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SW85: decanted half past noon. At D+0 lovely red hue, mid translucency. Lots of acid, lots of tannin, both slightly dwarfing the red fruit that also shows through. Bodes well for later.

SW85 at D+4hr. Lovely structure, and very well balanced. Fine port. Quite dry, and a light astringency throughout the palate. Cranberries showing through.

Though my taste is for port to be sweeter than this, still excellent.

jdaw1 wrote:SW85 at D+4hr. Lovely structure, and very well balanced. Fine port. Quite dry, and a light astringency throughout the palate. Cranberries showing through.

Though my taste is for port to be sweeter than this, still excellent.

My notes for this Port indicate that it is medium to medium sweet. Those notes are admittedly from rather early in my tasting education, but since I'm not fond of dry Port I must assume that I would be able to pick that up fairly quickly.

Have you had this often, and if so has it been consistently dry to your taste?

Not had it often. Liking it. Note to self: must drink more. At D+8hr sweeter, but still not more than medium. The acid and general structure still much more present than sugar.

Any hints as to the longetivity of the wine? I picked up a couple of bottles cheap a while back and was wondering if they are worth keeping for a few decades.

Lovely drinking now: there is no sin in opening them. In a decade, will they be better? Hmmm: not sure about that. Will they be worse? I doubt it: a little different, but not obviously worse. So drink at leisure. Ideal time: when I visit.

Alex M wrote:Any hints as to the longetivity of the wine? I picked up a couple of bottles cheap a while back and was wondering if they are worth keeping for a few decades.

From my notes I would say that it needs another 10 years, and should easily last another 20. The bottle I tried was robust and young; clearly not yet fully mature.