 | | VinoCellar.com Wine Forums | |
| |
| | | Author | Messages | |
David Spriggs
Grape Sorter
Posts:311
 | | 05/26/2006 6:30 AM |
| In my previous post about my trip to Portugal with Roy Hersh and Mario Ferreira ( Greatest Port Trip Ever! ), I mentioned that I had misplaced my tasting notes on the stop at Symington’s. Well, I searched and I actually found them! So here they are.
We toured the Symington’s Lodge at Graham’s. This is where most people taste:
It’s very nice with a decent lineup and open to the public. But we had a more intimate and extensive tasting and lunch planned. So we then drove over to Dow’s and met Paul Symington and got the low-down on the history and diversity of Symington’s and the Port trade. We then went upstairs and tasted in the blending room:
WARNING: I am a very stingy grader. Add 2-3 points to these scores to put them in line with most tasters. A 92 point wine is a great wine to me. And a 95 point wine is a really, really superb wine!
As part of the port tasting here:
A selection of Current Release Single Quinta Vintage Ports (SQVP):
This tasting consisted of current release SQVPs tasted side-by-side with an older vintage from the same Quinta.
1995 Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha – Medium dark color. Still quite young looking. Nice semi-developed nose. Fantastic taste. Decent structure. No cloying chocolate aftertaste (a good thing).91 points.
2001 Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha – Very dark color. Completely closed nose. Wonderful wine! Loads of complexity. Very fine tannins. Stone fruits. Cannot spit this one!92 points.
1996 Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim – Extremely dark color. Medium nose. Fruity. More ready. Almost Cabernet-like nose. Big wine. Loads of chocolate and flavours. Big structure. Needs time. Long finish.89 points.
2001 Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim - Extremely dark color. Vinous nose. Huge dark chocolate flavor. Very fine tannins. Classy finish. However the finish is bitter.88 points.
1998 Dow’s Senhora da Ribeira – Extremely dark color. Young. Still yeasty. Maybe slightly oxidized nose. Good intensity. Powdery tannins.90 points.
2001 Dow’s Senhora da Ribeira - Extremely dark color. Yeasty, floral nose. Very young. Much better than the 1998 Senhora da Ribeira. Full bodied. Nice long finish. More elegant than the Bomfim.88 points.
1996 Graham’s Malvedos - Extremely dark color. Slight flor yeast notes. Heavy wine. Floral again in the mouth. Long, long finish. A bit of a bruiser.88+ points.
2001 Graham’s Malvedos - Extremely dark+ color. Totally closed nose. Awesome palate presence! Very fine wine here. Extremely fine tannins. Endless finish.91+ points.
1995 Smith Woodhouse Madalena – Very dark color. Very floral, citrus nose. Fabulous wine. Great balance. Maybe slightly short finish. But wonderful entry.91 points.
2001 Smith Woodhouse Madalena - Extremely dark color. Young but fine. Floral and chocolate nose. Awesome. Extremely good. Very fine tannins. Dangerous!93 points.
1997 Quinta do Vesuvio - Awesome nose! Really inviting. Extremely dark color. Extremely young, floral nose. Wonderful, smooth, candied flavor. Fine tannins.91+ points.
2001 Quinta do Vesuvio - Extremely dark+ color! Extremely young, floral nose. Shockingly good. A fine wine. Not a long ager, but wonderful. Now and in the medium term. Really glycerin/smooth on the palate.94 points.
1999 Quinta de Roriz - Extremely dark+ color! Different. Old school port nose here. Nice entry. Really candied. Maybe a little sweet. Nice early drinker.90 points.
1999 Quinta de Roriz - Extremely dark+ color! A more serious wine. Tannic – closed. More like Niepoort. This might be better with some serious time. 88+? points.
----------------------------------
Then we had a tasting of four 1980 Vintage Ports:
1980 Warre’s Vintage Port – Surprisingly dark. Subtle closed nose. Opening a little – comples and floral now. Better than the 1977 (at least my 1977’s). Nice. A little hot Medium finish.88 points.
1980 Dow’s Vintage Port – Dark. Coffee and spice nose. Huge palate! Broad in the mouth. Fun! A great wine. A little heat in the finish. I had to swallow this one!92 points.
1980 Graham’s Vintage Port – Very young purple color. Wondrful nose. Really great entry. Reminiscent the 1985 Graham’s. Very young still. Needs 10+ years. Awesome! Still tannic. Long, long finish.94 points.
1980 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port. Tawny nose. But a darker, more floral aspect than a tawny. Gutsy. Tannic. Hard wine.. 10+ year more is needed here.91 points.
---------------------------------------
Our palates were pretty tired by now. So it was suggested that we go to the dining room and have lunch and then come back and taste the 2003 Vintage Ports. We had a great meal with several of the Symington’s and tasted the 2001 Chryseia Douro red (a dry wine) - a joint venture between the Symington’s and Bruno Prats – (ex-proprietor of Cos d’Estournel). Of course this was served with a spectacular Serra da Estrela cheese. And then with desert, we had a 1955 Graham’s port (Awesome!! – 96 Points). Then a little tour around the Dow Port Lodge to walk off lunch -- where we saw the largest Port Vat in the world:
2.5 million glasses of port is a lot!
Then back to the blending room with Dominic and Peter for more tasting. We talked at some length with Peter who was responsible for the blending of the 2003 Ports.
-------------------------------------------------
The 2003 Vintage Ports:
2003 Warre’s Vintage Port – Extremely dark+! Truly floral on the nose. Candied. Huge entry. Not that broad in the mouth. Short tannic finish.85 points.
2003 Dow’s Vintage Port – Black! Opaque! Extremely young floral nose. Huge entry. Extremely deep fruit Almost painful. The alcohol is fully buffered by extract. Awesome Dow. Very, very fine tannins.95+ points.
2003 Graham’s Vintage Port– A fine Graham’s. Classic Graham’s taste! Medium bodied. Loaded with complexity. Fun to drink.92 points.
2003 Quinta Do Vesuvio Vinatge Port – Opaque+! Really young, deep, inviting cocoa nose. Unbelievable wine. Huge but soft. Tannins in the finish. The finest of ports. Huge buffering extract. Endless finish.97 points.
2003 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port - Black color. Chocolate, floral nose. Candied. Huge fruit. Balanced. Impressive. Medium bodied finish. This is a medium length ager.93 points.
2003 Gould Campbell Vintage Port – Dark color. Floral nose. Very nice port. Simpler than the Smith Woodhouse. A little rustic.90 points.
2003 Quarles Harris - Did not taste.
2003 Quinta de Roriz - Extremely dark color. Very different from the others. Really old school in it huge extract and huge tannic structure. Real complexity here. I’ll bet there is every rare Port grape variety in this. A long, long ager. Make sure to lose this in the cellar. Absolutely classic, old style port.95 points.
-----------------------------
Next we were presented with three barrel samples. Each of the wines was vinified using a different technique.
2004 Tank Plunger – Very nice nose. Hot, tannic palate. Good.
2004 Foot Trodden Lagares – Even more floral. Very inviting nose. Awesome in the mouth. Smooth. Much better finish than the above.
2004 Robotics (specially designed to approximate foot trodden) – Similar to the above. Maybe slightly more tannic, but a good approximation.
I still preferred the traditional foot trodden.
After this we had the 1882 AJS Reserva I mentioned in my previous note. AWESOME Stuff! (99 points.)
And that was the end of the tasting. *whew*! This was certainly the most thorough tasting that we had on the trip, and possibly the best. We said goodbye to Dominic Symington and thanked him profusely. Then our driver drove us back to the hotel for a couple of hours of rest and recovery before dinner.Thanks Roy, Mario, and all the Symington’s for an unparalleled experience!!
-Dave-
PS. If you are interested in going a trip like this contact Roy Hersh, who is a well known port expert. The details of the next trip are posted at http://www.fortheloveofport.com/travel.htm
I’m going to try to go on the next 6 day trip! | | | |
|
| | You are not authorized to post a reply. |
|
| |
ActiveForums 3.7 |
| |
| |
|
| | Proposed Change to American Viticultural Area Naming Standards Monday, March 10, 2008
| Wine Primers - Links to Your Wine Education Tuesday, February 12, 2008
| Wine Country Report: Day trip to the Willamette Valley Monday, February 11, 2008
| VinoCellar's Favorite Wine Links Saturday, February 09, 2008
| Wine Retailer Reports - Thanks Winetex! Monday, February 04, 2008
|
|
| |
| |
| |  | Membership: |  | Latest:crazy4wine |  | New Today:0 |  | New Yesterday:0 |  | Overall:2055 |
 | People Online: |  | Visitors:67 |  | Members:1 |  | Total:68 |
|
|
| |
| |
|