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Very, very deep red in colour; not black but not far off and very definitely an opaque centre. A wonderful nose of fresh blackcurrants soars out of the glass and filled the room when decanting. Very dry in the mouth; huge waves of fruit but with enormous dry but ripe tannins and strutured acidity that makes the mouth water. But through all of this, the fruit dominates. At this stage in the wine's life it is very drinkable but straightforward and simple. The aftertaste is very big and very long, dominated by cherries and acidic blackcurrant with a lovely cocoa bitterness all over the cheeks. Astonishingly, the aftertaste just never seems to end. Lovely port, not a blockbuster but very enjoyable and perhaps a port which will have some strong points in its favour in 20 years. 89/100. Tasted 26/12/08.

48 hours later, this is still a fantastic young port. Full of fruit, smooth in texture, tannins ripe and refined but certainly there and with an aftertaste that is just simply unbelievable in length. Wonderful.

How would you rate it compared to the 2005 Vesuvio?

Axel

Axel P wrote:How would you rate it compared to the 2005 Vesuvio?

It is an interesting comparison, the 2005 and the 2006. They are very different wines to my perception. The 2005 is a powerful wine, with a very pronouned tannic background which dominates a fruity and complex core but the aftertaste is disappointingly short.

On the other hand, the 2006 is much more fruit-forward and with softer tannins but a magnificent and long aftertaste. If I look at my scores, I have consistently (4 times) rated the 2006 higher than the 2005 (also 4 times), but only by a couple of points.

I suspect that the 2006 will smooth out and soften before the 2005 does, but I really hope that the 2005 builds up a better aftertaste over the next couple of decades.

However, I prefer the 1994...

Just reading about the tannins makes my teeth grind

Tom