The NYC Dow's Vertical - 3/19/11

[Lamont Huxley]

This past Saturday, March 19th, I attended my first organized port vertical at Harry's Steakhouse in NYC. Let me first say that Jeff G and his co-organizer Josh did a fantastic job putting the event together and getting everything set up the night of the tasting. We had a private room for our 14-person party which allowed everyone to focus on and enjoy the ports to the fullest without any distractions. The atmosphere was warm, the food was delicious, the company was great, and the ports were awesome!

We wound up with 14 Dow's VPs from 1960 to 2007. I believe there were only two missing (1972 and 1975) but with a ratio of one bottle to one person there was no lack of port to enjoy! Years ago a friend and I hosted a few big dinners around the holidays where we opened multiple bottles of port on a single night (I think the most we ever had open at one time were 4 or 5) but trying to evaluate 14 VPs side by side was a whole different story. It turned out to be a more more challenging task than I had expected though it was definitely one of the most enjoyable challenges I've ever been faced with. It was interesting to see how easy it is to second guess your opinion of a particular port when you have 13 others putting it into perspective. It was a major brain and palate workout!

I was pleasantly surprised by a few of the ports and a little disappointed in a few others but all in all what struck me was the consistently high quality of the wines over such a long span of time. There was some brief discussion at the end of the evening as to everyone's favorite VPs of the night and I believe the 1970 was the consensus pick for WOTN. Although I thought it was an excellent port, I actually had 5 vintages scored ahead of it with the incredible 1980 just barely edging out the 1960 for my top pick of the tasting. Probably the biggest disappointment of the night for me was the 2007. After all the hype I was expecting to be blown away and I just couldn't get anything out of it. The extremely short decant time may have been a major part of it but even with that it seemed particularly odd and closed up.

Below are my notes and scores for all 14 ports (which I'll also post in the TNDB when I have some time). The decant times given represent about how long before the beginning of the tasting that the ports were decanted so it can be assumed that they all had a couple more hours on top of that to air out during the event. I'm very interested to hear from any of the other attendees as to their opinions/scores from the tasting as I could tell from the talk at the table that night that there were definitely differing opinions on many of the ports. Cheers!

1960 (1+hrs)
Med/Light burgundy in color, about the same hue as the '77, tied for 2nd lightest of the tasting. The nose was exceptional and just kept changing over a couple of hours. My notes when I first sniffed it were clove, cinnamon, and little citrus - fresh with a little spirit also. By the second go-round an hour or so later it really blossomed and I thought cedar, sandalwood, clove, dried cherry, raisin, and also some fresh raspberry fruit coming out - awesome. It's light, smooth and silky in texture with a dried apple quality to the fruit, a touch of spirit apparent and then a long finish. This was my first tasting of this port and this example was drinking beautifully now and is probably at its apex (at least for my taste), as it still has just hints of red fruits left but all of those complex tertiary characteristics as well. Has a lot of finesse. Just barely edged out for WOTN by the '80. 96pts

1963 (1+hrs)
This was the lightest wine of the tasting - a light burgundy color. The nose showed caramel, fudge, red fruit, cedar and vanilla. Coming back to it later it reminded me of old wood, orange peel and raisins - not quite as aromatic as the '60 but it's a great bouquet. It's well balanced with tangy dried and red fruits and a little spirit on the palate, no noticable tannin and a long finish. Delicious, fully mature port that was edged out by the 1960 sitting next to it. 95 pts

1966 (1+hrs)
Med/dark burgundy color - very full nose of dried fruits and fudge with something smokey/earth/funky going on that's hard to describe but not offensive, just odd. At least one person at the tasting called it stewed and perhaps it was slightly but I liked it. Smooth and intense with rich fruit, fudge and a little peppery heat, good balance and a very persistant finish. 93 pts

1970 (4+hrs)
About the same med/dark burgundy as the '66 but with less fade toward the rim. On the nose I got toffee, wood, strawberry syrup and spices. Has exceptional balance on the palate with smooth flavors of red fruit and oranges that fade into a long finish. Really fine stuff but in an understated package. 94 pts

1977 (1+hrs)
Med/light burgundy color. The nose had a woody/medicinal edge too it that detracted a bit from the red fruit, fudge and dried peel that was also there. Lightish-bodied palate with a creamy texture and raisiny fruit. Has good balance and a subtle, peppery, medium-long finish. Very good. 92 pts

1980 (1+hrs)
Way dark in the glass - still an opaque purple in the center. Looks more like a 10 year old port than a 31 year old! Beautiful, floral nose of rich chocolate and ripe purple fruits. Medium-Full bodied with fantastic balance and texture and a lucious dark fruit profile - big but totally integrated. There is some grippy spirit that preludes the long finish but in a pleasing way, showing the amazing youthfullness of this port. This may not have been the most complex wine of the night but it was just so undeniably delicious that it won me over in the end. After the tasting I was second-guessing whether I really liked this better than the '60 and then I looked at my notes and saw that I had written "Killer killer killer!" and "I wan't to drink this all night!" next to the '80 - so yeah, I had to crown it the champion among some very worthy competition. 96+ pts

1983 (1+hrs)
Dark burgundy color. Sweet nose of ripe raspberry, caramel, fudge, and liquorice - slightly spirity. Juicy red/black berry fruit showing good balance and a long finish. A delicious port with plenty of life left that was perhaps a little underappreciated due to the excellent wines tasted along with it. 93 pts

1985 (40+hrs)
Med/light burgundy color. I was surprised that it wasn't darker although the last time I had this wine was many years ago. There was definitely something weird going on with the nose. There was medicinal cherry fruit there as well as fudge and some spirit, but there's this strange odor dominating that to me smelled like new carpet - a little chemical-y or something? Possibly VA? It wasn't terrible but wasn't inviting either. The palate showed much nicer - light bodied, smooth, with silky tannins and raisiny fruit. Feels a little bit lacking in the middle and ends with a medium-long, dry finish. Nice, but I have a feeling it wasn't the best example. 91 pts

1991 (1+hrs)
Dark burgundy. Somewhat strange nose on this one too but different than the '85. It has a smokey, mushroomy funk to it that's really odd along with dark fruit and root beer notes intermingling. The palate is smooth, with tasty dark fruit and flavors similar to those on the nose. There's also some noticable heat popping out that leads into a fairly long finish. I found this to be the weakest showing of the night (and yet still an enjoyable drink) and was probably not representative as I've had this once before and liked it much more. A longer decant might have helped blow off some of the funk and alcohol. 88 pts

1994 (24+hrs)
Dark blue/purple hue with a dark burgundy rim. Lovely, dark floral fruit on the nose - blueberry, blackberry, raspberry and tar. Sweet and ripe on the palate with loads of dark berries, wonderful balance, silky tannin and a long finish. Went along perfectly when I tried it with the filet mignon. Great vintage port - reminded me of the 1980 at a younger stage - just purely delicious. 95 pts

1997 (24+hrs)
Just slightly lighter than the blue/purple color of the '94 but it's still very dark. The nose seemed fairly closed up on this one but I picked up black cherry, root beer and mint - just not very expressive at the moment. The palate shows sweet black cherry and dark berry fruit, very juicy, with tangy acidity and a long finish. Excellent but needs lots of time. 93+ pts

2000 (24+hrs)
A dark purple - similar in color to the '94. Also somewhat tight, dark-toned nose of liquorice, chocolate and cherries. The palate is rich with very bright acidity, young chalky tannins and a chocolately, slightly hot finish. As with the '97, I liked this a lot but it has yet to blossom. 93+ pts

2003 (24+hrs)
Dark, eggplant purple - maybe the darkest of the tasting. The nose is very expressive and lovely to smell - perfumed, floral dark fruit pours out of the glass. It's opulent on the palate as well with sweet black cherry fruit - juicy and lush with a long finish. It's young but very luscious and approachable. A pleasure to drink even at this age but it should have a very long life. Awesome. 95 pts

2007 (1+hrs)
Dark purple - close in color to the '03 but not quite as dark. The nose has a heavy baked/jammy fruit quality, raspberry and strawberry, but there's something odd in there too. It reminds me of the "carpet" note that I found on the '85 and also a little tomato paste - maybe some VA? The palate gives dark fruit similar to the nose but feels tightly wound and I had a hard time trying to evaluate this one. The fact that this was decanted at the time of the tasting may also have had a lot to do with it. I don't think a rating would mean much here so I'll refrain. N/R

[Eric Ifune]

Very nice!

[Roy Hersh]

Lamont,

I am thrilled to hear that Jeff & Josh did such a great job of bringing everyone together and organizing such a lineup! Sounds like a great time was had by all and it must have been fun to meet so many people who you only knew virtually up until that point. Port has a funny way of bringing people together as many have learned over the years.

As to the 2007, I know that bottling quite well at this point and it really deserves a lot more decant time and I bet that had something to do with it. If Suckling thought it was 100 points, then how bad can it be? Lots of us here have tried it and found it blow away good too. I'd not give up on it by any means. It truly is a gorgeous young VP. Thanks for the great notes too.

This needs to be entered into the TNDB, but before we move it to the TN's part of the Forum, we'll leave it here through the weekend so more people can see your great post. Thanks!

[Andy Velebil]

This needs to be entered into the TNDB, but before we move it to the TN's part of the Forum, we'll leave it here through the weekend so more people can see your great post. Thanks!

Lamont,
I'll take care of that next week, so you don't have to worry about it.

[Roy Hersh]

Quick Draw McGraw.

[Lamont Huxley]

Lamont,

I am thrilled to hear that Jeff & Josh did such a great job of bringing everyone together and organizing such a lineup! Sounds like a great time was had by all and it must have been fun to meet so many people who you only knew virtually up until that point. Port has a funny way of bringing people together as many have learned over the years.

As to the 2007, I know that bottling quite well at this point and it really deserves a lot more decant time and I bet that had something to do with it. If Suckling thought it was 100 points, then how bad can it be? Lots of us here have tried it and found it blow away good too. I'd not give up on it by any means. It truly is a gorgeous young VP. Thanks for the great notes too.

This needs to be entered into the TNDB, but before we move it to the TN's part of the Forum, we'll leave it here through the weekend so more people can see your great post. Thanks!

Roy - Yes, it was very cool to meet some of the 'ers who I've only known through the forum previously - all very nice folks as I had expected. The only problem is that now that I've experienced my first vertical I want to do one every week!

I definitely wouldn't judge the '07 based on this one experience, particularly after all of the praise that it's gotten from so many people, including yourself. I'd love to have the chance to try it after a longer decant. I don't know if any will make it into my collection though considering the highly inflated price that it's now selling for. I'd much prefer to pick up some of the '03 which I can find for virtually half the price of the '07 and showed beautifully at the tasting. Even the '94 can still be had for a price comparable to the '07 which seems crazy to me.

This needs to be entered into the TNDB, but before we move it to the TN's part of the Forum, we'll leave it here through the weekend so more people can see your great post. Thanks!

Lamont,
I'll take care of that next week, so you don't have to worry about it.

Thanks Andy! Should I still enter the TNs in individually so that they're searchable or would that be redundant?

[Ronald Wortel]

Great report Lamont, thanks for posting!

Can I request that this post remains here in its whole after the TN's have been reposted in the TNDB? These recaps of tastings are a wonderful read.

[Andy Velebil]

Thanks Andy! Should I still enter the TNs in individually so that they're searchable or would that be redundant?

Nope, no need to do a thing. I'll take care of it for you, hopefully tonight or tomorrow.

[Kurt Wieneke]

Thanks for posting these vertical notes from one of my favorite Port producers.

[brij s]

Hi all,
I agree with Lamont Huxley
Thanks.