Hopefully these won't be my only notes of 2009.
1977 Warre's Vintage
Translucent purple in color with a touch of rose. Sweet and full on the nose with notes of strawberry and vanilla most prominent. Soft and smooth on the plate with ripe red fruts and a touch of plum with undertones of vanilla. Mature tannins and a long smooth finish. Jammy and rich, yet showing its age. Drinking exceptionally well now.
Tasted 1/09
1994 Quinta de Ventozelo traditional 1999 LBV
This bottle was brought back form Portugal by a coworker and this is my first experience with the house. Still purple, but showing some age with a hint of tawny to the color. Mostly plummy on the palate with notes of dates and nuts. Finish is balanced and raisny with good concentration. A nice port from a year that was not outstanding. Interstingly, it comes across more tawny than I would have expected.
Tasted 1/09
01 February 2009
31 January 2009
The first 09 update
Again, it's been another long hiatus. Here are some notes on bottles drunk over the past few months:
TAYLOR QUINTA DA VARGELLAS 1995 VINTAGE
Still a dark burgundy color but a good deal lighter than the deep blackish purple I remember from when I first had this port many years ago. The nose has an overall spicey/smokey character with dark notes of plum, blueberry jam and eucalyptus. The spicey/smokey character comes through on the palate as well showing moderate body with flavors of black cherry and currant as well as eucalyptus notes coming through again as well. The finish is of medium length. Perhaps a shorter term wine than I would have thought when it was younger. Not a great Taylor, but pretty good stuff. 87pts, Tasted 11/08
FONSECA QUINTA DO PANASCAL 2005 VINTAGE
Still just a baby of course - inky purple with a thin, vibrant rim. Sweet on the nose with very fragrant notes of blueberry and strawberry - floral and lovely. Shows big, dark, sweet berry fruit on the palate with a solid tannic backbone and fairly long smooth finish. Should be a very nice medium term single quinta. 92pts, Tasted 12/08
QUINTA DO CRASTO 1994 VINTAGE
Eggplant purple with a dark purple/red rim - looks quite young still. A big, powerful nose showing rich aromas of blackberry and lots of black pepper with a hint of dark chocolate. The palate unloads a mass of fresh blackberry fruit, very pure and focused, giving way to spicy black pepper that carries through the medium long finish. The tannins are firm but polished. This one scores high for it's big balanced structure and delicious straigtforward fruit and should continue getting better for a long time to come. 92pts, Tasted 12/08
QUINTA DO VESUVIO 2000 VINTAGE
Pleasant but rather reserved on the nose at this stage - mild dark fruit with a bit of chocolate coming through. Medium bodied palate with cherry and blueberry flavors, though as on the nose it's a bit one dimensional. There is good balance here and a solid structure to the wine, but perhaps it needs some time before it starts to show its stuff. At this stage it's an enjoyable port but unexciting. 87pts, Tasted 12/08
Cheers,
Lamont
TAYLOR QUINTA DA VARGELLAS 1995 VINTAGE
Still a dark burgundy color but a good deal lighter than the deep blackish purple I remember from when I first had this port many years ago. The nose has an overall spicey/smokey character with dark notes of plum, blueberry jam and eucalyptus. The spicey/smokey character comes through on the palate as well showing moderate body with flavors of black cherry and currant as well as eucalyptus notes coming through again as well. The finish is of medium length. Perhaps a shorter term wine than I would have thought when it was younger. Not a great Taylor, but pretty good stuff. 87pts, Tasted 11/08
FONSECA QUINTA DO PANASCAL 2005 VINTAGE
Still just a baby of course - inky purple with a thin, vibrant rim. Sweet on the nose with very fragrant notes of blueberry and strawberry - floral and lovely. Shows big, dark, sweet berry fruit on the palate with a solid tannic backbone and fairly long smooth finish. Should be a very nice medium term single quinta. 92pts, Tasted 12/08
QUINTA DO CRASTO 1994 VINTAGE
Eggplant purple with a dark purple/red rim - looks quite young still. A big, powerful nose showing rich aromas of blackberry and lots of black pepper with a hint of dark chocolate. The palate unloads a mass of fresh blackberry fruit, very pure and focused, giving way to spicy black pepper that carries through the medium long finish. The tannins are firm but polished. This one scores high for it's big balanced structure and delicious straigtforward fruit and should continue getting better for a long time to come. 92pts, Tasted 12/08
QUINTA DO VESUVIO 2000 VINTAGE
Pleasant but rather reserved on the nose at this stage - mild dark fruit with a bit of chocolate coming through. Medium bodied palate with cherry and blueberry flavors, though as on the nose it's a bit one dimensional. There is good balance here and a solid structure to the wine, but perhaps it needs some time before it starts to show its stuff. At this stage it's an enjoyable port but unexciting. 87pts, Tasted 12/08
Cheers,
Lamont
05 May 2008
Reeewiiiiiiiind...
So, now that several weeks have gone by without the posting of any new tasting notes, I'm sure you're wondering what the hell is going on. Well, I discovered the forum boards on fortheloveofport.com and starting posting my notes on there. In the meantime I've neglected my duties on JS so, here we go. Six bottles of port have hit the deck since my last post, so here in chronological order, and without further ado...
Dow's Quinta do Bonfim 1995
A rather flat purple hue with a wide burgundy rim showing a brownish tinge. The nose has a slightly baked and meaty character to it and displays notes of prune, cherry, dried blueberries, and some noticable spirit. Pleasant dark berry fruit on the palate, moderately sweet, and showing just a dash of that cocoa character that I always seem to notice in Dow's vintages. The mid-palate takes on a spicy/spirity edge and drops off into a rather short finish, leaving me a bit disappointed. An enjoyable port, especially considering the affordable price, but doesn't stack up to the to the level of excellence that I'm accustomed to from Dow's. I would drink this one in the near term. Tasted 4/23, 85pts
Quinta de la Rosa Vintage 2000
Just popped this last night and enjoyed it very much...Blackish purple at the core with a purplish burgundy rim - very young looking. It took a good 4 to 5 hours for the nose to come around. When it did it offered a sweet smelling bouquet of raspberry, black mission fig, dark chocolate, and a whiff of roses. The palate shows cherry/blackberry fruit that is concentrated, sweet, and very chocolatey, with a peppery spiciness that hits you right up front and continues through the well balanced, medium length finish. There's a mouthwatering quality to the acidity and the tannins are firm but softly textured. Scrumptious and quite well balanced. Probably a good one to age for the medium-term. I sipped this again today after 24 hours of decanting with consistent notes, though its grip had mellowed out somewhat. Tasted 4/08, 91pts
Churchill's Crusted Porto (Bottled 2002)
I've always been curious to try a crusted port. If memory serves me correctly, this is only the second or third one that I've come across in my years of perusing wine shops in the NY/NJ area (I'm pretty sure I remember seeing a Dow's crusted port - does that sound right? Come to think of it, does anyone know exactly which houses produce this style of port? (I'm guessing it's a limited number)). I just picked this one up today at a local shop here in Brooklyn and decanted it about three and a half hours ago.
The bottle states: "Churchill's Crusted Port is a blend of the very best Ports from two different years*. Matured for 2 years in sesoned oak casks, it is then bottled and laid down to age in our cellars for at least 3 years before being released for sale."
*Interesting that they don't tell us which 2 years are in the bottle!
Here are my notes as I'm sipping...
A dark burgundy in color with a bright cherry candy colored rim; pretty. The nose is already quite open, dominated by sweet black raspberry fruit along with notes of grape skins, cherries, dried herbs, and a subtle roasted coffee bean/chocolate undertone. The palate has gained in weight with each glass, now solidly medium bodied, with smooth, sweet fruit up front, lots of raspberry again, taking on a slightly darker edge on the midpalate, a touch of spice, and showing a subtle chocolatey quality, again echoing the nose. There's good balance here and a respectably long finish, though the tannins are very tame, making it particularly easy to just keep on sipping. I'm enjoying this a great deal. It's not on the level of a serious VP, but probably as good as any LBV that I've had to date. At $25 I'd definitely call it a bargain. I'll follow up as the night progresses if there are any evolutions of note, and perhaps post my notes on my impressions tomorrow if it lasts that long (read: chances of that are nil).
Coming down towards the end of the bottle now with over 7 hours of decanting. This port continued to darken in character, now taking on some blackberry and licorice notes on the nose and showing a darker edge to the palate also. The tannins have also begun to emerge, showing a slightly more mouth-drying quality than they did earlier. Very nice stuff and maybe even a little more firmly structured than I thought at first... Tasted 4/08, 87/88pts
Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha 1987
I bought this bottle at a rather dubious shop over on 2nd Avenue in Midtown near where I work. I can't say that I'm all that comfortable buying port there as the place is a little dingy, they have all of their vintage ports (including some older bottles) standing up, and the staff doesn't offer anything in the way of assistance. I had just happened to pop in there one day on my lunch break and discovered that they actually have a very nice selection of vingtage port, some at good prices. I bought a couple of bottles there previously that showed very well, so I decided to give it another whirl, despite the shaky circumstances. I've had lots of Warre's VP's, but never a Cavadinha, so I was intrigued.
My girlfriend and I popped it last night when we got home from work. The cork looked clean, but as I pulled it out , it crumbled to bits - not the most auspicious of signs. We decanted it thruough an extra-thorough chunk of cheesecloth to ensure that no cork bits infiltrated the decanter. It seemed to work well as the port came through clean. We had a glass just after decanting, drank some more a few hours later, and finished it off about an hour ago, which was roughly 24 hours after decanting. Although it did open up noticibly between the initial glass and the following tasting, it was drinking consistenly tonight with how it showed last night, just a bit mellower. My notes were as follows:
Quite dark - purple/burgundy with a vague ruddiness evident on the rim. The nose is moderately expressive, if somewhat simple. I noted cherry fruit with a prominent prune character and a mild musty/earthiness that was not unpleasant. Prune and cherry fruit come through strongly again on the front of the palate, slightly stewed, though not overly so (perhaps due to poor temperature control while sitting on that shelf for who-knows-how-long?). The midpalate adds some licorice into the mix as well as a little spirit, but this integrated by the second day, and the tannins are soft and mellow. The finish is surprisingly long with lingering notes of brown sugar and bitters. Tasty stuff, nothing to complain about really, outside of the stewed edge that I mentioned, but not exceptional either. However, considering the very questionable provenance of the bottle, along with the poor cork, I have to wonder if a better stored example might show better. Going by the bottle I tasted, I'd guess this probably has another 10 years or so of good drinking left in it, maybe a little longer. Tasted 5/08, 85pts
Quinta de Ventozelo 10 Year Tawny
I found this bottle while I was up in Albany this weekend. Until just recently I had never even heard of this producer, and this is the first one of their ports that I've ever come across - a good enough reason as any to check it out...
The color is almost fully tawny with rusty orange highlights and just a touch of reddish-pink still evident under good light. The nose is very pleasant with warm notes of figs, vanilla, hazelnuts, and butterscotch. Medium Intensity and sweetness on the palate, showing good balance. Figs come through strongly again, with a hint of strawberry fruit as well, building to a dash of spiciness and finishing long and smooth with roasted nuts and brown sugar notes carrying on for a good 30 seconds. Pretty much has all of the qualities I would look for in a 10-year tawny - a very nice example of the style. Tasted 5/08, 88pts
Smith-Woodhouse Colheita 1986
Mostly tawny, but not completely, still showing a little bit of red in its burnt orange hue with a honey colored rim. The nose is generous and complex, the dominant character being something like cherry-vanilla and kola nuts with secondary notes of orange marmalade, sandalwood, apple pie, and spices. Quite rich and sweet on the palate, though not cloying at all, with a mildly viscous texture. I found the flavors redolent of caramelized walnuts, candied apples, a touch of raspberry fruit still way in the background, and a compliment of spicy cinnamon. A fresh acidity kicks in on the back end of the palate, cutting the sweetness and balancing everything out. The finish is smooth and very persistent with the wine still coating the mouth and the flavors still lingering long after swallowing. Delicious colheita – rich but well balanced - I would certainly recommend it if you can find it. Tasted 5/08, 93pts
Dow's Quinta do Bonfim 1995
A rather flat purple hue with a wide burgundy rim showing a brownish tinge. The nose has a slightly baked and meaty character to it and displays notes of prune, cherry, dried blueberries, and some noticable spirit. Pleasant dark berry fruit on the palate, moderately sweet, and showing just a dash of that cocoa character that I always seem to notice in Dow's vintages. The mid-palate takes on a spicy/spirity edge and drops off into a rather short finish, leaving me a bit disappointed. An enjoyable port, especially considering the affordable price, but doesn't stack up to the to the level of excellence that I'm accustomed to from Dow's. I would drink this one in the near term. Tasted 4/23, 85pts
Quinta de la Rosa Vintage 2000
Just popped this last night and enjoyed it very much...Blackish purple at the core with a purplish burgundy rim - very young looking. It took a good 4 to 5 hours for the nose to come around. When it did it offered a sweet smelling bouquet of raspberry, black mission fig, dark chocolate, and a whiff of roses. The palate shows cherry/blackberry fruit that is concentrated, sweet, and very chocolatey, with a peppery spiciness that hits you right up front and continues through the well balanced, medium length finish. There's a mouthwatering quality to the acidity and the tannins are firm but softly textured. Scrumptious and quite well balanced. Probably a good one to age for the medium-term. I sipped this again today after 24 hours of decanting with consistent notes, though its grip had mellowed out somewhat. Tasted 4/08, 91pts
Churchill's Crusted Porto (Bottled 2002)
I've always been curious to try a crusted port. If memory serves me correctly, this is only the second or third one that I've come across in my years of perusing wine shops in the NY/NJ area (I'm pretty sure I remember seeing a Dow's crusted port - does that sound right? Come to think of it, does anyone know exactly which houses produce this style of port? (I'm guessing it's a limited number)). I just picked this one up today at a local shop here in Brooklyn and decanted it about three and a half hours ago.
The bottle states: "Churchill's Crusted Port is a blend of the very best Ports from two different years*. Matured for 2 years in sesoned oak casks, it is then bottled and laid down to age in our cellars for at least 3 years before being released for sale."
*Interesting that they don't tell us which 2 years are in the bottle!
Here are my notes as I'm sipping...
A dark burgundy in color with a bright cherry candy colored rim; pretty. The nose is already quite open, dominated by sweet black raspberry fruit along with notes of grape skins, cherries, dried herbs, and a subtle roasted coffee bean/chocolate undertone. The palate has gained in weight with each glass, now solidly medium bodied, with smooth, sweet fruit up front, lots of raspberry again, taking on a slightly darker edge on the midpalate, a touch of spice, and showing a subtle chocolatey quality, again echoing the nose. There's good balance here and a respectably long finish, though the tannins are very tame, making it particularly easy to just keep on sipping. I'm enjoying this a great deal. It's not on the level of a serious VP, but probably as good as any LBV that I've had to date. At $25 I'd definitely call it a bargain. I'll follow up as the night progresses if there are any evolutions of note, and perhaps post my notes on my impressions tomorrow if it lasts that long (read: chances of that are nil).
Coming down towards the end of the bottle now with over 7 hours of decanting. This port continued to darken in character, now taking on some blackberry and licorice notes on the nose and showing a darker edge to the palate also. The tannins have also begun to emerge, showing a slightly more mouth-drying quality than they did earlier. Very nice stuff and maybe even a little more firmly structured than I thought at first... Tasted 4/08, 87/88pts
Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha 1987
I bought this bottle at a rather dubious shop over on 2nd Avenue in Midtown near where I work. I can't say that I'm all that comfortable buying port there as the place is a little dingy, they have all of their vintage ports (including some older bottles) standing up, and the staff doesn't offer anything in the way of assistance. I had just happened to pop in there one day on my lunch break and discovered that they actually have a very nice selection of vingtage port, some at good prices. I bought a couple of bottles there previously that showed very well, so I decided to give it another whirl, despite the shaky circumstances. I've had lots of Warre's VP's, but never a Cavadinha, so I was intrigued.
My girlfriend and I popped it last night when we got home from work. The cork looked clean, but as I pulled it out , it crumbled to bits - not the most auspicious of signs. We decanted it thruough an extra-thorough chunk of cheesecloth to ensure that no cork bits infiltrated the decanter. It seemed to work well as the port came through clean. We had a glass just after decanting, drank some more a few hours later, and finished it off about an hour ago, which was roughly 24 hours after decanting. Although it did open up noticibly between the initial glass and the following tasting, it was drinking consistenly tonight with how it showed last night, just a bit mellower. My notes were as follows:
Quite dark - purple/burgundy with a vague ruddiness evident on the rim. The nose is moderately expressive, if somewhat simple. I noted cherry fruit with a prominent prune character and a mild musty/earthiness that was not unpleasant. Prune and cherry fruit come through strongly again on the front of the palate, slightly stewed, though not overly so (perhaps due to poor temperature control while sitting on that shelf for who-knows-how-long?). The midpalate adds some licorice into the mix as well as a little spirit, but this integrated by the second day, and the tannins are soft and mellow. The finish is surprisingly long with lingering notes of brown sugar and bitters. Tasty stuff, nothing to complain about really, outside of the stewed edge that I mentioned, but not exceptional either. However, considering the very questionable provenance of the bottle, along with the poor cork, I have to wonder if a better stored example might show better. Going by the bottle I tasted, I'd guess this probably has another 10 years or so of good drinking left in it, maybe a little longer. Tasted 5/08, 85pts
Quinta de Ventozelo 10 Year Tawny
I found this bottle while I was up in Albany this weekend. Until just recently I had never even heard of this producer, and this is the first one of their ports that I've ever come across - a good enough reason as any to check it out...
The color is almost fully tawny with rusty orange highlights and just a touch of reddish-pink still evident under good light. The nose is very pleasant with warm notes of figs, vanilla, hazelnuts, and butterscotch. Medium Intensity and sweetness on the palate, showing good balance. Figs come through strongly again, with a hint of strawberry fruit as well, building to a dash of spiciness and finishing long and smooth with roasted nuts and brown sugar notes carrying on for a good 30 seconds. Pretty much has all of the qualities I would look for in a 10-year tawny - a very nice example of the style. Tasted 5/08, 88pts
Smith-Woodhouse Colheita 1986
Mostly tawny, but not completely, still showing a little bit of red in its burnt orange hue with a honey colored rim. The nose is generous and complex, the dominant character being something like cherry-vanilla and kola nuts with secondary notes of orange marmalade, sandalwood, apple pie, and spices. Quite rich and sweet on the palate, though not cloying at all, with a mildly viscous texture. I found the flavors redolent of caramelized walnuts, candied apples, a touch of raspberry fruit still way in the background, and a compliment of spicy cinnamon. A fresh acidity kicks in on the back end of the palate, cutting the sweetness and balancing everything out. The finish is smooth and very persistent with the wine still coating the mouth and the flavors still lingering long after swallowing. Delicious colheita – rich but well balanced - I would certainly recommend it if you can find it. Tasted 5/08, 93pts
20 April 2008
Chesterfield in town for a tasting!
My young brother Harrington Chesterfield was in town this weekend and Lillian and I spent an evening in the Neck with the family. To celebrate this mini reunion, we decided to go digging in the Johnson Avenue vault and pop something special. Upon assessing my collection, I realized that I was still sitting on 3 Niepoort 1997s. Hmmm... I'd been loving the 97's I'd had recently, and it had been a good 8 years now since I first tasted it so hey... why not? I can't say I regret the decision - it was a decidedly different wine from the first sampling. **Bill - I supplemented the collection with a bottle of Niepoort 2000 at the same time as I removed this bottle of 97, so don't worry, we'll still be enjoying plenty of good Niepoort together in the future!** As is often the case when a bottle gets popped early in the evening at number 175, a second bottle was soon to follow. I'd been sitting on a bottle of Romariz 97 for about 7 or 8 years, and as I had recently read some pretty lackluster opinions of it, thought it might be a good one to sacrifice. It turns out it lived up to the drab reviews. Oh well, you can't win em all...
NIEPOORT VINTAGE 1997
Since drinking this wine last - 8 years ago now - the color has certainly begun to show some maturity. It's become a very pretty purple/raspberry hue at this point. The nose offers a very unique and intense bouquet of eucalyptus, coffee, bittersweet chocolate, and a high-toned and prominent note that is redolent of enamel paint or nail polish. This may have been due to a bit of taint in the wine, though in any case, as strange of a note as it sounds, it doesn't distract from the other notes in the wine, it's just rather unusual. Fills the mouth with a full-bodied attack, though only moderately sweet, it dishes up a decidedly earthy palate of flavors - the eucalyptus and coffee characters on the nose are also apparent here, as well as cranberry, a strong medicinal cherry aspect, and notes of tar on the long finish. Although it's opened up a great deal since first tasted as a baby, this port still has a brawny tannic foundation and great depth on the palate that should carry it for a very long time to come. An iconoclastic and delicious offering from one of my favorite producers. 95pts, Tasted 4/08
And here were Harrington's thoughts...
Cherry-purple in color, starting to show it's age a bit. A perplexing, slightly spirited nose with strange hints of sourness, but in a pleasant way, sweet and slightly syrupy. Notes of medicinal cherry, bitter orange rind and spice. One of the most unique ports i have tasted, very different from how it tasted 8 years ago. This port might be a chamaeleon, changing in character as it ages.
ROMARIZ VINTAGE 1997
Medium dark purple in color with burgundy highlights. Shows some pleasant dark fruit on the nose along with a leafy/cabbagey aspect - perhaps a sign of a lack of ripeness? Comes off a bit better on the palate with medium sweet blackberry fruit, black pepper, and just a hint of dark chocolate. The tannins are soft and the finish is on the short side. Overall, one-dimensional and unexciting. 81pts, Tasted 4/08
14 April 2008
WOODHOUSE ROCKS THE HOUSE...
Cheers! In keeping with the theme of tasting younger vintages of late, Lillian and I picked up the Smith Woodhouse 2000 to pop this past weekend. I'd read some flattering press about it when the 2000's first came on the market and had always been curious to try it. The only other vintages I've sampled from this particular member of the Symington stable are the 1985, which I had nearly 10 years ago, and at the time was a big juicy fruit bomb type of a port, and the 1997, which I drank recently and was of a rather lighter-bodied and more open style. Both were very enjoyable, though if memory serves me correctly with respect to the 85, I'd say this is my favorite so far.SMITH WOODHOUSE VINTAGE 2000
Royal purple color with a raspberry red rim. The nose is deep and inviting and opened up nicely after about three hours of decanting: boysenberry, strawberry, violets, licorice, and a touch of leather. Full bodied palate offering lots of sweet, plummy dark cherry fruit, big, chocolately tannins, and Christmas spices that linger through the long and rich finish. A well built, delicious, cellar-worthy vintage port from Smith-Woodhouse that should become a beauty as it ages. I'd probably give it until 2020 before it's at its best, but I certainly enjoyed it now. 93pts, Tasted 4/08
13 April 2008
EPTT website updated
It's hard to keep up with the tasting adventures out east, but I think I got them all.
http://www.freewebs.com/jammysense/
Bill
http://www.freewebs.com/jammysense/
Bill
12 April 2008
Calem gets a second go 'round
After a pleasant experience drinking a bottle of the 1994 vintage from the house of Calem recently, Lillian and I decided to give the 97 a shot when we spotted it at a local shop here in Park Slope...
CALEM VINTAGE 1997
Fairly dark colored port - eggplant purple at the center becoming a bright burgundy toward the rim. The nose has a warm, roasty quality to it with prominent scents of raspberries, blueberries, and grape jelly. Sweet fruit on the palate - lots of raspberry and blueberry coming across strongly again; there's an almost candied quality to it, with subtle hints of tar and a dash of pepper. Medium bodied with mild tannins and a mid-range length of finish w/ a touch of a medicinal edge to it - well balanced and very tasty. Doesn't have the heavyweight structure for long aging, but a straightforwardly enjoyable port that will probably be at it's best in the shorter-term - over the next 10 to 15 years. 88 pts, Tasted 4/08
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