Colheita (bottled 2016)
4. 1976 Kopke Colheita (bottled 2024)
5. 1966 Porto Rocha Colheita (bottled 2007)
6. 1966 Kopke Colheita (bottled 2020)
7. Kopke 50 y.o. Tawny (bottled 2025)
8. Menin 50 y.o. Branco (bottled 2026) 9/14 Edit: I thought I had pulled a Tawny like I intended to, but in my rush, I picked up a White.

[Andy Velebil]

Wow Lucky! Looks like it’s gonna be a fun weekend. Are most Port nerds or just enjoy a glass or 6?

[Roy Hersh]

Mike,

Have a great time. It will be interesting to see which of your pairings is going to be more impressive on day 2. Looks like a fantastic lineup of Vintage Ports too.

[Mike J. W.]

Wow Lucky! Looks like it’s gonna be a fun weekend. Are most Port nerds or just enjoy a glass or 6?

The weekend was a blast! Great weather, great Port and great friends.

They're all pretty much the type that enjoys a glass or 6.

[Mike J. W.]

Mike,

Have a great time. It will be interesting to see which of your pairings is going to be more impressive on day 2. Looks like a fantastic lineup of Vintage Ports too.

The first night VP's all showed very well except for the '66 Taylor's. The bottle presented as pretty pedestrian which was disappointing. It wasn't that the bottle was bad, it was simply lackluster. WOTN was the '66 Fonseca, VERY closely followed by the '66 Dow and then the '66 Croft. The '86 Graham's Malvedos was a strong contender as well.

The second night, were the TWAIOA (and 1 WWAIOA) and the Colheitas. We compared two at a time in the order shown in my original post to see how they stood up to their like counterparts. With that in mind, the S. Leonardo 30 y.o. won out over the DR 30 y.o.. The '76 Krohn bested the '76 Kopke. The '66 Porto Rocha easily won out over the '66 Kopke. And finally, the Menin Branco 50 y.o. beat the Kopke 50 y.o..

WOTN was the Menin Branco 50 y.o., followed by the S. Leonardo 30 y.o., and the '66 Porto Rocha came in third. All of the Ports the second night really sang.