1966 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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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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1966 Fonseca Vintage Port

Post by jdaw1 »

Fonseca 1966 tasted on 1st September 2007 in St. Helens. Tasted that evening were Fonseca 1920, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1992, and 2000. Also see the review describing the evening as a whole.

From the cellar of Derek T., for the light cost price of £115.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Post by DRT »

A UK bottling by Justerini & Brooks Ltd. Purchased with 2 others in March 2007 from Seckford Wines.

Intact plastic capsule. Level is 1cm into the neck and 3 cm below the base of the cork.

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"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Post by DRT »

Decanted at 08:00 on 1 Sep 07. Cork broke and a few bits dropped into the bottle. What a fabulous smell when decanting this wine. Great dark colour for a wine of this age and less crust than some half it's age decanted earlier in the morning.

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"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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F66

Post by jdaw1 »

Slightly less opaque than the 1970. Nose somewhat closed, but predominamtly fruit rather than spice. Initial attack thinner than 1963, then gooier, sweeter. Still plenty of tannins. DRT: needs more time. UncleTomScore = 10-10.
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Ghandih
Fonseca LBV
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Ghandih's thoughts

Post by Ghandih »

This was the best of the evening - full, fruity, gorgeous mouthful - probably the best port I've ever drunk (and that tops at least one from 1931, thanks to Julian's generosity). Uncle Tom, I am deeply indebted to you for opening your cellar to me, and am sad that I couldn't meet you in person.

I'll add further tasting notes later, but I'd like to have a go at the Uncle Tom scoring system. Once, I found a thread explaining how to do it, but I can't now. Can someone send me in the right direction?
A man who likes vintage ports, and we're not talking Carthage
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KillerB
Taylor Quinta de Vargellas 1987
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Post by KillerB »

Here you go

Can't disagree about this pulling off an absolute blinder yet again. Sweet, great backbone of tannin, masses of plums, spice and even a tang of orange. My overall favourite for its ability to be around until many of us will be shuffling off this portal coil.
Port is basically a red drink
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Post by DRT »

This bottle was one of 3 given to me on my birthday this year by the best portaholics girfriend in history 88)

A stunning bottle which re-enforced this as being one of my all time favourite VP's.

The first thing that hit me was the tannin. Remarkable for a 40+ year old wine. A beutiful colour and significantly more opaque than the 63. A closed nose was later revealed as a problem of being outdoors. Inside, a complex nose which did not quite compete with the 63. A huge chewy dark cherry truffle taste. WOW! what a wine 88)

Hands down winner for me of Wine of the Night. Decades of pleasure to go in this one, despite already being 41 years old.

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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Post by uncle tom »

Wanting to give this wine a fair hearing (ex miniature bottle - courtesy of Derek!) I have saved it for a window of low stress... - biz is getting a little frenetic right now...!

Maybe the time delay is an issue here, but it's coming over rather light, and not very Fonseca, although it seems to have some age..

I'm hoping that Derek will now jump in and confess that this was not the real McCoy... :roll:

Tom
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
Conky
Fonseca 1980
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Post by Conky »

Tom,

Just to show how many differing opinions there are out there, I'm with you. The rest thought this was stellar. I thought it was good. If I had any criticism of a very nice Port, it was that the mouthfeel wasn't quite there. I knew I was sailing against the wind, at that table, so I just kept that opinion to myself, when it wasn't reciprocated. But it wasn't a patch on the 63,77, or IMHO the 85. But it takes allsorts.

Must keep things in perspective though. Bloody good Port.

Alan
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Post by DRT »

I'm not sure that TN's of the same 41 year old wine that were taken 9 days apart are particularly valid.

I'll stick by my assertion that this was a stellar bottle of a stellar wine on the night - wat happened to it by the time Tom opened his sample 9 days later is anyone's guess

Derek
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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Ghandih
Fonseca LBV
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Ghandih's Twopenneth

Post by Ghandih »

Ah, the F66! Deep red brown, looks the business - really thick and gooey, tannins, massive structure, and then lots of spiciness. The things that stuck with me were the big mouthfeel - a wonderful sensation just having it in my mouth - and the spiciness. Absolutely marvellous. On the Uncle Tom scoring system, it definitely gets a 10 now, but I feel those tannins mean it will get better. I don't suppose 11s are allowed, so I guess it's a 10-10.

Just out of interest, apart from Derek, has anyone else out there got any bottles?
A man who likes vintage ports, and we're not talking Carthage
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