1985 Warre Vintage Port
Posted: 23:01 Tue 23 Sep 2008
Warre 1985 -- opened a week before the 83/85 as part of a "Port in a Storm" gathering (TS Hannah). This was a wild ride kind of wine, some really neat flavors emerged over the course of it's short life 
+0 Fruit first, chocolates come late. It's mellow, but the heat is there. Tannins are noticably absent. It's a dusty rose color, and the sediment from decanting is mulchy.
+30min The mouthfeel is ... dusky. Like I licked a flower petal, slightly rough, slightly dry, but not at all like a mouthful of sawdust. Blood oranges (distinctively) and cherries are emerging, but the primary flavor is chocolate through and through. There's a smoky oak flavor at the end.
+2hrs evergreens and grass arrived up front, that dryness became a real acidity and the heat returned. There's tobacco and black pepper toward the end.
It was all downhill (and down the gullet) from here.
It was best at the 30 minute mark, but perhaps it was entering a closed phase (2 hrs was chosen based on prior notes) and we drank it too early. I'd give this a 91, mostly because of the ride, but drink it in the next year or two (i've a bottle, purchased on the 1 yr anniversary, waiting for the 2nd yr anni.)
+0 Fruit first, chocolates come late. It's mellow, but the heat is there. Tannins are noticably absent. It's a dusty rose color, and the sediment from decanting is mulchy.
+30min The mouthfeel is ... dusky. Like I licked a flower petal, slightly rough, slightly dry, but not at all like a mouthful of sawdust. Blood oranges (distinctively) and cherries are emerging, but the primary flavor is chocolate through and through. There's a smoky oak flavor at the end.
+2hrs evergreens and grass arrived up front, that dryness became a real acidity and the heat returned. There's tobacco and black pepper toward the end.
It was all downhill (and down the gullet) from here.
It was best at the 30 minute mark, but perhaps it was entering a closed phase (2 hrs was chosen based on prior notes) and we drank it too early. I'd give this a 91, mostly because of the ride, but drink it in the next year or two (i've a bottle, purchased on the 1 yr anniversary, waiting for the 2nd yr anni.)