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ChangeMe
Barrel Filler
Posts:1210
 | | 05/21/2004 3:32 PM |
| I had the pleasure to be invited by Roy Hersh to a magnificant vintage porto tasting back in April. Full accounts of the evening are recounted in Roy's articleHERE
My scores and notes:
- 1955 Sandeman Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 93 pts. (4/18/2004)
color of old brick with caramel around the edge. Cherry nose with a touch of sherry and tobacco. Long finish, but to me the alcohol stood out a little. Very good. This is the oldest wine I have tasted.
- 1963 Graham Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 96 pts. (4/18/2004)
This was my favorite of the first flight. Sparkling ruby color, turning translucent/clear on the rim, but without fading. Raspberry on the nose with beautiful strawberry and chocolate on the palate. This is in an ideal drinking stage right now.
- 1966 Sandeman Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 94 pts. (4/18/2004)
Corked or not, I enjoyed this and obviously didn't pick up on the fact that it was very slightly corked. Brick in color, but seeming to have a good amount of life left. Caramel, toffee, chocolate.. very good.
- 1970 Dow's Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 95 pts. (4/18/2004)
Dark, rich red color. Like an aging hollywood starlet, you wouldn't know how old this was just by looking at it. Pungent creamy fruit, this has so much life left with layers and layers of flavor. Vanilla, Cigar box, toffee, cherry, chocolate. Really needs more time though. 95+
- 1977 Taylor Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 96 pts. (4/18/2004)
Pretty garnet color turning to strawberry pink on the rim. This is a bit spirity with the alcohol hitting my sinuses. Fairly closed on the nose, this is still very big and very tight. Raspberry, mocha, cherry, lots of tannin.. This is still too young to drink. Enjoyable now, but will improve a great deal. Potentially 98+
- 1980 Dow's Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] (4/18/2004)
Unbelievable dark color. Darkest of the flight by far. I would have guessed this was 10 years old by the color. Alas, very much and unmistakeably corked.[/
- 1983 Cockburn Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 90 pts. (4/18/2004)
Sparkling clarity, with a light cherry color. Kind of a funky spice on the nose. Cherry, plummy, chocolate, and a touch medicinal. A bit hot, this needs to integrate better
- 1985 Fonseca Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 95 pts. (4/18/2004)
Porto offline at Spazzo: Plummy colored, very little fading around edges. Big, warm nose of cherry jam. Lots of acid and alcohol, this is a BIG, very structured wine with a long lingering finish of chocolate covered fruit. Delicious. 95+
- 1994 Fonseca Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 96 pts. (5/18/2004)
Opaque purple. Powerful grapey nose with floral and pine elements. Very complex with chocolate and raspberry dominant with a bit of a creaminess. Searing tannins, this is a still a baby at 10 years. Potentially 98+
- 1997 Niepoort Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 92 pts. (4/18/2004)
Sweet, almost sticky nose of strawberry jam, orange peel, and flowers. Raspberry, chocolate, tobacco. Seems very fruit forward and the structure was either very obscured by fruit or not solid enough.
- 2000 Quinta do Vesuvio Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 94 pts. (4/18/2004)
In this last flight I had stopped taking notes about the color. Perhaps because I ran out of descriptors for Dense, dark, purplish black wines... Grape and floral on the nose. More Grape liqueur and plums on the palate, very very sweet. So very primary, but I think this will be excellent some day. A real tooth stainer.
- N.V. Porto Rocha Porto Three Centuries [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 94 pts. (4/18/2004)
Caramel in color. Nose of caramel, toffee, vanilla, nuts. Very nutty, brown sugary, maple syrup, Almondy, Vanilla. Very nice with a long finish.
Posted from CellarTracker!
What an amazing tasting. I can't thank Roy enough for inviting me and generously sharing his extensive knowledge and port collection. | | | |
| Eric LeVine
Grape Sorter
Posts:384
| | 05/27/2004 5:31 AM |
| This was a very special and educational tasting. I wrote about the non-Port portions of that tasting here:http://fora.erobertparker.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=031316
At long last I am at liberty to share my very novice impressions of the ports. It was a highly enjoyable and highly educational tasting.
- 1955 Sandeman Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 91 pts. (4/18/2004)
The color here is still quite dark with a lot of brown but a solid rim, slightly cloudy in the glass. I found the nose on this to be slightly dusty and musty with a strong scent of toffee. On the palate this showed coffee, roasted nuts, and caramel. The wine was gorgeously balanced and silky with a very long finish. This is a beautiful port that is at peak and seems to be have plenty of time ahead.
- 1963 Graham Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 92 pts. (4/18/2004)
This showed the lightest color of the flight with a pink edge. On the nose there is a pretty clear bit of spirit, yet the nose soars from the glass and is almost piercing in the way it hits your sinuses. Wow, the palate on this is very bright and fresh, almost delicate. The port finishes with juicy strawberry and continued brightness with some violet notes. The very end of the finish shows a distinct nuttiness that I found particularly pleasing.
- 1966 Sandeman Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 95 pts. (4/18/2004)
A faded rim with glowing color, very pretty to behold. About half of the folks on the room thought this was lightly corked, but I didn't catch this at all. In fact, this wine had my favorite nose of the flight with a soaring, floral personality, caramel, chocolate and mint. On the palate this was very sweet with a heavy (but not cloying) texture with caramel and tart and juicy fruit. The finish was explosive, very long and complex.
- 1970 Dow's Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 90 pts. (4/18/2004)
This is very youthful in color with a deep purple core. On the nose there is a hint of grapiness and mint, yet I found the aromatics to be somewhat reticent. On the youthful palate there is a refreshing blast of wintergreen, but I found the wine to show a fair bit of spirit. The structure is impressive. Others really liked this wine a lot, but I found it to be a tough comparison to the earlier, more mature ports in the flight.
- 1977 Taylor Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 97 pts. (4/18/2004)
On describing this to the other attendees, I popped out with "Oh man, this just rocks!" This actually had the lightest color by far in the flight, but that was a red herring. The nose was quite medicinal and showed some spirit. The palate was utterly seamless with figs, dates, raisins, fruitcake, maple syrup, molasses, and treacle yet with a very silky and vibrant texture. The finish is luscious and long with so much life and elegance. This is the best port I have ever tasted.
- 1980 Dow's Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] (4/18/2004)
Unreal color, opaque, black, totally saturated. Alas, the nose is swampy with some seaweed, and there it is, the unmistakeable nose of a heavily corked wine. Drat! I did venture one taste and was amazed by the structure of this. Crap!!!
- 1983 Cockburn Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 90 pts. (4/18/2004)
Glowing color yet one of the lighter wines in the flight, only darker than the 1977 Taylor. The nose here was Madeira like with cooked onion. On the palate I got prunes, raisins and an Amarone-like character. The finish burns a bit and still shows alcohol. This is a bit disjointed right now and seems to need a lot of time to settle down and mesh.
- 1985 Fonseca Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 94 pts. (4/18/2004)
Very dark color. The nose is youthful and grapey with some chocolate. The palate shows dark fruit, roasted coffee, chocolate and is deep and luscious. The finish is very grippy with awesome structure, very brawny and masculine. This was clearly one of the most structured ports of the tasting.
- 1994 Fonseca Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 95 pts. (4/18/2004)
Extremely dark. The nose is dense with lots of violet popping out. On the palate this has a sweet, tightly wrapped core of explosive fruit. The finish is stunningly smooth with chocolate and toffee. For most tasters this was their favorite, although for me this was tied for second with the 1966 Sandeman and two points behind the 1977 Taylor.
- 1997 Niepoort Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 94 pts. (4/18/2004)
Dark color. The nose shows tangerine. Wow, this is very silky with a citric edge that provides an interesting freshness. This is tightly knit and pure. It is just so primary right now with a beautiful core of fruit and structure.
- 2000 Quinta do Vesuvio Porto [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 92 pts. (4/18/2004)
Deep color. This is showing much more overt oak than I recall with vanilla and caramel and a certain herbal element. This is a massive wine, yet it is actually smaller in the mouth than the 1997 Niepoort and 1994 Fonseca. The structure here is very impressive, huge and rocking.
- N.V. Porto Rocha Porto Three Centuries [Porto, Douro, Portugal] 93 pts. (4/18/2004)
The nose is more reminiscent of Madeira than Port with cooked onion. The palate has luscious texture with a sharp, saline element. The unbelievably long finish is nutty and delicious. Did I mention it was long? This is the finest tawny I have ever tasted!
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