1985 Churchill

[Alex Bridgeman]

My thanks to Julian Wiseman for giving me the opportunity to try this port for the first time. Decanted freehand, of a fair amount of sludgy sediment. A beautiful deep red colour when decanting and powerfully fruity, filling the room with the smell of blackcurrants. A sip straight from the decanter was a little sharp and acidic with the fruit not being as noticeable as would have been expected from the smell.

Deep red centre, just transparent and with the colour holding right in to the rim. Delightful nose of fresh spearmint and plums. Balanced entry, nicely built around an acidic structure. Plenty of fruit and the tannins show through in the mid-palate. Some decent development in the mid palate flavours but the strength of this port is on the aftertaste. This starts quite sharply but then fills the mouth with a deep dark chocolate that lasts and lasts. Quite delicious. Overall, I would rate this as an extremely solid average port that will be better in 10 years. Very enjoyable. 5/6 or 89/100. Decanted for 11½ hours. Drunk 1/3/08.