For The Love Of Port

What are some of the oldest Dao vintages you have tasted that were still holding up?

I have some 2003 Quinta dos Roques Reservas. I think they are starting to come around now. I bought them a few years ago and it was so disjointed at that time.

Brian C. wrote:I have some 2003 Quinta dos Roques Reservas.

I was thinking more like 1960's and the like... I have had vintages from the late 80's and they were fine, but finding anything real old is quite a task.

Normally I'd think that 2003 isn't worth mentioning, but when it comes to Dao table wines as we know them, it's a pretty new game. I had always heard that old Dao was not really worth seeking out, as we're talking about the co-ops and such.

I've tasted a good dozen of great wines from Dao and Barraida from the 80's and 90's nothing older. I've also taste quite a few mediocre co-op wines. If the estate that made good wines are still running, the wines are not made in the same style anymore, just like anywhere else in the world, or almost! One of the problem of those 2 regions that are really close together was that they tend to get metallic tannins as they age.

The oldest Dao I tasted was a couple of years ago, an '89 wine called Lapa de Lobo with a sketch of a wolf on the label. It was quite nice in a rustic kind of way. I felt quite vindicated in having decided to cellar an inexpensive wine from a less fancied region.

Recently I went to ferret out some wines for a birthday dinner and came across a couple of Dao wines I randomly put away. I say randomly in that I had no reviews of the wine or vintage but just wanted to cellar a few Dao wines. There weren't any "good" Dao around back then so what I put away were an '87 and '88 Dao Catedral and a '90 Terras Alta from JM Fonseca.

Anybody know which is the better vintage? I should open the weaker vintage first. The '87 has a slightly lower fill so I'm inclined to open that one first.

Mahmoud