1970 Dalva

[Alex Bridgeman]

Decanted approximately 6½ hours before drinking. From a bottle that looked to have been well cellared, capped off with a large cap of pink wax. Decanted out a pale rose colour and with a slight VA smell from a fair amount of fine, sludgy sediment.

Deepened in colour in the decanter to a deeper, distinctly brown, warm red. The VA has eased off and no longer dominates. Instead, the prime smell is of damp earth and cherry stones. Sour cherry juice initially in the mouth, lots of acidity - a little too much in all honesty - and some tannins still in the wine in a subdued sort of way. A decent amount of fruit, those sour cherries stay with you and are supported by some Granny Smith apples, a bit of golden syrup and a touch of grapefruit. The aftertaste is good, but not great, bringing a lovely combination of grapefruit to start which stays around for a long time and at some point changes into black licorice.

This is not a bad wine, but is not a leading light from the 1970 vintage. Distinctly better than the Dow 2001 LBV that I had last night, it is in the lower quartile but may improve a little with more time in the decanter. 3/3 or 88/100.

Alex

[Alex Bridgeman]

During subsequent drinking of this port it became obvious that it is very slightly tainted with TCA. The taint is not enough to prevent enjoyment, but clearly means that the port is not delivering everything that might be offered by the 1970 Dalva.

Alex