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One of six in a 1985 Horizontal enjoyed by Simon Lisle, Conky and myself at this offline in Craster, Northumberland on 19 Jan 2008.

Derek
Black. Not much on the nose but what there is is blackcurrant. This is "Oh My God" thick and smooth. A massive fruit bomb initially but the tannin soon takes over. For the 4th time in two years I will declare that I should leave these alone for at least 10 years!!

After 72 hours: Lovely soft fruity nose. Thick chewy and delicious. Tannin not too agressive now and everything about this wine says "class"

Simon
Superb. Balanced, complex and will last the test of time for decades. Such a long finish. Will go on forever.

Conky
Nil return.

Everything a Port should be. I'll be interested in the 66 tomorrow, because I still think 63 and 85 are the cream of the Fonseca crop. It may be true that it'll hang around for many decades, but I think it's in top form right now, so I'm not sure it will improve much, if at all.

Conky wrote: It may be true that it'll hang around for many decades, but I think it's in top form right now, so I'm not sure it will improve much, if at all.

Which vintage are you referring to here?

The 85. I'm just taking a different tack, and not going with the theory it needs any more time in the bottle. I worry this has just become a self perpetuating myth. I may well be wrong, but who cares. I've decided to follow a different path.

An interesting thought which may prove to be correct.

However, I think the F85 shows all of the classic signs of a wine that is still improving. It has lost almost no colour, thrown very little sediment, has massive amounts of tannin, yet drinks beautifully given enough airtime. I strongly suspect that in 20 years the F85 will be drinking as well as the 63 and 66 are now. Just in case I am lucky enought to live to the age of 63 to test that theory I have a case of the stuff in storage

Derek