The annual Christmas event, this instance on Thursday 15th December 2011, as always in The Bell, Wendens Ambo, Essex CB11 4JY, and as always with the theme The Unknown Shipper and His Peculiar Friends.
From Quinta de Santa Eufemia. Pale straw colour, 10% opaque. Marzipan on the nose, with sour grapefruit. Sweet entry, lots of light brown sugar, dates and some fig. Sharp aftertaste, sweet sugar finish of long length. 83/100.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.
2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
Does Ste. Eufemia actually have a "30 Year Old White Port" now or was this bottle the infamous 1973 Colheita that is simply labeled as "Special Reserve White Port" because they didn't get it declared properly?
If the latter, then you must have had a bad bottle. I've had it a couple of times and it's always been worth much more than 83 points - closer to 93, in fact. (Except for the bottle that clearly seemed to have been heat damaged, but that's a different issue.)
Note: the link says Casa but your note says Quinta. Both exist and are different entities spun off from the same ancestor. Precision is extra important in this particular case.
Glenn E. wrote:Does Ste. Eufemia actually have a "30 Year Old White Port" now or was this bottle the infamous 1973 Colheita that is simply labeled as "Special Reserve White Port" because they didn't get it declared properly?
If the latter, then you must have had a bad bottle. I've had it a couple of times and it's always been worth much more than 83 points - closer to 93, in fact. (Except for the bottle that clearly seemed to have been heat damaged, but that's a different issue.)
Note: the link says Casa but your note says Quinta. Both exist and are different entities spun off from the same ancestor. Precision is extra important in this particular case.
I just saw this and Glenn is correct, this should be a QUINTA de Santa Eufemia 30 Year Old White Port. CASA Santa Eufemia does not make a 30 year old white Port. They were the same company, but the family split and split the company as well into these two independent ones.
Andy Velebil wrote:CASA Santa Eufemia does not make a 30 year old white Port.
That's not strictly correct - Casa Ste Eufemia do (or at least did) make what they called a 30 yr, but which is reputedly (as Glenn states) actually a single harvest 1973.
Andy Velebil wrote:CASA Santa Eufemia does not make a 30 year old white Port.
That's not strictly correct - Casa Ste Eufemia do (or at least did) make what they called a 30 yr, but which is reputedly (as Glenn states) actually a single harvest 1973.
The bottle drunk here was the Quinta ste Eufemia
Not true, they call it a Reserva Especial Branco, they do indicate on their website that is was from 1973. But the last back label I saw didn't mention this. Matter of fact, I spoke to one of the owners in person when I tasted it several years ago and we tried to convince them to mention on the back label it was all from 1973, in an effort to help them get around IVDP regulations. I don't know if they now do this or not on the back label.
The picture on that site is of their red tawny not the white.
Andy Velebil wrote:CASA Santa Eufemia does not make a 30 year old white Port.
That's not strictly correct - Casa Ste Eufemia do (or at least did) make what they called a 30 yr, but which is reputedly (as Glenn states) actually a single harvest 1973.
The bottle drunk here was the Quinta ste Eufemia
Not true, they call it a Reserva Especial Branco, they do indicate on their website that is was from 1973. But the last back label I saw didn't mention this. Matter of fact, I spoke to one of the owners in person when I tasted it several years ago and we tried to convince them to mention on the back label it was all from 1973, in an effort to help them get around IVDP regulations. I don't know if they now do this or not on the back label.
My remaining bottle of the Special Reserve White simply says something to the effect of "it's at least 30 years old" on the back label (which is stenciled, btw), which is probably all they could get away with without provoking the wrath of the IVDP.
I do also have a bottle of the Quinta de Ste. Eufemia 30-yr old White Port but I don't recall having ever tried one.
Here's the funny part. When the company split they split the stocks. So the Quinta d. Sta E. 30 year old's base is the 1973. But also blended with other younger vintages. Casa Sta. E. decided not blend it and just bottle it all from 1973.
Though at the time, back in the '70s, it was not registered as a Colheita, which is why they can't put 1973 on the label or call it a Colheita now.