For The Love Of Port

The '77 Fonseca was, as expected youthful in the glass and had a perfect color that any Port house would love to duplicate. It was similar in terms of balance to the 1970 Fonseca but not quite at it's perfect drinking peak. The primary tastes were of fruit, mainly strawberry and apple with a bit of spice on the finish. This Port would benefit from an additional 5 to 10 more years of aging but is drinking well now with several hours of decanting time.
Sean C. 95/100
Moses B. 94/100
Joe M. 97/100

Two things I have seen with this wine. As you saw while drinking an ex-cellar bottle of it while at Fonseca's Panascal last Oct. Sean; there seems to be lots of bottle variations with some showing a much lighter style and certainly coloration. The other dynamic is that some bottles show very youthful while others quite mature. I can not figure out (yet) why this is the case, but I've experienced both types of bottles ... as I have had this Port six or seven times in the past 9 months.

Roy Hersh wrote:Two things I have seen with this wine. As you saw while drinking an ex-cellar bottle of it while at Fonseca's Panascal last Oct. Sean; there seems to be lots of bottle variations with some showing a much lighter style and certainly coloration. The other dynamic is that some bottles show very youthful while others quite mature. I can not figure out (yet) why this is the case, but I've experienced both types of bottles ... as I have had this Port six or seven times in the past 9 months.

Yes, it is a strange phenomenon with this port. I believe I had it 5 times, and every bottle was completely different. Varying from perfect (young, but open and incredibly complex), way too young and closed, to old, tired and well on its way down. But, when you encounter a good to perfect bottle, you'll immediately forget the other experiences. It is so good and complete. Possibly one of the best port experiences to be had.

I haven't run into any problems with my '77 bottles they have all been very good ..just not as good as the '70 . The one we had in Portugal was very strange indeed ..maybe I have just been lucky with my stash?
I do think that the Taylor and Fonseca (1977) are not drinking the way I want them to right now and I'm planning on just sitting on the '77's for at least another 5 years.

I have to agree with Sean. I would sit on 77's some and just work on the 70's and older. Even though 77 is drinking fine, I think there's still some more time seeing how long it took to open up in the decanter. Even more so for the Taylor. The Dow 77 is more evolved than either Taylor or Fonseca.

had this on saturday night in montreal, wheh baby!

very sweet & lush with raspberry milk chocolate & dark cherries. very refined and smooth with a finish that could go on forever. my favorite port to date.

Michael Whitehead wrote:had this on saturday night in montreal, wheh baby!

very sweet & lush with raspberry milk chocolate & dark cherries. very refined and smooth with a finish that could go on forever. my favorite port to date.

When this is on, its on! It really is a great Port when it shows well.

Worthy of the "perfect" 100 points that Suckling initially bestowed upon it?

Roy Hersh wrote:Worthy of the "perfect" 100 points that Suckling initially bestowed upon it?

No. I can't recall ever having a 100 point VP from '77. IIRC, I think I've given it 97 points, but need to check my notes to be sure