1985 Osborne Vintage Port

[Erik Wiechers]

This particualr bottle i got for free when i purchased my 1994 Fonseca's and i wanted to try it badly. You dont see too many Osborne VP's.As always i opened the bottle at 4:30 PM and let it breathe for about 5 hours in the decanter.

The smell is filled with marzipan, red fruit and....surprisingly white grapes.
The colour is reddish/brown, a sign to me that it is approaching its maturity. Other older VP's i tried are still more red/black then red/brown. But maybe im wrong in this.

The taste is fresh, with still some tannines present. The longer i hold the wine in my mouth the creamier and thicker it gets. Very weird sensation, i never had this experience. It's maybe a little alcoholic at this stage but it doesnt bother me that much. Maybe that's gone after 2 more years or so.
I also taste apples, cider and cherries.

All with all a nice pleasant port-wine which is still widely available at my supplier. I will definately get me some more bottles for the 5-10 years to come.

90 points from me with the ability to maybe get 2 point more in 5 years.

[Roy Hersh]

I have not had this bottling since the 1990s, when a friend of mine held a vertical of all vintages between 1970 and 1994. They are rare here in the USA too, occasionally found as a bin end. The 1985 is close to a full mature VP from what I remember. Then again I thought the same of the 1985 Quinta do Noval and others here have commented that they think it is still drinking nicely today. Good to hear you are enjoying the Osborne and it would be great to hear more about others who have consumed bottles of this or others by this little discussed producer.

[Andy Velebil]

Erik,
Good TN, thanks. This is a producer that I rarely, if ever, see here in the States. I can't recall ever having one of their VP's, although I have had one or two of their LBV's.