ThePortForum.com

The annual Christmas event, this instance on Thursday 15th December 2011, as always in The Bell, Wendens Ambo, Essex CB11 4JY, and as always with the theme The Unknown Shipper and His Peculiar Friends.

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 10Y Taylor tawny (warm-up);
• 1860 Cossart Gordon Sercial solera (sticky label #1);
• 1945 Quinta do Noval (sticky label #2);
• 1860 A.L.S. Boal (sticky label #3);
• 1940 Dalva colheita bottled 1978 (sticky label #4);
• 1960 Cockburn (sticky label #5);
• Niepoort Vinha Velha (sticky label #6);
• 1935 Croft (sticky label #7);
• 1924 Offley Boa Vista (sticky label #8);
• 1927 Taylor (sticky label #9);
• 30Y Casa Santa Eufemia White (sticky label #12);
• 40Y Quinta do Noval tawny (sticky label #15);
• 1922 Warre (sticky label #19);
• 1922 Martinez (sticky label #20);
• 1955 Quinta do Noval (sticky label #21);
• 1977 Berry Bros & Rudd (Quarles Harris);
• 2003 Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference;
• 1911 Clos de Vougeot;
• 2005 Niepoort Robustus magnum;
• ‘Placemats’, meaning stickers and tasting-note sheets;
• Planning and arrangements.

From Quinta de Santa Eufemia. Pale straw colour, 10% opaque. Marzipan on the nose, with sour grapefruit. Sweet entry, lots of light brown sugar, dates and some fig. Sharp aftertaste, sweet sugar finish of long length. 83/100.

Does Ste. Eufemia actually have a "30 Year Old White Port" now or was this bottle the infamous 1973 Colheita that is simply labeled as "Special Reserve White Port" because they didn't get it declared properly?

If the latter, then you must have had a bad bottle. I've had it a couple of times and it's always been worth much more than 83 points - closer to 93, in fact. (Except for the bottle that clearly seemed to have been heat damaged, but that's a different issue.)

Note: the link says Casa but your note says Quinta. Both exist and are different entities spun off from the same ancestor. Precision is extra important in this particular case.

Fresh nose - thick inthe mouth with orange peel and dryness in the finish. Nice port.

Glenn E. wrote:Does Ste. Eufemia actually have a "30 Year Old White Port" now or was this bottle the infamous 1973 Colheita that is simply labeled as "Special Reserve White Port" because they didn't get it declared properly?

If the latter, then you must have had a bad bottle. I've had it a couple of times and it's always been worth much more than 83 points - closer to 93, in fact. (Except for the bottle that clearly seemed to have been heat damaged, but that's a different issue.)

Note: the link says Casa but your note says Quinta. Both exist and are different entities spun off from the same ancestor. Precision is extra important in this particular case.

I just saw this and Glenn is correct, this should be a QUINTA de Santa Eufemia 30 Year Old White Port. CASA Santa Eufemia does not make a 30 year old white Port. They were the same company, but the family split and split the company as well into these two independent ones.

30 Year Quinta de Santa Eufemia
Casa Santa Eufemia White Port

Can someone change the title?

Andy Velebil wrote:CASA Santa Eufemia does not make a 30 year old white Port.

That's not strictly correct - Casa Ste Eufemia do (or at least did) make what they called a 30 yr, but which is reputedly (as Glenn states) actually a single harvest 1973.

The bottle drunk here was the Quinta ste Eufemia

RAYC wrote:

Andy Velebil wrote:CASA Santa Eufemia does not make a 30 year old white Port.

That's not strictly correct - Casa Ste Eufemia do (or at least did) make what they called a 30 yr, but which is reputedly (as Glenn states) actually a single harvest 1973.

The bottle drunk here was the Quinta ste Eufemia

Not true, they call it a Reserva Especial Branco, they do indicate on their website that is was from 1973. But the last back label I saw didn't mention this. Matter of fact, I spoke to one of the owners in person when I tasted it several years ago and we tried to convince them to mention on the back label it was all from 1973, in an effort to help them get around IVDP regulations. I don't know if they now do this or not on the back label.

The picture on that site is of their red tawny not the white.

edit, I posted the wrong link earlier, now fixed.

Andy Velebil wrote:

RAYC wrote:

Andy Velebil wrote:CASA Santa Eufemia does not make a 30 year old white Port.

That's not strictly correct - Casa Ste Eufemia do (or at least did) make what they called a 30 yr, but which is reputedly (as Glenn states) actually a single harvest 1973.

The bottle drunk here was the Quinta ste Eufemia

Not true, they call it a Reserva Especial Branco, they do indicate on their website that is was from 1973. But the last back label I saw didn't mention this. Matter of fact, I spoke to one of the owners in person when I tasted it several years ago and we tried to convince them to mention on the back label it was all from 1973, in an effort to help them get around IVDP regulations. I don't know if they now do this or not on the back label.

My remaining bottle of the Special Reserve White simply says something to the effect of "it's at least 30 years old" on the back label (which is stenciled, btw), which is probably all they could get away with without provoking the wrath of the IVDP.

I do also have a bottle of the Quinta de Ste. Eufemia 30-yr old White Port but I don't recall having ever tried one.

Here's the funny part. When the company split they split the stocks. So the Quinta d. Sta E. 30 year old's base is the 1973. But also blended with other younger vintages. Casa Sta. E. decided not blend it and just bottle it all from 1973.

Though at the time, back in the '70s, it was not registered as a Colheita, which is why they can't put 1973 on the label or call it a Colheita now.