TN: 1987 Niepoort Vintage Port

[Al B.]

Decant: 3½ hours - From a half bottle. Deep and vibrant red colour. An unusual nose of mint and coriander, with the coriander overwhelming everything else for a while, but it did start to allow other flavours of dusty red cherries come through after some time in the glass. One of the most astonishing changes in smell that I have yet experienced in tasting vintage ports. Dusty red cherries and strawberry jam in the mouth. A nice acidic lemony structure with tannins still present but not dominant. Swallowing releases the alcohol but then the aftertaste of chocolate digestive biscuits steps in a stays for a while. My overall impression of this wine is that it was a little disappointing for a 1987. It is not a strong wine and is in the bottom quartile of VPs I would expect to drink this year, nor do I think it will develop and improve significantly so I rate this as 2/2 on Tom's scale. 87 points