1998 Churchill Agua Alta

Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
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Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
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akzy
Warre’s Otima 10 year old Tawny
Posts: 537
Joined: 21:42 Tue 13 Nov 2018
Location: Three Bridges

1998 Churchill Agua Alta

Post by akzy »

Tasted 24/10/20 +3hrs decant

After winesecretary pointed to a good price on this from Garrafeira Nacional, thought I'd nab me two bottles with some other LBVs.

Pouring into the decanter, it was a surprinsgly light red brick colour. I wouldnt have expected it to be so pale for a port at 22.

The nose was incredibly spirity which really caught me off guard. This made it quite tricky for me to pinpoint anything specific in there, but mint was the most prominent. In the mouth I can only describe as minty mouthwash - such an incredibly strong port which I have never experience before, certainly not very pleasant for me. Trying to accelerate a decant in my glass, the port softened a little to reveal notes of red summer fruits. I found this quite the confusing contrast to the dominating mint. My friends seemed to enjoy it much more than I did.

I would have loved to have tried this after another 24hours in the decanter and hope that it mellowed out into something nicer. Fortunately I have another bottle which I might want to wait a decade or more for. Then again, George had a very pleasant experience...

From this current tasting, this wasn't a Port for me. That being said, I dont think my testing was fair enough to warrant a proper review.
winesecretary
Fonseca 1980
Posts: 1900
Joined: 15:35 Mon 13 May 2019

Re: 1998 Churchill Quinta Da Agua Alta

Post by winesecretary »

Sorry to hear your experience was less pleasant than mine. I think it points to some bottle variation...
akzy
Warre’s Otima 10 year old Tawny
Posts: 537
Joined: 21:42 Tue 13 Nov 2018
Location: Three Bridges

Re: 1998 Churchill Quinta Da Agua Alta

Post by akzy »

winesecretary wrote: 23:13 Thu 12 Nov 2020 Sorry to hear your experience was less pleasant than mine. I think it points to some bottle variation...
I do hope so. Your tasting note certainly appealed to what I enjoy and the price was rather attractive. Give it 5-10 years?
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