Page 1 of 1

1858 Valriz

Posted: 07:59 Wed 25 Apr 2018
by Alex Bridgeman
Bottled by the family in 2013, 600 bottles of 50cl were filled and offered for sale. This is bottle 58 of 600.

Olive brown centre with a slight green hint on the rim. In contrast to the Niepoort VV served next to this port this was much lighter and paler at 50% opaque and had significant amount of gritty black sediment in it - which makes it sound unappealing, but it looked lovely. Plenty on the nose with a nice mixture of pine nuts and dried apricot. Smooth on the palate with soft caramel flavours and an acidity which works well to keep the wine fresh. The late palate development is impressive bringing several layers of flavour underpinned by a slightly bitter-sweet burnt sugar tone. The finish is full of warm treacle, rich and flavoursome and finishes with persistent cinder toffee. Overall this shows as a wine with a lovely balance and a great elegance; such a contrast to the power of the VV. 94/100. Drunk 20-Apr-18. Decanted 2 hours.