1988 Fonseca Guimaraens

[bman]

From a half bottle. Just opened and decanted a couple of hours ago. A little dusty but nicely sweet and rich, though still a bit hot. Perhaps this will dissipate which more time in the decanter? The colour goes right to the rim, suggesting that it is not fully mature, which is borne out on the tasting.

Maybe it's the time of year, but I'm getting treacle, dark Christmas fruitcake (especially candied marschino cherries), toffee, black cherry, some smokiness, expresso, and subtle menthol on the quite long finish.

Nicely mouthcoating and medium full-bodied. This is the third 88 I've had, the other being Taylor Vargellas and Graham Malvedos (the latter I've had more than any other port I think). I didn't expect to like this port as much as I do, perhaps because I couldn't find a single TN on it, which often means that the usual critics didn't like it enough to bother. Hard to believe that neither WS nor Parker tasted this, though.

I score this a solid 91 today, and expect that I'll score it a bit more tomorrow (if there's any left! ) and/or in another 5 or more years.

[uncle tom]

Drinking through the decanter that was untouched at the Xmas offline, I have to say that I was less impressed - youthful, certainly, but also rather coarse - I felt it was above it's station as a Vintage port, but a good Reserve.

The '87 is a much more serious beast, but not in the same league as the fully declared Fonseca's.

Tom

[bman]

I can't add any further notes as there was none left the next day

I will say though that I think that the roughness is due to its youth, and I expect this to be really nice some years in the future. That said, I'm only going to get a couple more.

[Overtired and emotional]

This was a pleasing conclusion to a good Friday lunch. I do not know how long it had been decanted, but it was plenty of sweet richness, and not heat or coarseness. Having said that, there was not much depth or finish. A very agreeable port but not one to stick in the memory.