NV Fonseca Tawny 10YO (bottled 1979)

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Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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NV Fonseca Tawny 10YO (bottled 1979)

Post by DRT »

NV Fonseca 10 yr Tawny (bottled 1979)
Tasted at Chez Bridgeman this evening.

AHB (tasting blind): That smells really old. It has that rosemary antiseptic nose.

DRT: It has a really green rim. Oh, it's just the reflection of the green table mat :?

AHB: Is this the Ferreira 1863?
DRT: No.

AHB: This is really rather nice. Smells like a really old vintage port. Very tasty.

DRT agreed.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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benread
Niepoort 1977
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Re: Fonseca 10 yr Tawny (Bottled 1979)

Post by benread »

Strawberries was my immediate reaction when I opened 1 just over a year ago.
Ben
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Vintage 1970 and now proud owner of my first ever 'half-century'!
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JacobH
Quinta do Vesuvio 1994
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Re: Fonseca 10 yr Tawny (Bottled 1979)

Post by JacobH »

DRT wrote:AHB: Is this the Ferreira 1863?
DRT: No.
Isn't there some sort of forfeit involved when you mis-guess in a blind tasting by more than a Century? :P
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
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Re: Fonseca 10 yr Tawny (Bottled 1979)

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

JacobH wrote:
DRT wrote:AHB: Is this the Ferreira 1863?
DRT: No.
Isn't there some sort of forfeit involved when you mis-guess in a blind tasting by more than a Century? :P
Yes. There is. The forfeit is to have your humiliation posted for the world to see for evermore - even to be included in the archives held in the British Library for future generations reference. :oops:

I must protest my side of the story, though. The last time I drank a 10 year old tawny was when I last went to Munich - 4 years ago. I do not buy tawny and do not choose to drink tawny port unless a so called friend forces me to have a glass. To combine that with the confusion of having first tasted several 2008 samples and components and the tawny being bottled more than 30 years ago, no wonder my poor senses were baffled.

But I still maintain that what I describe as a "rosemary, antiseptic" nose is very distinctive and is only found in very old wine. That was what completely confused me. Perhaps there was a small amount of very old wine in the blend that was giving the nose which I picked up.

And I should point out that there is a forfeit involved for being the person who plays such a cruel trick on a port buddy. That forfeit is to miss out on the next bottle of Fonseca 1963 / 66 / 70 that is opened at home or an offline :evil:
Last edited by Alex Bridgeman on 22:22 Sat 03 Jul 2010, edited 1 time in total.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Re: Fonseca 10 yr Tawny (Bottled 1979)

Post by DRT »

In my defence: AHB was reviewing my drafting prior to the Submit button being pressed :P
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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