For The Love Of Port

I opened a bottle of the '96 Madelena on new years day and it was very nice. It had been standing upright for 24 hours and was on hand in case we needed a second port. In the end it was served pretty much on a pop and pour basis - just a quick decant. We all thought it was a very nice port, drinking beautifully at 18 years of age. It was not at all spirity and the tannins were only lightly grippy - plenty of time left for this bottle. It was a well structured port, dry, with focused fruit and firm yet ripe tannins, the finish was long and refined.

Overall an excellent port and another reason for me to resist buying younger vintage ports.

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