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1985 Taylor vintage port
Posted: 10:40 Thu 29 May 2008
by uncle tom
An odd bottle, part of a job lot bought a couple of years ago, the others all now history!
Very sound cork extracted in one piece. Decanted last night, average amount of fine gritty sediment. Excellent colour.
First sip - superb nose, free of bottle stink, young.
+ 2hrs, a nightcap. Approachable, but a young and powerful wine; little more than half way to full maturity.
More anon..
Tom
Posted: 21:20 Thu 29 May 2008
by Frederick Blais
Happy to read that you look excited with this port. I like it a lot too and don't understand why some say it is underachieving...
Waiting to read more
Posted: 21:33 Thu 29 May 2008
by uncle tom
+ 20hrs
Not greatly changed from last night. A very sound wine but very immature. The only negative I can give this is a very slight element of dilution, but that's really being a bit picky!
However, the raw tannins do make this bottle hard work (for me, anyway)
What amuses me is the 'drinking windows' assigned by the good and the great to this wine:
Broadbent says 2005 - 2025
Mayson says now (2004) to 2020
- and Suckling reckoned it should have been drunk to extinction eight years ago...!
My own take is that this is not a wine I want to re-visit for another five years, and then only in the interests of science!
Broadbent's pitch is not unreasonable for those who prefer young tannic wines, but those (like me) who like their port properly mature, need to wait much longer.
I would pitch the optimum drinking window for this wine at around 2020 - 2040
Will score tomorrow
Tom
Posted: 22:20 Thu 29 May 2008
by DRT
I had this recently.
Here is the TN, which isn't far removed from Tom's.
Definitely a keeper.
Derek
Posted: 23:45 Fri 30 May 2008
by uncle tom
48hrs on, and very little evolution since it was first decanted
Time to give this bottle a score.
For immediate gratification the wine is substantially compromised by its lack of maturity - it is still quite closed.
Those who like the young stuff might be more generous, but as a quaff for today this only just manages a 5 in my book.
Where's it going?
I'm far from sure that this will be fully mature in ten year's time, but I feel that when it does reach maturity, it will be celebrated as one of the Taylor greats.
If it had a little more substance I would pitch this as a prospective 10, as it is, I'm happy to give it a score of 5-9
Tom
Posted: 16:55 Tue 03 Jun 2008
by Frederick Blais
I like this wine too and I agree that it is young and more will come in the future from this.
I got 3 bottles of this and always with the same conclusion. I think it is a matter of taste that some thinks it won't evolve well, because there is quite a few that don't like this Port.