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 Vintage Port

Post by jdaw1 »

Fonseca 1985 tasted on 1st September 2007 in St. Helens. Tasted that evening were Fonseca 1920, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1992, and 2000. Also see the review describing the evening as a whole.

From the cellar of Conky, at a barely noticeable £50.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Post by DRT »

Conky, please look at the descriptions I have written for the other wines and post something here to describe the condition of the bottle of F85. You may have to hold the bottle up to an exposed lightbulb to see the fill level.

pictures to appear here soon
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
Conky
Fonseca 1980
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Post by Conky »

I've just decanted this bottle.

Very Interesting!

The cork seemed in good condition. Plunged the corkscrew in as far as it would go, and patiently pulled. You could quickly see the deep colour ingrained in the bottom two thirds of the cork, with the bold '1985' becoming clear. The cork began to struggle and it was clear the bottom was expanding rapidly. When it eventually cleared, the bottom was twice the girth of the top.
And the smell! Heaven. Everyone to his own, but the rich, thick fruity blackcurrant does it for me. It quickly filled the surroundings and lingered. Its not the smell of a fruit juice, like Ribena, its treacley, and with a hint of alcohol. Not in anyway overpowering, and had me just smelling the bottle for quite a while.
Finally remembered why I was there, and the excitement of the bouquet, made me filter the bottle ever so slowly. I had a firm hand and I waited for the sediment. Literally none came out until I was concerned there was no liquid left in the bottle. Odd. I thought, when with the last dreg, the sediment started.
I couldn't work out how such a glorious smell could be obtained with no sediment. For a flash of a second, I considered pouring it straight back, as Julian arrives in the morning with a better filter. I realised the error of my thought processes, and went to rinse it out. Out flooded a ton of sediment. Literally covered a large sink in fine dark purple dust. Now it made sense, and I realised I'd been incredibly lucky.
Back in the original bottle, and again my hand was firm and true. Jobs a good un, and the only dissapointment, was I was left with literally, half a thimble of cloudy Fonseca 85. I managed to turn it into 2 drops that rolled on the tongue.
Heaven Part II. Oh the richness. The smooth and heavy fruit. The silkyness of the aftertaste, and finally, a moment that stopped perfection. It had a hint of dryness to it.
But Bugger that. Bring on tomorrow night, sleep well in the fridge, my beauty, and please, please re-perform like that tomorrow. It could be a star.

Alan.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Post by DRT »

Can I decant the 1970 yet? :lol: :lol:
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
Conky
Fonseca 1980
Posts: 1770
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007

Post by Conky »

If its part of the F Plan! :lol:

And iof you do, I hope you have as much fun. That was quite exhilarating for me.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Post by DRT »

Conky wrote:If its part of the F Plan! :lol:

And iof you do, I hope you have as much fun. That was quite exhilarating for me.
I have 9 classic Fonseca VP's to decant in the morning - I may explode with excitement :shock:
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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F85

Post by jdaw1 »

Very opaque, and a very spicy nose—curry, perhaps. Huge, way too young, and needing decades. Huge. “It’s a sin†, said someone, not wrongly. UncleTomScore = ?-9. ARK: 8-10. DRT 8-9.
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RonnieRoots
Fonseca 1980
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Post by RonnieRoots »

One of my favorite ports! 88)

Here you'll find some of my notes on this one.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Post by DRT »

It's a sin!
That was me. I have tasted 4 bottles of this in 12 months and I hate myself for the waste.

My TN reads: Huge blackcurrent nose = thick black tannic and still too bloody young!

That is 4 out of 4 TN's that say - leave these alone until they are ready. Do not be fooled by the smell - this wine is nowhere near ots prime and, in my view, any drunk now are wasted.

Great juice, not ready.

Derek
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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