For The Love Of Port

Things got a little crazy during a client wine event I cohosted at my wine storage facility, and some people were asking for a dessert wine. My wine storage locker was less than 30 feet away and with the holidays upon us, it seemed like a good time to drink some VP. It isn't often that I make it home with some juice left in the bottle so I thought I'd contribute a tasting note. We popped this at 8pm, and its now midnight. Unfortunately, we did not have the luxury of a decant on this, but it showed incredibly well on pop and pour. In fact, there was much less VA and much more fruit on the nose at 8 when we popped this. Initial comments about the nose ranged from caramel apple, to strawberry shortcake, to fruit cake. It was decadent and refreshing at the same time. Coming on the heels of tasting many CA cabs, this VP managed to be complex, elegant and light all at the same time. Revisiting this four hours later, the nose has more VA and more of the tart, crab apple notes. The color was very light, much more so than I'd expect for this age, but the aromas and flavors didn't seem to suffer. It had plenty of primary and secondary flavors and aromas, with a solid core of acid on the palate and especially on the finish. On the whole, it was a delicious drinking experience and the only thing that could have been richer was the mouthfeel and the secondary flavor profile. The lightness was a boon tonight but I think that lack of jammy richness might keep it in the low 90 ranges as opposed to the mid 90 range. As it sits tonight, 92-93 points...and I wish I had more left in the bottle. The surprising factor on this bottle is that it seem to show its best on pop 'n pour. Why would that be the case???

Can't say I've gotten VA on this wine in the past. So it may be a slight bit of an off bottle??? That said, I do think this VP has reached it peak and won't get any better with time. It's not going downhill anytime soon, as I feel it will sit on this plateau for some years to come, but I don't see it getting any better either.

Andy,

Thanks for reading my tasting note and chiming in. You have a ton of experience, so its great to hear your opinion on this one. The Taylor was really delicious, I think I was being a bit conservative at 92 and would probably put it closer to 93-94 points in retrospect. If I was going to open another, how long of a decant would you recommend?

Lindsay E. wrote:Andy,

Thanks for reading my tasting note and chiming in. You have a ton of experience, so its great to hear your opinion on this one. The Taylor was really delicious, I think I was being a bit conservative at 92 and would probably put it closer to 93-94 points in retrospect. If I was going to open another, how long of a decant would you recommend?

I like around 5-6 hours, but a little longer wouldn't hurt.

Andy Velebil wrote:

Lindsay E. wrote:Andy,

Thanks for reading my tasting note and chiming in. You have a ton of experience, so its great to hear your opinion on this one. The Taylor was really delicious, I think I was being a bit conservative at 92 and would probably put it closer to 93-94 points in retrospect. If I was going to open another, how long of a decant would you recommend?

I like around 5-6 hours, but a little longer wouldn't hurt.

+1

5-6 hours as a minimum. I've decanted for 8 before.

Lindsay,

Great to hear you enjoyed this one. When I read of that coloration for this VP, it makes me think of either a storage issue or possible oxygen getting into the bottle.

Andy and I differ on this Port and I seem to have better luck with it, as my bottles of it were purchased mostly in the mid-to-late 1980s and have been in temperature controlled conditions ever since. I have had the occasional duff bottle of the 1970 Taylor (usually from other friends' cellars) but when they are in great shape, while maturing ... as is the case with nearly all (maybe not the Fonseca or Nacional) Vintage Ports from this excellent vintage, this will still drink beautifully at the quarter mark of this century ... when this Port is 55 years old. Whether it will still improve at all from here, is a discussion best had with a prime bottle in front of us. At Vargellas in 2013, we had such a bottle and it was mostly young and showed a ton of upside, but we don't all get to try bottles of that ilk that often, and they are admittedly rare to find in such glorious condition. I love when that happens.

Roy Hersh wrote:Lindsay,

Great to hear you enjoyed this one. When I read of that coloration for this VP, it makes me think of either a storage issue or possible oxygen getting into the bottle.

Andy and I differ on this Port and I seem to have better luck with it, as my bottles of it were purchased mostly in the mid-to-late 1980s and have been in temperature controlled conditions ever since. I have had the occasional duff bottle of the 1970 Taylor (usually from other friends' cellars) but when they are in great shape, while maturing ... as is the case with nearly all (maybe not the Fonseca or Nacional) Vintage Ports from this excellent vintage, this will still drink beautifully at the quarter mark of this century ... when this Port is 55 years old. Whether it will still improve at all from here, is a discussion best had with a prime bottle in front of us. At Vargellas in 2013, we had such a bottle and it was mostly young and showed a ton of upside, but we don't all get to try bottles of that ilk that often, and they are admittedly rare to find in such glorious condition. I love when that happens.

So what you're saying is just like the VA bottle mentioned there are noticeable bottle variations in this. Most being in the mature but solid plateau at the moment, a few duff's and a few superior. So we don't disagree I'm just a bit more realistic about where this VP typically shows. And I've had ex-cellars bottles as well. And when you compare it side by side with a Fonseca 1970 the differences in evolution become quite noticeable. And you've probably not had better luck, I just don't have a daughter named after it (sorry couldn't resist)