1985 Croft

Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
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Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
Posts: 14880
Joined: 13:41 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Berkshire, UK

1985 Croft

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Deep rose red, 40% opaque. Sweet fruit on the nose, slightly jammy. A touch stewed on the palate but plenty of sweet fruit. Mid palate the alcohol shows with soft tannins in the background; lacking some balance and structure. Sweet and jammy on the aftertaste although it does come with a nice finish. It is good to try a Croft 1985 without it being full of VA. Needs more time to mature before coming to a final conclusion about this port. 86/100.

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LGTrotter
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
Posts: 3707
Joined: 17:45 Fri 19 Oct 2012
Location: Somerset, UK

Re: 1985 Croft

Post by LGTrotter »

This was a port which generated a lot of approving noises from the assembled. I thought it rather too charming. It is like all those 85s which are cheery and blowsy and just a bit insipid. Soft, sweet and boneless.
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flash_uk
Graham’s 1977
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Joined: 20:02 Thu 13 Feb 2014
Location: London

Re: 1985 Croft

Post by flash_uk »

20% opacity, rose, pinky red. Very delicate nose - cherry. Very light, delicate mouthfeel, full of cherry and liquorice. Gentle acidity and tannin and a nice finish. Something quite fragile about this port. Might explain why others note that it can be challenging to find a good bottle.
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AW77
Morgan 1991
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Joined: 20:20 Wed 25 Sep 2013
Location: Cologne, Germany

Re: 1985 Croft

Post by AW77 »

smells of liquorice, light body without being unpleasant, in the mouth some liquorice and pepper. really good.
I really liked this one and thought that it offered quite a good price-quality ratio. The F85 for me was only a little bit better, but it was almost double the price.
I must admit that I like liquorice notes. For me this is a sign that the port is neither still young nor already old/mature. In general I like this "betweenness" in my wines.
The Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt know thy Port
idj123
Morgan 1991
Posts: 1116
Joined: 20:54 Tue 13 Nov 2012

Re: 1985 Croft

Post by idj123 »

Liked this Port and in other circumstances it might have the source of more top-ups. Very clean gentle fruit but lacking the broodiness of the T85 and the explosiveness of the F85 (both of which I sampled prior to this).
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