Al B. wrote:I've not drunk a Sandeman port any older than the 1963.
Yes, you have. See my post above.
Yes I have! I forgot that one, my notes are not quite accurate. That was one of the bottles that I didn't take any notes on - too late in the evening and I was too full of some wonderful port!
I just had the Sandeman '77 and I got to tell you that this is one fine vintage. Tons of fruit left, great mouthfeel, and great length on the finish. This port a has a fine future in front of it. Best Sandeman I have tried to date. 94 points.
I've only had one vintage of Sandeman VP and it was the 1977. I liked it, and recall thinking that reports about it being a "light" port ready to drink was exaggerated. It made me rethink my decision to open my bottle.
Moses, referring to your comment on another post about not opening a VP till it's at least 20 years old, I'm having trouble opening my 30 year-old VPs!
I have had only the 1997 Vau vintage, which was sweet and unremarkable. I have never seen a bottle of Sandeman VP, although the 20-year tawny is easy to find here.
Mahmoud Ali wrote:
Moses, referring to your comment on another post about not opening a VP till it's at least 20 years old, I'm having trouble opening my 30 year-old VPs!
I hear you on that one, but 20 sounds friendlier... My cut off has been '85 Vintage for anything serious. I'd rather drink tawny than young VP's.
The 1963 Berry Brothers bottling is a spectacular wine and is head and shoulders above the Oporto bottling of that vintage. It is far and away the best Sandeman I have ever tasted. I know a man who has some. He is a very, very nice man
IMHO, the 1963 Sandeman can be a fairly tasty glass of Port, but as others have mentioned there is quite a bit of bottle variation. One bottling that gets overlooked is the 1954 which is not an overly powerful VP, but it nevetheless is the definition of class in a glass.
About 20 years ago I bought a case of Sandeman 1966 and a case of Dows 1966 (my first ever purchase of port) and I have tasted the Sandeman & Dows every two to three years or so. I think the Sandeman has developed very nicely over the years and have even come to look forward to it, even over the Dows. This surprises me as I am a consistent follower of the latter brand. Down to the last 3 of the Sandeman and 4 of the Dows By the way at the time I paid equivalent to $20 dollars a bottle.......aaaah bliss.
If I did not have to keep my TN file current for people to look at, I'd only be drinking 1977 and older as this was always my preference to have 30 year old VPs or older and for 15 years, I stuck to that very well, except when others would open young ones for me to try. That changed when the FTLOP newsletter started up.
I also enjoy the 1977 quite a bit as you can see from my recent TN.
Mark,
I have not seen the 1954 but have consumed lots of 1955 Sandeman, a gorgeous VP that still drinks well today.
Derek,
My last few bottles of 1963 left me believing that they had turned the corner a decade ago when I first noticed they seemed more Tawny like than VPs. The bottle we had together in the UK in Oct. was a revelation and the best bottle of the '63 Sandeman, I have had in a dozen years. I was thrilled to try that one from such a great stash. The Bell experience will be written about next month.
Justin,
I'd have a really hard time picking between the Dow and Sandeman 1966 vintage. I really like both of them quite a bit. Best bottles still show beautifully although they are so different as I am sure you know. The '66s in general are really in their sweet spot today.
You guys talking about the "63 or '60 from The Bell offline? The '60 was a great bottling that people said was the best they had ever seen in many many years of that particular vintage. Since it was served blind I wrote down what some people guesed it to be...
Tom - 1985 Cockburn
Roy - '83 to '85 Croft
Alex K. - '83 Dow
Nicos - 1983-85 VP
Not a bad bottle when most guesses were over 20 years off. The bottle was a BB&R bottling that had a younger looking wax top and label so I am guessing it was a late release from their cellars at some point in the past 20 or so years...or maybe not. But either way it showed incrediably good for a '60 and was well stored for its entire life.
FWIW, I thought the 1963 that night was from 1977, so not a bad bottle either.
Giving this thread a bump. Anyone had some Sandeman recently worth talking about? I brought up a couple of bottles of 1980 and have been saving a 1970 Magnum for I don't know what?
I went to a tasting of the '60, '63, '66, '70, and '77 in NYC in February. My favorite of the 5 was the 1970. Unfortunately there was something wrong with the '63 - probably heat damage according to others at the tasting - so it didn't show particularly well.
What I found interesting was that the three 60s Ports were darker than the two 70s Ports!
Glenn E. wrote:I went to a tasting of the '60, '63, '66, '70, and '77 in NYC in February. My favorite of the 5 was the 1970. Unfortunately there was something wrong with the '63 - probably heat damage according to others at the tasting - so it didn't show particularly well.
What I found interesting was that the three 60s Ports were darker than the two 70s Ports!
That sucks. '63 and '67 are both great ports. '70 is awesome along with '77. No '80 in the line up?
I wish I could think of something to ask George Sandeman! I can say how much I enjoyed several vintages of Sandeman and think their tawny is one of the best, but they are not questions...
Moses Botbol wrote:
I wish I could think of something to ask George Sandeman! I can say how much I enjoyed several vintages of Sandeman and think their tawny is one of the best, but they are not questions...
Moses,
Feedback is always welcome as well, even if it's not a question. So feel free to post the above.
Thanks for reviving this old post. Since my last (older) post in this thread I've been lucky enough to have a good number of older Sandeman VP's (and a very old 3-star Ruby that was estimated to be bottled sometime prior to 1932...still held up well BTW).
My favorite Vintage is now the 1935. What a remarkably young Port for its age.
But nipping on it's heels was a bottle of 1963 that we drank with George at Quinta do Porto last June. A bottle our group brought from the UK to share with George (IIRC, it was Oporto bottled and actually thought to have come from the family cellar at one point). It was among one of the best 1963 I've had and showed superbly. Even George commented it was one of the best showing bottles of it in a long time. It showed far better than the last one I had at The Bell in England in 2008.
Even the 1960 we had surpassed my expectations and easily one of the better showing 1960's I've had in a long time. Even the 1977 showed remarkably well and I was very happy to finally have a 1977 that wasn't corked (After my two previous bottles in a row being corked I almost gave up on this one )
Andy Velebil wrote:My favorite Vintage is now the 1935. What a remarkably young Port for its age.
Oh yeah! How could I forget that one?
(Well, perhaps because of the 1947 Noval in the same flight, but I digress...)
I'd have to put the 1935 Sandeman as my favoriteSandeman VP as well. But in all honesty, I like their 40 Year Old Tawny Port even better than that '35!
I've never tried a Sandeman yet, but there are some 2000, and very few bottles of the 1963 avalable here, plus the 2000 Vau Vintage. I'll see if I can get some.
Yes I have! I forgot that one, my notes are not quite accurate. That was one of the bottles that I didn't take any notes on - too late in the evening and I was too full of some wonderful port!
)
I have a 1985 and some 2000 Vau to try some day soon.
