1989 Skeffington

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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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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1989 Skeffington vintage port

Post by DRT »

"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Skeffington 1989

Post by jdaw1 »

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Did you see the very pale and curvaceous 1989 behind the “Paxton’s Vintage Port Bottled in 1991†? I didn’t.
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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Skeffington 1989

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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Skeffington 1989

Post by jdaw1 »

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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Skeffington 1989

Post by jdaw1 »

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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Skeffington 1989

Post by jdaw1 »

Drunk with food, and receiving less than our full attention.

Slightly light. Good red fruit. Quaffable, but not remarkable. Later, after more of the 1964 Krohn colhieta branco, the lightness and thinness were more overt.
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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Paxton & Whitfield

Post by jdaw1 »

A trip to Paxton & Whitfield the following day found the same port for sale, though happily with an improved label, as can be seen even with the phone camera.
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The price is all of five pence higher than in 2002-ish.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Post by DRT »

This was a very glugable wine. Packed with ripe fruits and nothing bad about it at all. Jdaw's "thinness" is lost on me. It was an excellent partner to the steak and would have been lost amongst the geriatric company in the formal tasting. I think it was consumed at the perfect time in the evening.

I would buy gallons more of this if it cost 50% less than P&W seem to think it is worth.

Derek
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Skeffington 1989

Post by jdaw1 »

DRT wrote:This was a very glugable wine. Packed with ripe fruits and nothing bad about it at all.
DRT wrote:It was an excellent partner to the steak and would have been lost amongst the geriatric company in the formal tasting. I think it was consumed at the perfect time in the evening.
Completely agreed.
DRT wrote:Jdaw's "thinness" is lost on me.
It was more obvious later in the evening, after the lightweights had gone home.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Re: Skeffington 1989

Post by DRT »

jdaw1 wrote: after the lightweights had gone home.
Not a description that is often used to describe me.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
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Re: Skeffington 1989

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

DRT wrote:
jdaw1 wrote: after the lightweights had gone home.
Not a description that is often used to describe me.
But accurate on this occasion, although you did equip yourself respectably for the journey home.

I can only agree with the comments about this wine being gluggable. A "summer picnic" style of port.

Paxton & Whitfield own label. Deep red in colour, with the intensity holding well into the rim. A wonderful nose of sweet ripe blackcurrants. Deeply flavoured, with the blackcurrants promised by the nose appearing in the mouth. Soft tannins with structure coming from the acidity of the wine. The aftertaste is a little short. A very pleasant, fruit-forward port, drinking nicely now and will hold for at least the next 10. Simple and appealing at the right price. 89/100 after about 12 hours decanting time.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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