1952 Niepoort Garrafeira (bottled 1987)
Posted: 08:48 Sat 27 Dec 2008
A great Christmas treat. On decanting, this has some heat and a very distinctive aged oloroso nose, and also a silty sherry characteristic on the palate. With 2 to 3 hours in the decanter, the heat and sherry aromas blow off. The colour transformed from lightish tawny to tawny with a clear red hue. Wonderful light and fresh nose, giving some citrus, star aniseed and still some light silty aromas. Very delicate on the palate, again with some fresh and semi-dried citrus, almonds, and a wonderful core of light red fruit (rose hip and fresh strawberries). Some exotic spices and milk chocolate on the otherwise dry (and slightly short) finish. Delicate, frail and very special. A well deserved 93 points at this stage.
Another sip was tasted the next morning. The red fruit has now faded, and it's much more like a good colheita now. Still very fresh with lovely citrus. The last bit tasted in the evening was tired, over the hill and bordering on simple. If you are lucky enough to have a bottle of this, drink it within a couple of hours after decanting
Another sip was tasted the next morning. The red fruit has now faded, and it's much more like a good colheita now. Still very fresh with lovely citrus. The last bit tasted in the evening was tired, over the hill and bordering on simple. If you are lucky enough to have a bottle of this, drink it within a couple of hours after decanting