1963 Dow vintage port
Posted: 10:53 Mon 07 Jul 2008
Opened at short notice to cheer myself up after a VA contaminated Warre 1966. A top-shoulder fill from a bottle clearly kept in a damp cellar. The cork showed sign of leakage when the capsule had been removed. Decanted cleanly although only stood upright for an hour. Pale rose in colour on decanting but with a clean and attractive nose of black cherry pie. A quick sip on decanting revealed a lovely wine which was drinking very nicely right from the decanter. The following note was taken 12 hours after decanting.
Deep red in colour, looking like a heavyweight port. No browning but a slight chestnut hinge to the redness of the port. The nose is fabulous, just tilting the glass to inspect the colour releases this wonderful aroma of meat juices and black fruits. Sticking a nose in the glass also brings out a streak of fresh ground back pepper. Thick texture in the mouth and lovely depth of fruit with some very interesting spiciness. There are tannins, but they restrain themselves to a supporting role and are dominated by the huge amounts of fruit. The fruit is turning secondary, with dried cherries and molasses and morphs through several phases in the mouth. The aftertaste is huge and lasts at least two minutes, bringing a wonderful spiciness that lingers and caresses. This is a truly fine wine. 94/100. Drunk 4 July 2008.
Deep red in colour, looking like a heavyweight port. No browning but a slight chestnut hinge to the redness of the port. The nose is fabulous, just tilting the glass to inspect the colour releases this wonderful aroma of meat juices and black fruits. Sticking a nose in the glass also brings out a streak of fresh ground back pepper. Thick texture in the mouth and lovely depth of fruit with some very interesting spiciness. There are tannins, but they restrain themselves to a supporting role and are dominated by the huge amounts of fruit. The fruit is turning secondary, with dried cherries and molasses and morphs through several phases in the mouth. The aftertaste is huge and lasts at least two minutes, bringing a wonderful spiciness that lingers and caresses. This is a truly fine wine. 94/100. Drunk 4 July 2008.
