For The Love Of Port

One of seven bottles very recently acquired (all with levels i/n) for little more than £10 apiece - not much return for 46 years of maturation!

Clearly Oporto bottled, but, unusually, bottled in green glass.

Decanted a few minutes ago. Came quite cleanly off it's sediment despite having been only stood up for a few hours.

In the decanter it has the colour of treacle - not unlike Taylor's from the same vintage.

First sip. Not much bouquet, but no bottle stink either. Quite fruity - seems fairly robust. Holds out the promise of respectable drinking.

See how it evolves.

More anon

Tom

Five hours on..

Only minutes after posting my first report, I was taken aback by the colour change in the decanter. I have seen colour changes before, but never so quick or so noticeable. The wine is now dark and sultry. It looks slightly 'past plateau' or 'third age'.

A glass proper.

Slightly hazy (but the bottle was not stood up for as long as usual) a warm dull red colour going to a clear edge.

Modest, venerable bouquet. On the palate it has a little fire. I wonder if this will subside by tomorrow..

It has a certain attribute that I have noticed in other 60's - perhaps best described as 'shallow' - a lack of depth. However, it does not seem inferior to the famous names from that vintage.

Tom

20 hours on,

This is drinking really well now, no longer hazy, the fire has all but gone.

The wine is very much middle-of-the-road in terms of sweetness, bouquet and finish. It is slightly past it's best, but only slightly - not as noticeable as with Taylor or Dow.

Time for a score.

The only real de-merit is the light, shallow nature of the '60's. Judged against all other VP's it is very much on the middle ground, so for immediate gratification, I give it a 5

Where's it going? This is fully mature and a little besides, but I don't think there is much urgency to drink up, so one point off, a 4

So my score is:

5-4

Tom

Who produced this VP, Tom? I thought Qta. d. Sibio is (now) owned by RCV - was that also the case in 1960?

-'Real Vinicola' is emblazoned across the top of the label, and further down the full name: 'Real Companhia Vinicola do Norte de Portugal' appears. RCV, I assume.

This is continuing to improve - a little nutty now, and much more depth.

Looking back at my previous notes on the 60's, I've observed that they need a full 24hrs in decanter to show properly - this wine is very consistant with my previous observations.

On the immediate gratification front this is now showing a 6, going on 7 -

- great QPR!

Note to me: one a year

Tom

Thanks for the notes, it's always good to read about bottles from rarely heard about producers.

On the best of my knowledge, it seems that only two Producers own properties in the Sibio. One is RCV - Real Companhia Velha (Royal Oporto) and the other producer is Quinta do Silval.

I was told that some of the fine wines produced by RCV do come from Sibio. Besides that I do know that Quinta do Silval use their Sibio's grapes for their Magalhães LBVs & Vintage Ports. So, it seems that Sibio is a good area for fine grapes in the Douro.

BTW, the 2006 FTLOP Port Harvest Trip early this month included a visit to the Sibio. The whole gang seated in van and went for a "jeep ride" up & down the vineyards of Quinta do Silval's Sibio. That was funny. :)

Mario Ferreira wrote: BTW, the 2006 FTLOP Port Harvest Trip early this month included a visit to the Sibio. The whole gang seated in van and went for a "jeep ride" up & down the vineyards of Quinta do Silval's Sibio. That was funny. :)

And quite scary when one looked down, but a really fun ride.