1997 Sandeman Vintage Vau Port
Posted: 17:50 Tue 06 Apr 2010
* 1997 Sandeman Porto Vintage Vau - Portugal, Douro, Porto (4/5/2010)
From a 375ml bottle, decanted about 4 hours now. I was amazed at how dark this still was, as it was showing no signs of fading. With a silky nose still showing some very young plums, blackberries and a just a touch of chocolate that eventually give way to light violets. Soft initally on the palate, this quickly gains steam with lots of acidity and fruit that drifted between youthful dark berries and very faint hints of secondary violets and some cedar. The tannins also drifted between light and medium on the body and then very dusty on the medium length finish. Blind I probably would guess this was more in line with a younger VP. Yet this Vau seems to be just starting that transitional phase into a more mature Port. At times it seemed still quite young, and at times it seems to show more mature notes. I think I caught this one at that rare point where both are showing themselves over the course of enjoying it. Considering this is a 1/2 bottle, I'd recommend leaving this at least a few more years in the cellar. This bottle showed better than the last time I had this almost three years ago. 90 Points (90 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
From a 375ml bottle, decanted about 4 hours now. I was amazed at how dark this still was, as it was showing no signs of fading. With a silky nose still showing some very young plums, blackberries and a just a touch of chocolate that eventually give way to light violets. Soft initally on the palate, this quickly gains steam with lots of acidity and fruit that drifted between youthful dark berries and very faint hints of secondary violets and some cedar. The tannins also drifted between light and medium on the body and then very dusty on the medium length finish. Blind I probably would guess this was more in line with a younger VP. Yet this Vau seems to be just starting that transitional phase into a more mature Port. At times it seemed still quite young, and at times it seems to show more mature notes. I think I caught this one at that rare point where both are showing themselves over the course of enjoying it. Considering this is a 1/2 bottle, I'd recommend leaving this at least a few more years in the cellar. This bottle showed better than the last time I had this almost three years ago. 90 Points (90 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker