1989 Offley Boa Vista Vintage Port

[John Danza]

This was my first experience with the 1989 vintage of port, a mediocre and generally undeclared year. I was initially worried when I first decanted the wine, because it produced absolutely no sediment! The label clearly states "bottled in 1992", and the color looked great, but what gives with no sediment? Anyway, I decanted it about 4 hours prior to service.

The wine ended up being very nice. The color was still a deep red, with a great plum nose. There was little heat from the alcohol, which was much appreciated at the point in the evening when the wine was drunk. I would call the flavors somewhat simple and two-dimensional, not at all close to a great port but not bad either. I would recommend it, if available at the right price, for anyone needing a port from the 1989 year.

[Andy Velebil]

Interesting that this was bottled during the third year, something not often seen now.