For The Love Of Port

Last night decanted a 1986 Graham's VP for the weekend..

Popped a less often seen bottle - Vargellas '68. Perfectly mature and rather better than the much more common '67

45 bottles of VP opened at home this year so far, so nicely on target for my annual allocation of 48 - next up: Q.Sibio 1960

Saturday night; An old Ferreira Tawny, Quinta do Rodo 1940.
Surprisingly fresh and fruity.

Tuesday a split of Warre's Warrior and Thursday a 2009 Taylors LBV. The Taylors is pretty lush...but was in an informal gathering so no chance to post thoughts.

1963 Fonseca and 1963 Graham's. This was part of a 1953 horizontal tasting. TN's are posted in the Port Tasting note forum.

1997 Niepoort, in 375. Tasty, but too young to be a new daily drinker.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

Hi Eric

It seems to me that You like the 375 sized bottles? Does the 97 Niepoort in the smaller edition, not have the same cork problem, as the bigger brother?

I tend to awoid buying Ni 97 just for that same reason. But Maby I should look for the halved sized bottle.
Best regards
Allan

Allan Engelsted Laurents wrote:Hi Eric

It seems to me that You like the 375 sized bottles? Does the 97 Niepoort in the smaller edition, not have the same cork problem, as the bigger brother?

I tend to awoid buying Ni 97 just for that same reason. But Maby I should look for the halved sized bottle.
Best regards
Allan

I'm more interesting in if you got any V.A. in it, as that is a pretty known problem in this vintage.

Allan Engelsted Laurents wrote:Hi Eric
It seems to me that You like the 375 sized bottles? Does the 97 Niepoort in the smaller edition, not have the same cork problem, as the bigger brother?

The last two bottles I opened were 750s, but I do like the 375s for just sharing with my wife. I've heard about the problems with the 750s and was also wondering if the 375s were o.k. I haven't heard a definitive answer, and this bottle didn't resolve things either. TN posted. I didn't get VA on the first night, but as I finish it off two days later I think it is there.

Eric Menchen wrote:

Allan Engelsted Laurents wrote:Hi Eric
It seems to me that You like the 375 sized bottles? Does the 97 Niepoort in the smaller edition, not have the same cork problem, as the bigger brother?

The last two bottles I opened were 750s, but I do like the 375s for just sharing with my wife. I've heard about the problems with the 750s and was also wondering if the 375s were o.k. I haven't heard a definitive answer, and this bottle didn't resolve things either. TN posted. I didn't get VA on the first night, but as I finish it off two days later I think it is there.

I think I'll pull mine out and start drinking them. No reason to have them taking up space if they're not sound.

Andy Velebil wrote:

Eric Menchen wrote:

Allan Engelsted Laurents wrote:Hi Eric
It seems to me that You like the 375 sized bottles? Does the 97 Niepoort in the smaller edition, not have the same cork problem, as the bigger brother?

The last two bottles I opened were 750s, but I do like the 375s for just sharing with my wife. I've heard about the problems with the 750s and was also wondering if the 375s were o.k. I haven't heard a definitive answer, and this bottle didn't resolve things either. TN posted. I didn't get VA on the first night, but as I finish it off two days later I think it is there.

I think I'll pull mine out and start drinking them. No reason to have them taking up space if they're not sound.

Hrm... yet more disturbing news about Ni97. I bought a 6-pack a while back and when I heard about the VA problems I opened one. It was terrific, so I hoped that my batch would be good ones. But this is really starting to sound like a very consistent problem... maybe I should open another one to check. The Niepoorts (and Broadbent, which is bottled by Niepoort) at the 1994 retrospective were all pretty riddled with VA.

Is it just me, or are there several years with problems with VA/TCA for Niepoort VPs? Seem to recall 85 & 94, too.

John M. wrote:Is it just me, or are there several years with problems with VA/TCA for Niepoort VPs? Seem to recall 85 & 94, too.

1985 through 1997, though 1985 (at least in my experience) doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as 1994 and 1997. 2000 seems to have solved the problem, and I've not really experienced any problems prior to 1985 though others might have.

Andy Velebil wrote:

Eric Menchen wrote:I didn't get VA on the first night, but as I finish it off two days later I think it is there.

I think I'll pull mine out and start drinking them. No reason to have them taking up space if they're not sound.

What VA was there was not significant, and I didn't notice it at first. On the flip side, VA doesn't bother me like a lot of people, and I drink a lot of funky beers. So I'm not writing these bottles off so easily, and still considering bidding on the 375s in the Zachy's auction.

2007 Presidential (Dalva) LBV. A cellar defender doing its duty.

I've a case of the Roeda 05, will be looking to see your assessment.

Also: Solera 23 Zacapata, some Tyrconnell Irisb Whiskey, some Scotch (Auchentlosan Triple Distilled Lowland Single Malt), and, of course, the 2009 Taylor VP.

As you can see, I like to taste pretty good stuff but have to watch my $$$.

1976 Warre's Colheita to start the holiday week

Cracked open a 1995 Kopke Colheita (bottled in 2009) last night. I'll get a note up tonight or tomorrow as I want to see if it develops any, as it was lacking in the complexity department last night.

One Niepoort Colheita 1937 last night....another bottle to night. Life is great.

The co-driver last night was a 20 Years Niepoort bottled in 1988. Allways a treat.

Merry Christmas to You All

I have so far avoided catching my wife's cold, so I opened an S. Leonardo 40-yr old Tawny Port tonight after dinner.