For The Love Of Port

Six hours after decanting: blackish dark red colour showing slight paleness at the rim where there is a hint of attenuation. On the nose, walnuts up front and, beneath, a rich seam of brambley fruit with a touch of euycalyptus. Complete wine on the palate. Wall to wall flavour. Maturing dark fruit whose richness is perfectly counterbalanced by crisp acidity and ripe tannin. A fine and very harmonious wine. Superb now and a great future seems assured. 96+

Love your tasting note. The only single word that I can not understand its use, is: "maturing" as bottles of F85 I've been a part of have been ridiculously young and filled with promise of continued improvement for many years to come. Otherwise, a stellar tasting impression!

Roy Hersh wrote:Love your tasting note. The only single word that I can not understand its use, is: "maturing" as bottles of F85 I've been a part of have been ridiculously young and filled with promise of continued improvement for many years to come. Otherwise, a stellar tasting impression!

I recently had a bottle of this and it's still inky black and primary. Check back in 30-40 years...

I read his note to mean the fruit isn't the same as it was when younger but still being dark and young, which I would agree with. At least that's what I took his note to mean.

What did give me pause on this bottle was the "attenuation" regarding the color. All the ones I've opened have been very dark purple still with no signs of fading yet.

Andy's right about "maturing". This was the first bottle of Fonseca 1985 I have had which has shown some real development. Previous bottles have been relatively unyielding, but with this one the fruit had moved beyond the primary stage. Likewise with the colour, there was just a hint of give at the edge, no more than that. Maybe this bottle is just untypical, but if it offers a glimpse of the future, it is not an unattractive one.

John,
Thanks for clarifying.

Much appreciated John.