NV Croft Pink Port

[Todd Pettinger]

At the 1994 Horizontal Tasting Roy led last weekend, the wine shop served the Croft Pink as an aperetif, I believe their hopes were to stimulate growth. Which suited me because at the price they have been asking for the Croft Pink, there just has been no way I could justify buying it ($23 Cdn for a novelty non-Port just can't be justified in my mind)

The Pink was served in a champagne glass with Tonic water and a slice of orange. It didn't appear to be mixed well because it progressed through three distinct layers as you got closer to the bottom on the champers glass. The lighter, bitter taste of the Pink with Tonic was prevalent in the top third, the middle featured nondescript syrupy alcohol and the last portion, where the orange slice was most prevalent was also the most enjoyable.

Later, I asked to try some of the remains of the bottle by itself. It yielded a surprising citrus taste. Sweet yet with a bitter undertone, I can see why all descriptions of this in the past that I have read include the phrase "I don't see this as Port" or "pleasant enough but nothing that I associate with Port..." Accurate. Pleasant enough with some citrus notes, it was refreshing and light as a Portonic... or would that be a "Pintonic" Derek???

For kicks and giggles I will likely buy a bottle and try it with a Portonic only with lime instead of orange. I may also substitute Soda Water for the Tonic water as I have never been a huge fan of Tonic in and of itself. I will report back when I get around to this, but I will wrap this with my official assessment of the Croft Pink:
pleasant as a light, crisp Portonic, but by itself too citrusy and without any resemblance to real Port. I refuse to give this a rating as that would only encourage people to accept Ponk as a Port - which is not the case. It is a pleasant enough 20%ish alcohol that has the ability to be mixed as a decent enough drink I would consider consuming on the porch in hot weather or as an aperitif to a meal (or as at the worst in my younger, less conservative days, as a form of "liquid panty remover" - although there are many better vessels for this); but never to serious Port drinkers, unless as an experiment.

[David Spriggs]

"liquid panty remover"

[Todd Pettinger]

"liquid panty remover"

I found Creme de Menthe or Peach/Peppermint Schnapps to be the most effective for this purpose. Everclear would work well and quickly, but you had to be very careful of the dose. Too much and the whole ship was going down. :help: :twisted:

[Andy Velebil]

Todd,
Interesting assesment of it. I didn't get any citrus notes from it when I had it. Matter here is a link to the full thread and TN HERE

but here is the brief TN

It had a very soft, silky, and sweet strawberry nose. The palate was also light and soft with some alluring floral notes that danced on the tounge. There was no heat on this at all, and I am sensitive to that especially in lower end Ports. A testiment to TFP using a very high quality brandy to fortify it with. The tannins were fully resloved and soft with light strawberries and white cherries. It rounded off with a medium length finish and all-in-all was a very well made seemless Port of this type.
84 points.
09/29/08

I would have to disagree that this is "Ponk." While maybe not what we would consider a "full fledged Port", it is none the less a well made product made for a specific target group.