ThePortForum.com

Here are my notes from that occasion. I paid $129 (US) for the bottle. I've recently re-tasted this vintage porto ( in March and April 2009)
because I located some btls fom a private cellar for $90 (US) and thought that for the price, I could not turn them down. I found the wine to be substantially unchanged at the re-tastings.

"Opaque cranberry in colour. Opened up nicely after a short time. Outstanding raisiny, red fruit and cherry palate. Excellent grip and balance, long finish. At its peak. 96."

Tom Simmons
Castle Rock, Colorado

Welcome to the boards Tom. Fantastic first tasting note too.

How long did you decant this?

Hey g-man,

Pleased to meet you!

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I normally don't decant my vintage portos - unless, that it, there are obvious signs of major crust and/or sediment...what I do is to use an exceptionally large glass instead (yes, often just a broad bowl Bordeaux or Burgundy glass). I pour off a lesser amount of wine than I would normally pour if I were using the glass for its "intended" purpose, then I simply swirl it a while to let the porto aerate.

Hopefully, this doesn't cause anyone on the forum major angst (am I being sacrilegious by not decanting??). I've found the method to be acceptable - for me, at least.

By the way, Fonseca is my favourite vintage porto, as well (I note you mentioned it's yours, too). As far as tawnies are concerned, I've found the Taylor 20-year old to be the best for the $$ outlay. Not overpoweringly sweet, and just the right "orange peel" look and taste. I've managed to locate the Taylor 20 wholesale for $40 a bottle. The Fonseca 20-year old tawny is another excellent choice for about the same price.

All Best,

Tom S.

Not at all, but it does help put some tasting notes into perspective.

Especially considering some of our fellow tasters prefer their ports extra soft and extra age which usually leads to longer decant times.

The taylor 20 is indeed good quaffing too!

I enjoy the variety, drink some young, some old, some decanted and most not because I am lazy and leave the decanter by the sink for weeks causing marital debates! I find it fascinating to see the different evolutions.

Thanks for the notes one of my brothers birth years so I try to drink these once a year.

Hey Tom,

welcome to the forum.

About the decanting thing. I started out not decanting my VPs as well, but somday you will experience something and from this time on, you will decant. I had my experience with a Graham 85, drunk in 97 or so. I opened the bottle, slushed it into the decanter, but started drinking right away. After about 3 hours we still managed to keep a tiny quantity in the decanter so I finished it, noticing that it became extremly better with time.

From this point on I started to decant and let the wines breath for at least two hours with the exception of the very young VPs such as 05s, 05s and 07s right now as they have seducive primary flavors that could disappear in time.

Axel

He Axel and ajfeather,

aj, glad to have helped on the '77 Graham. I have tasting notes going back to 1993 (although I started drinking ports about 5 years before that year); I'll post them over time in the tasting notes forum.

Axel - good advice on the '85 Graham, a vintage and maker of which I've yet to find a bottle that has really "come around" to my liking. It's a chunky, grapey drink in my opinion; not much nuance there. I'll try decanting it next time I try one of these btls (if i can locate my decanter, that is).

Not to defend too strongly my practice of using a large glass vice a decanter (to each his - or her - own, I suppose), but after pouring off a quaff or two into my large Bordeaux glass, what remains of the porto in the bottle aerates more quickly (because it then has more exposure to the air). Thus, it has an effect similar to decanting. To be fair regarding tasting notes, however, I should probably try taking a second set of notes after the porto has "breathed" for a couple of hours. Of course, by that time I usually find I simply want to sit back and savour the experience (rather than to take the trouble of writing anything down).

Tom S.

Hi Tom,

Welcome to

I have always decanted my Vintage Ports but until I met the people here I stuck rigidly to the common advice to decant 2 hours before drinking and then consume the entire bottle within 24 hours. Since joining this group I have learned that extended decanting, sometimes over a period of days rather than hours, will show dramatic improvements in the flavours, texture and integration of the wine.

Take a browse through some of the tasting notes here that have been posted by AHB, Uncle Tom, JDAW, myself and others as we tend to record multiple notes over a period of hours and days to report back on how the wines develop in the decanter.

Give it a go. It is good fun and can often lead you to like a wine that you may once have dismissed simply because you tasted it at the wrong time

Derek