Got responsibility / need guidance / 1985 Offley Vintage

[Rune EG]

I am member of Drammen Rotary Club which is 75 years in May this year. In 1996, when the club was 60 years (long before I joined the club) it got a gift from the founding club (Oslo Rotary Club). The gift was a original wooden case of 12 bottles of 1985 Offley Vintage Port with the condition that it must not be consumed before May 2011. During these 15 yrs they have been stored in a proper wine cellar at one of the members, and last week they were delivered to me. I have carefully checked all 12 (eight are in perfect condition, three have some marks at the bottom of the capsule which I think is not leakage, but there is one bottle where I think there has been a slight leakage and the cork of that bottle has “grown” a little bit in the top).

As my fellow club members know that I am “above average” interested in port, I was contacted by the Board and asked to have responsibility for the full meeting (one hour) on 5th May presenting this port to the members incl consuming it. I have had a port wine course in the club back in January 2005 when they tasted a Romariz white, a Graham LBV and Taylors 20 yrs old tawny. Just to show the different styles.

We have 100 members in the club, and I expect abt 60 to be present. With small glasses there are 12 persons per bottle so multiplied with 12 bottles = 144 “persons”, i.e. slightly more than two small glasses to each member being present. Knowing from last time this is not enough. And I cannot speak one hour about abt one vintage from one producer.

I would like this port, since it was a gift, to be the best of the evening. I know Offley quite a lot from white (their Offley Cachucha white abt 8 yrs is a very nice port) and LBV, but no so much their vintages. My impression is that Offley is best consumed as a young vintage, but I could be wrong. There are limited info in FTLOP Tasting Note Base, as there are only three members giving scores 86 / 87 / 93 pts. So, what can I expect? As the bottles will not be opened before the day of tasting, I need to do the planning well ahead.

I have noted that 1985 Offley Vintage will be part of the Seattle tasting this coming weekend and I hope to get some feedback. Most of the participations in Drammen Rotary Club are experienced red and white wine drinkers, but there are max 10 who know port well. Which other two products should I present to them before having the 1985 Offley Vintage as a final? Will have max three, as I must also inform a lot about port in general.

Looking forward to hear some good suggestions.

[Richard Henderson]

The bottles are probably okay , even those with slight leakage. This is not one of the top houses for 1985. I have drunk some of it but I don't have any tasting notes. I have drunk all I had in my collection a few years ago. My memory seems to tell me 88-90. It is a decent enough port and should show well for such an occasion. The Cellartracker average is about 90. Robert Parker gave it the lowest rating of the 1985's with a 77. I think it is better than that. As noted from Al B. in the tasting notes, there will likely be some bottle variation. As Roy H. recommends decant several hours in advance and look for any bottles that may be damaged.
It should be a good night for the group.

[Glenn E.]

I have noted that 1985 Offley Vintage will be part of the Seattle tasting this coming weekend and I hope to get some feedback.

At the moment the '85 Offley isn't part of the lineup for this weekend - it was mentioned in a comment about a future tasting that I'm planning for 2015. I only have one bottle so I need to save it for the 30th anniversary horizontal.

[Kurt Wieneke]

Rune,
I had the '85 Offley at a tasting a few years back. I would not expect too much from it. From memory, it's fully mature with a pink rim and very, very sweet nearly cloying. That said, it may end up being a good intro to persons unfamiliar with a real VP with bottle age.

[Al B.]

Rune,

An interesting challenge - to serve 3 ports, of which Offley 1985 is the best.

Offley 1985 is not a great port, but it is not a bad port either. If you were looking to serve 3 vintage ports, of which the Offley was the best, you could try serving it alongside a modest port from 1975 and perhaps a Croft 1980.

If you wanted a contrast of styles, you could serve a tawny - a basic tawny or perhaps a 10 year old - and a young ruby (say 6 Grapes or Bin 27) or young LBV.

Either way, it would be good if you could decant the Offley with plenty of time to allow it to breathe in the decanter.

Alex

[Rune EG]

Thanks for your comments.
May be the port is slightly better than I feared, especially in view of the stable storage.
I think I will set that day off to "Offley Vintage 1985" and do all the decanting of the 12 bottles at home, and then put them back in to the bottles for transport to where the consumption is going to take place. I just hope the corks will come out in one piece, but that is going to be a challenge with corks from 1987 (bottling year)!

[Tom Archer]

I've only got one note on this wine, from April '09, and was quite pleased with it; noting that it needed another five years to show its best.

The problem with '85 is that the incidence of bad bottles is higher than for any other year, so if you open five bottles you could easily find a poor one amongst them.

Be ready to open more than is theroetically necessary!

Tom