1985 Warre Vintage Port

[John Danza]

This evening I opened a 1985 Warre on the spur of the moment, but I was able to give it 3 hours in the decanter. This is the second of three bottles I bought at one time. This one, like the last a couple of years ago, showed a wine that's fully mature and actually in a state of decline. The color was medium ruby with a brown rim. The nose was dominated by plums. The wine was only medium sweet but with a dry finish, and no alcohol heat at all. The cork looks great, so that's not the problem. Could this be a bad set of three bottles, or is this wine not holding up to the quality of the vintage?

[Eric Menchen]

My notes from last tasting this are:
? O.k. Perhaps seek out to try again. (31 Jan 09)
Which isn't particularly informative, but doesn't disagree with your assessment either. I've had plenty of other 85s and 83s that I thought were great in the last year.

[Kurt Wieneke]

John,
I had this a couple of years ago and agree with your notes. It's definitely mature. My notes said "a classy English port w/ a kiss of cocoa". Pop and pour at this point.

[Andy Velebil]

cross posted from elsewhere...

John,

Although it's been about a year or so since I last had this, and several times prior, I've never had one that was close to being past it's prime. And while I prefer it with about 8-10 hours of decanting, it has always been a solid VP that has plenty of life left. I'd suspect whoever stored yours prior to you getting them may have done them some harm.