I've had this baby sitting up and ready to open for several weeks - having been in the mood for a fine port and anticipating the occasion to drink such. It was opened after (my wife and 2 friends) had consumed several other bottles (Burgundy, S Rhone & young Cab) over the course of the evening - thus I'm not sure I feel qualified to post an actual tasting note...however due to the amazing quality of this wine I feel obligated to at least post something.

Cork had some minor mold on top (wiped off with some vinegar) and the cork itself was nearly totally saturated with wine - yet sort of pale and dried out looking on top - had me worried when I opened it that the wine was ruined. Poured into a cordial type glass - nice wide & deep bowl - narrower and somewhat fluted at the top. The color was deep garnett - looked fresh and vibrant...and boy was it!

I have to say - I've never had a port that was so right on as this. Last year I opened a 77 Taylor and it was a great port but not even close to this one in terms of its beautiful balance, lack of any kind of noticible acidity - just fresh sweet fruit, smooth...can't describe how smooth this went down - superb viscosity in the mouth (almost light for a port)...with cherry, black rasberry and chocolate nuances - it was otherworldly...and gone all too quickly! One of the better bottles of wine I've ever had in my life...

Nice TN. I'm sure a nice headache followed this one.

Yeah - a bit - mostly taken care of during the evening/early morning hours and I was actually fairly chipper - though a bit on the sour side - the next morning (when I finally surfaced...). And I also finally remembered (yeah !) the other wine opened just prior to the port - it was a Bahans Haut Brion 1998 - not bad but it didn't have either the body or structure of the 02 Arns cab (barrel sample) that we drunk just prior to that....

Had this wine 2 nights ago and have to say that I thought it was on its way downhill. Fruit had mostly dropped and I actually preferred the 77 Taylor. Could be bottle variation though.