1970 Tasting in New York
Posted: 21:00 Fri 15 Feb 2008
My latest trip is nearly over, celebrated in terrific style thanks to the kindness of Jay and the generosity of his friends, acquaintances and other port lovers who I met last night.
Jay raided his port collection and laid on a wonderful 1970 horizontal with 8 ports coming from his cellar. The line-up was completed by an ex-cellars Niepoort brought by Roy Hersh and a 1970 Nacional brought by Ted and his wife.
There were so many (more) firsts for me last night - my first Nacional 1970, my first Cachao Port, my first Santos Junior (Eric liked it, but I didn't) and the first Niepoort that I liked and enjoyed.
We had 10 different ports arranged in three flights. Flight one was:
Cachao, Santos Junior and Kopke. The Cachao was a very pleasant surprise, drinkable and perfectly respectable. The Santos Junior (from magnum) was disappointing to me but just seemed to hit all the right points for Eric. I loved the Kopke. This showed a lot of the features that I enjoy in a mature VP and was very elegant and approachable. Others, indeed most others, were less impressed.
The second flight was Delaforce, Niepoort and Noval. The Delaforce was a Delaforce; simple, mature and straightforward. Nothing wrong with it but never going to set the world on fire. The Niepoort was fabulous and was my wine of the night. It was thickly textured, full bodied and chock-full of ripe red fruit. Fabulous port and the first Niepoort that I have found I enjoyed. The Noval was light, simple but enjoyable. There are times when you want a port that you can drink while you concentrate on other things. This would be ideal.
The final flight was comprised of Noval Nacional, Graham, Taylor's Vargellas and Taylor. I loved the Nacional as I found it restrained and yet hinting at more to come. Others were less impressed and some were disappointed by the bottle - but I finished it off for them after the tasting. The things we're forced to do for our fellow port lovers! The Graham got rave reviews from everyone - except me! I felt it was closed and not showing well. I speculated whether this was an example of a port going through an intermediate closed phase before coming out the other side and being a refined and courteous English gentleman. The Vargellas was fabulous. Everthing that I could want from an elegant port; a nose of lavender, a thick texture, refined fruit and a fabulous aftertaste. I had a hard time separating this from the Niepoort to choose my wine of the night. Sadly, the Taylor was corked quite badly on the nose although it showed some of its potential when sipped.
These notes have all been written from memory. Hopefully, when I get back to the UK I will find where I have packed my notes and be able to post proper tasting notes on the Tasting Notes forum but I just want to sign off with a very big "thank you" to everyone who has helped to make this business trip to the US one of my most memorable!
You may not hear a great deal from me over the next few days. Apparently my wife has realised that I have seen more of Julian in the last three weeks than I have of her. I've promised her that as soon as his cellar is empty it will all be over between him and me ...
Jay raided his port collection and laid on a wonderful 1970 horizontal with 8 ports coming from his cellar. The line-up was completed by an ex-cellars Niepoort brought by Roy Hersh and a 1970 Nacional brought by Ted and his wife.
There were so many (more) firsts for me last night - my first Nacional 1970, my first Cachao Port, my first Santos Junior (Eric liked it, but I didn't) and the first Niepoort that I liked and enjoyed.
We had 10 different ports arranged in three flights. Flight one was:
Cachao, Santos Junior and Kopke. The Cachao was a very pleasant surprise, drinkable and perfectly respectable. The Santos Junior (from magnum) was disappointing to me but just seemed to hit all the right points for Eric. I loved the Kopke. This showed a lot of the features that I enjoy in a mature VP and was very elegant and approachable. Others, indeed most others, were less impressed.
The second flight was Delaforce, Niepoort and Noval. The Delaforce was a Delaforce; simple, mature and straightforward. Nothing wrong with it but never going to set the world on fire. The Niepoort was fabulous and was my wine of the night. It was thickly textured, full bodied and chock-full of ripe red fruit. Fabulous port and the first Niepoort that I have found I enjoyed. The Noval was light, simple but enjoyable. There are times when you want a port that you can drink while you concentrate on other things. This would be ideal.
The final flight was comprised of Noval Nacional, Graham, Taylor's Vargellas and Taylor. I loved the Nacional as I found it restrained and yet hinting at more to come. Others were less impressed and some were disappointed by the bottle - but I finished it off for them after the tasting. The things we're forced to do for our fellow port lovers! The Graham got rave reviews from everyone - except me! I felt it was closed and not showing well. I speculated whether this was an example of a port going through an intermediate closed phase before coming out the other side and being a refined and courteous English gentleman. The Vargellas was fabulous. Everthing that I could want from an elegant port; a nose of lavender, a thick texture, refined fruit and a fabulous aftertaste. I had a hard time separating this from the Niepoort to choose my wine of the night. Sadly, the Taylor was corked quite badly on the nose although it showed some of its potential when sipped.
These notes have all been written from memory. Hopefully, when I get back to the UK I will find where I have packed my notes and be able to post proper tasting notes on the Tasting Notes forum but I just want to sign off with a very big "thank you" to everyone who has helped to make this business trip to the US one of my most memorable!
You may not hear a great deal from me over the next few days. Apparently my wife has realised that I have seen more of Julian in the last three weeks than I have of her. I've promised her that as soon as his cellar is empty it will all be over between him and me ...