1998 Quinta de Ventozelo LBV
Posted: 10:51 Fri 18 Jul 2014
Bottled in 2002
Unfiltered
Pull style cork (although with a small plastic packet with a stopper style cork in the box - how user-friendly is that!)
19.30 euros
Decanted at 4pm: Significant sediment, some of which actually looks like almost complete grape skins! Almost nothing in the nose. Deep purple, but with a tinge of redness. Some heat. Blackberries. Currants. Sweet and smooth. Long finish. Promising.
D + 4: Like Pinnocio, it’s grown a nose - we have a plum tree which, at this time of the year drops fruit in huge quantities which starts fermenting on the floor - it smells something like this. Thick and heavy but not dense. Definite plums - not unlike a plum brandy. Some heat, but not too much. This is quite unlike anything I’ve tasted to date (but I haven’t been around that much, it must be said). Several minutes worth of finish, and then a few more just for good measure. If I had to criticize, it’s a little soft at the edges - I like a little roughness there. This port has amazed me - I’m not saying it’s "great” (whatever that means), but it’s certainly a port the like of which I have not tasted before. Perhaps those are molasses in the nose. It's deep, full of bass notes - more Mahler than Mozart.
D + 24: Hotter and thicker than yesterday, both in nose and mouth. Today it’s more at damson jam - my wife, a few years ago, made a lot of jams with brown sugar - in jam, I didn’t like it, but this reminds me of it. I’ve seen “jammy” in TNs and I wonder if this is it - the feeling that you want to to spread the wine on hot buttered toast?
D + 30: If I’d made this wine, I think I’d be very happy. But one needs must put on a critical hat once in a while, in order that one might make a better wine next year. With that in mind… perhaps a little gooey, it could respond to voice commands to pour itself from the decanter into the glass, really I’m struggling. Now, all that said, I was wondering this morning whether I actually liked it! Plum brandy? I think I do. I also think it might be a little nicer at the cold end of the spectrum, so tomorrow (I think there will be some left) I’m going to find space for the decanter in the fridge (pssst - don’t tell the wife)
D + 42: Sadly, maybe, it didn't make it through the night - there was such a small amount left it hardly seemed worth it.
I decided I did like it.
Then I attempted to decide whether I ought to buy some more (I have one bottle left, having bought 2).
I read and reread the "Predicting the future" thread.
I'm thinking that, perhaps, whilst it certainly has the fruit, it doesn't really have the acid, and probably tannins, to go much further - perhaps that was why I missed the "rough edge".
So I went to their web site...
http://www.quintadeventozelo.pt/
which is, it must be said, minimal, and I fired off an email in English and Portuguese asking their view on the future of this wine.
Kudos to them - I wrote at 7am this morning, and got a reply at 10am the same day, saying...
"This category of port wine should be drunk within 10/12 years, we recommend you to consume the wine."
So there's an answer confirming, I guess, what I'd decided. The other bottle is scheduled for next year.
But an email is going to the lovely Cátia asking her to see what else she can source from the Quinta de Ventozelo - I liked their style.
Unfiltered
Pull style cork (although with a small plastic packet with a stopper style cork in the box - how user-friendly is that!)
19.30 euros
Decanted at 4pm: Significant sediment, some of which actually looks like almost complete grape skins! Almost nothing in the nose. Deep purple, but with a tinge of redness. Some heat. Blackberries. Currants. Sweet and smooth. Long finish. Promising.
D + 4: Like Pinnocio, it’s grown a nose - we have a plum tree which, at this time of the year drops fruit in huge quantities which starts fermenting on the floor - it smells something like this. Thick and heavy but not dense. Definite plums - not unlike a plum brandy. Some heat, but not too much. This is quite unlike anything I’ve tasted to date (but I haven’t been around that much, it must be said). Several minutes worth of finish, and then a few more just for good measure. If I had to criticize, it’s a little soft at the edges - I like a little roughness there. This port has amazed me - I’m not saying it’s "great” (whatever that means), but it’s certainly a port the like of which I have not tasted before. Perhaps those are molasses in the nose. It's deep, full of bass notes - more Mahler than Mozart.
D + 24: Hotter and thicker than yesterday, both in nose and mouth. Today it’s more at damson jam - my wife, a few years ago, made a lot of jams with brown sugar - in jam, I didn’t like it, but this reminds me of it. I’ve seen “jammy” in TNs and I wonder if this is it - the feeling that you want to to spread the wine on hot buttered toast?
D + 30: If I’d made this wine, I think I’d be very happy. But one needs must put on a critical hat once in a while, in order that one might make a better wine next year. With that in mind… perhaps a little gooey, it could respond to voice commands to pour itself from the decanter into the glass, really I’m struggling. Now, all that said, I was wondering this morning whether I actually liked it! Plum brandy? I think I do. I also think it might be a little nicer at the cold end of the spectrum, so tomorrow (I think there will be some left) I’m going to find space for the decanter in the fridge (pssst - don’t tell the wife)
D + 42: Sadly, maybe, it didn't make it through the night - there was such a small amount left it hardly seemed worth it.
I decided I did like it.
Then I attempted to decide whether I ought to buy some more (I have one bottle left, having bought 2).
I read and reread the "Predicting the future" thread.
I'm thinking that, perhaps, whilst it certainly has the fruit, it doesn't really have the acid, and probably tannins, to go much further - perhaps that was why I missed the "rough edge".
So I went to their web site...
http://www.quintadeventozelo.pt/
which is, it must be said, minimal, and I fired off an email in English and Portuguese asking their view on the future of this wine.
Kudos to them - I wrote at 7am this morning, and got a reply at 10am the same day, saying...
"This category of port wine should be drunk within 10/12 years, we recommend you to consume the wine."
So there's an answer confirming, I guess, what I'd decided. The other bottle is scheduled for next year.
But an email is going to the lovely Cátia asking her to see what else she can source from the Quinta de Ventozelo - I liked their style.