Black and totally opaque. Very raw young nose. Lovely thick purple tears. Soft and smooth in the mouth but not as thick as I thought it would be. A big tannic blast hits the mid-palate but then a lovely long strawberry finish.
On initial tasting I noted "Vesuvio 2005" - I then talked myself into something else but ended up back here. Not a great guess given the raw nature of the wine and the person who supplied it
Derek
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
Young and purple colour, purple colour sticks to the edge of the glass when you swirl. Wonderfully complex nose; masses of blackcurrants, licorice and some spicy oregano but also strangely restrained in some way. Initially sweet and restrained fruitiness in the mouth; tannins come through gradually and gently but are noticeable before fading back again to leave many, many layers of a very complex wine with a great mix of fruit and herbs and great acidity. Aftertaste is huge in flavour and very fruity, but fades abruptly after a decent length before hanging around for a fair while as a faint "taste memory". Fun to drink today, but will reward a couple of decades in the cellar. 5-7 or 91/100. Drunk on 18th March 2008 after 9 hours of decanting time.
Footnote
I finally managed to get round to finishing off the rest of the decanter about 5 days after opening the bottle. I was surprised at how much this sludge has already formed in the bottle and anyone else who is considering drinking one of these, I would recommend that it be decanted of the sediment rather than just empty the bottle into the decanter as I did.
This was still drinking very well after 5 days. By the fifth day, the alcohol had become more obvious and so had the tannins, but these were still wrapped up within a lovely and massive fruit dominance. Still delicious after nearly a week of neglect.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.
2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
