1985 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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1985 Fonseca

Post by jdaw1 »

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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Re: 1985 Fonseca

Post by jdaw1 »

F85, brought by JDAW. Purple, 70% opaque. Nosing of red berries, DRT correctly saying ‟meat counter”. Mid-weight, heat late palate. Lots of candy, and bright-toned. But only mid-weight.

Disappointingly light for a F85.
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
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Re: 1985 Fonseca

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Firm red centre, slight paling at the rim; 70% opaque. Very distinctive nose, unlike all the other bottles this evening - reminding me of sweet and candied blood oranges and candied cherries (others described this as caramelised meat juices). Sweet violets on the palate, slightly herbaceous with plenty of sweet and candied fruit - but a little harsh and unknit. Soft, dusty tannins. Very candied / red jelly aftertaste and a sweet, chocolatey finish. 84/100. 7½ hour decant.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
griff
Warre’s Traditional LBV
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Re: 1985 Fonseca

Post by griff »

Oh dear. Any reason for the poor showing?
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
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Re: 1985 Fonseca

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

griff wrote:Oh dear. Any reason for the poor showing?
Either a dodgy case or - we are wondering - the wine could be shutting down a bit again. We saw something like this happen to the '60s a few years ago, when the wines showed quite poorly for a couple of years and then came bouncing back to be the beauties they are today.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
griff
Warre’s Traditional LBV
Posts: 347
Joined: 09:43 Thu 03 Jun 2010
Location: Sydney

Re: 1985 Fonseca

Post by griff »

AHB wrote:
griff wrote:Oh dear. Any reason for the poor showing?
Either a dodgy case or - we are wondering - the wine could be shutting down a bit again. We saw something like this happen to the '60s a few years ago, when the wines showed quite poorly for a couple of years and then came bouncing back to be the beauties they are today.
Thanks. For what it is worth it was looking good six months ago at a trade tasting. Mind you it was up against normal wine so it obviously showed to its advantage.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Re: 1985 Fonseca

Post by DRT »

There is only one sensible way to resolve this question.

Six brave souls each volunteer to bring two bottles of Fonseca 1985 to The Bung Hole on an appointed date, each bottle coming from a different case/source. I, plus five others, take twelve for the team and report back.

The things we do.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Re: 1985 Fonseca

Post by jdaw1 »

It would not be honourable for me to allow you to do this alone.

> Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.
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RAYC
Taylor Quinta de Vargellas 1987
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Re: 1985 Fonseca

Post by RAYC »

AHB wrote:
griff wrote:Oh dear. Any reason for the poor showing?
Either a dodgy case or - we are wondering - the wine could be shutting down a bit again. We saw something like this happen to the '60s a few years ago, when the wines showed quite poorly for a couple of years and then came bouncing back to be the beauties they are today.
I have been less than wowed by 4 of the last 5 of these I have had over the last 6 months (4 different sources), including what I thought was a rather average showing at BBR in december. Even the one that showed very nicely was much dryer than I remember 12 - 18 months ago. But could be just a run of bad luck.
Rob C.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Re: 1985 Fonseca

Post by DRT »

jdaw1 wrote:It would not be honourable for me to allow you to do this alone.

> Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.
It is always good to know that one has the support of a brother in arms when going into battle. Four more recruits and we will have an unstoppable force.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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g-man
Quinta do Vesuvio 1994
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Re: 1985 Fonseca

Post by g-man »

DRT wrote:There is only one sensible way to resolve this question.

Six brave souls each volunteer to bring two bottles of Fonseca 1985 to The Bung Hole on an appointed date, each bottle coming from a different case/source. I, plus five others, take twelve for the team and report back.

The things we do.
we shall support our brother in arms on this side of the pond as Sushi and I were pondering the exact same thing over some Dow 85 and bidding on 2 cases of Fonseca 85.
Disclosure: Distributor of Quevedo wines and Quinta do Gomariz
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