NV Quinta de Honor Tawny 20YO

[Andy Velebil]

Quinta de Honor 20 Year Old Tawny Port

This producer, along with their 2003 VP (under a different name), were pouring their wines at the IVDP Tasting in Los Angeles, May 12, 2016. I have never heard of this house before, so very intrigued to try it. From what I was told this is owned by a Canadian mining company that wanted to mine some mineral they found on the property of this Quinta. They had to buy the land and the winery to mine whatever it was they wanted. Apparently the CEO likes wine so kept the wine making part of the company going. Their Douro wine was nice, and their 2003 VP, both of which I'll post a note about later. I tasted it at the tasting and then from a different bottle tasted over 3 days with consistent results.

Bottled in 2007 (which I'll come back to later). A dark tea color that is just slightly cloudy. A very old wood dominated nose with underlying baking spices. The palate is light with a healthy dose of acidity. Then a little alcohol starts to protrude, along with mahogany, tea leafs, and citrus. When I tasted this, and later retasted it there was something off. Along with the clipped finish it seemed to be somewhat "flat" tasting. When I found out the bottling date it all made sense, both in the mouth and the cloudy appearance. 9 years in bottle wasn't doing this any favors, which is a shame as it seems to have good potential otherwise. This score may not be representative and I'd like to try a more recent bottling of this for a better evaluation.
87 Points