For The Love Of Port

I was wondering how long before we are going to drink this bottle it should be decanted? Are they any "rules" to consider or is it age or any other factor that helps you decide?


I did a search but could not find any answer, if I have missed it please delete the thread admins.

This will be what we drink

I have only limited experience with the 1995 vintage, but so far that experience tells me that a medium decant should do nicely. I'd probably go with 4-6 hours.

I think on the home page Roy has an article about decant times in general. I'll give my thoughts:

1. First general factor is age. The younger the port, the longer the decant.
2. Second thing I consider is the general classification of the bottle. Was this from a declared year from a major producer? Or is this a second label, a non-generally-declared year SQVP? Or is it a second or third tier producer? Big declaration names generally get a longer decant than off-year second labels, etc.
3. Finally, trumping the above is specific knowledge of the label. I know 1977 Smith Woodhouse is a beast, as is 1994 Taylor. They will get longer decants than other labels (even first tier labels) from the same vintages in my book.

I haven't personally had the 1995 Fonseca Guimaraens, but it falls in the off-year/second-label category and Glenn's recommendation seems reasonable to me. I've had the 1998, but that was from a half bottle, which is yet another factor.

At least 6 hours. I bet it could go 10+. Been a year or so since I last had this bottle. You won't "miss the boat" on a few hours off.

has this been going on? . . . .

What's up with the different labels for '95 Guimaraens? I have the old-school label on my bottles, and these look like the new-school labels.

Kurt Wieneke wrote:has this been going on? . . . .

What's up with the different labels for '95 Guimaraens? I have the old-school label on my bottles, and these look like the new-school labels.

There are lot of bottles that are labelled at the time of shipping which is not all at once.

Moses Botbol wrote:

Kurt Wieneke wrote:has this been going on? . . . .

What's up with the different labels for '95 Guimaraens? I have the old-school label on my bottles, and these look like the new-school labels.

There are lot of bottles that are labelled at the time of shipping which is not all at once.

To elaborate. Most producers do not release all their bottles on the first release. Some are held back as "Shiners", or bottles without labels and/or capsules. When a producer decided to re-release some older library stock the bottles are cleaned and new labels applied. If the label designed changed since the original release, generally the re-release bottles have the new design. So that explains, and is a way to track, what has and has not been a later library release.

I'd actually go more 8-10 hour range. Last time I had this, last year, I think 6 struck me as too short.