1977 Fonseca

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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uncle tom
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
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Joined: 23:43 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Near Saffron Walden, England

1977 Fonseca vintage port

Post by uncle tom »

Strakers have recently been selling a huge private cellar (much of it Rhone wines), the property of a late departed wine and food buff who lived in what appear to have been stately surroundings. The catalogue informed us that he had been in the habit of buying at release.

As provenance goes, it doesn't get much better..

I picked up from this sale a ten bottle lot of Fonseca '77.

Of the ten bottles, six had excellent levels, although one had a mouse chewed capsule. Three more had BN levels, and one was at mid-shoulder - a dreadful level for a wine of this age.

Believing in 'survival of the fittest' - It was promptly put on death row..

There was no obvious sign of seepage, and my first reaction was to suspect a problem on the bottling line.

On removing the capsule, there was a small stain on the guarantee slip where it passed over the top of the bottle, but no more. However, the cork had a rough, almost furry appearance.

On removing the cork, I found it to have an open spongey texture that could be compressed with ease between thumb and forefinger. Extraction from the bottle had stretched it, and the branding was almost impossible to read.

First sip revealed some bottle stink, and the dregs were quite hot on the palate. After a few hours, the heat had gone, but it was clearly corked - at least I thought it was...

Returning to it this evening, now some 28 hours after decanting, I can detect no sign of the wine being corked at all; indeed it has developed good integration and is drinking very well.

This is all a bit wierd. A few hours ago I was weighing up the 'moral hazard' of cutting my losses and selling the bottles on to some unsuspecting punter at the Cheffins Xmas sale, and now I'm thinking that I want to hang on to them...

Will re-visit tomorrow!

Tom
Last edited by uncle tom on 08:36 Sun 26 Oct 2008, edited 1 time in total.
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Re: 1977 Fonseca vintage port

Post by jdaw1 »

That’s not moral hazard; that’s insider trading.
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uncle tom
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
Posts: 3518
Joined: 23:43 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Near Saffron Walden, England

Re: 1977 Fonseca vintage port

Post by uncle tom »

Julian said:
That’s not moral hazard; that’s insider trading.
In Cityspeak, you're probably correct - anyway, I'm keeping them!

I said:
Will re-visit tomorrow!
Unfortunately not now - I seem to have an empty decanter this morning.. :roll:

This is a fully mature wine that will probably plateau for a good few years yet. A better bottle from this stash might score higher, but this one gets 8-8

Tom
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Re: 1977 Fonseca vintage port

Post by DRT »

uncle tom wrote:I said:
Will re-visit tomorrow!
Unfortunately not now - I seem to have an empty decanter this morning.. :roll:
So do we have to re-name this phenomenon as "doing a Tom"? :lol:
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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uncle tom
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
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Joined: 23:43 Wed 20 Jun 2007
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Re: 1977 Fonseca vintage port

Post by uncle tom »

So do we have to re-name this phenomenon as "doing a Tom"?
Downing a bottle in one day is to do a Derek, two days is a doing a Tom.. :D

Tom
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Re: 1977 Fonseca vintage port

Post by DRT »

Ah, I misread the initial post and thought you had done a single-sitting drain of the decanter. You obviously need more practice :lol:
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Re: 1977 Fonseca vintage port

Post by DRT »

uncle tom wrote: This is a fully mature wine that will probably plateau for a good few years yet. A better bottle from this stash might score higher, but this one gets 8-8

Tom
Tom,

Are you saying that Fonseca 1977 in general is fully mature or just this particular bottle/case? Given the obvious flaws in the condition of this bottle I wouldn't think it would be a good example to use to assess the F77s overall condition? I realise that you have qualified your score but just wanted to understand what you mean by the first part of the above quote.

Derek
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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uncle tom
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
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Joined: 23:43 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Near Saffron Walden, England

Re: 1977 Fonseca vintage port

Post by uncle tom »

Are you saying that Fonseca 1977 in general is fully mature or just this particular bottle/case?
I last had the F77 at Joost's horizontal in Utrecht in April, when the wine showed a similar degree of maturity to this one. Prior to that, I popped a bottle at home back in Sept '06, at which point I felt it had a little more to offer.

So in terms of maturity, I'd say that this wine has just about arrived, and is now ready for mainstream quaffing.. :P

Tom
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
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