For The Love Of Port

It was a basic ruby color with no real noticable fading. The nose was more evolved and consistant with a much older vintage Port. The palate was only medium in weight and very hot. It was simple, very lean, and hot on the finish as well. This seemed like a much older vintage where the fruit was mostly gone leaving a lot of alcohol behind. I'd put this on par with a weak ruby. If this bottle is representative, as this was the only time I've had this vintage, then I'd say avoid this one in the future. I was probably a bit generous with 84 points.

02/08/08

I've had the Croft 85 several times though the last time must have been 2002 or perhaps a bit earlier. Although it did seem to be an early maturing VP at the time, with predominantly tertiary characteristics, I enjoyed it very much each time I had it and thought it had a decent amount of life left in it. Has this port passed over the hill over the last 6-8 years?

I can still find this bottle for a relative bargain compared to other ports of similar age and after reading your notes I'm wondering: Is it worth giving another shot? Has anyone else sampled the Croft 85 lately?

It was the only time I've ever had that vintage of it, so I don't know if that was just an off-bottle in some way or not. If you can find it cheap, its worth it just to see how a second bottle fairs. But if you have limit funds, then spend that money elsewhere, as WS shows it is about $65-80 in the US right now. Thats a lot of money for a gamble...you could get a vesuvio 1994 for $90 or a warres/dows/grahams from the mid 80's for the same price and those are solid bottles.