When is port in a drinking window?

[Alex Bridgeman]

Uncle Tom posted a comment here in my tasting note for the Vesuvio 2006 which made me wonder when people generally feel that port is in a drinking window.

Just reading about the tannins makes my teeth grind

Tom

I don't like a strongly tannic wine, but I find that there's often a period for 2-3 years after bottling when the port is just so fruity that I have to work really hard to uncover the tannins. When the port is in this fruit-forward phase, I really enjoy drinking them. After this 2-3 year window I find that they move into a much less enjoyable phase and require either a lot of decanting time or a lot of aeration in the mouth. If I can, I would prefer to leave them to reach their 21st anniversary before opening them again.

But sometimes I feel forced to open a port in this awkward phase either because I'm curious to see how a port is developing or because I need to open a bottle to protect a better bottle that deserves more opportunity to mature.

So is it just me, or do others also see this early drinking window for port?

Alex

[jdaw1]

Consistent with AHB’s preference was my liking of the Fonseca 2003 over the Fonseca 2000. But I don’t have enough experience to be sure of the general rule.

[Axel P]

From my personal point of view and recent experience I considered the wines to be in a very fruity phase right from the start, although the "domination" of the fruit over the rest might increase in the first two to three years. However VPs from the big houses of the year 2003 e.g. never reached a phase where you could not make out the tannins anymore, whereas 2004s and 05s weren't so tannic right from the start. The only exceptions from my experience are the recently tasted Cockburns and the Noval of 2003 (I guess we had the discussion of the presence of tannins vs. life expectency).

I totally agree with the lifetime drinkability with AHB, but I do think that from the point of seduciveness in the early stage there is a slight difference wether the VP is from a strong year or not.

Axel

[KillerB]

I have a drinking window that looks out onto the garden. I have discovered that drinking Port in this window is always a good thing.

I also like middle aged Ports where the tannins have subsided but there is still a solid structure. I'm not quite so happy when the wine is falling apart even though it maybe 'delicate'. However, there are the dumb phases that most wines go through where it is on a transition from one phase to another and it seems be neither one thing nor the other, like the 2000s at the moment, not screaming baby fruit bombs nor brutal adolescents, just not fun.

Thus there are several drinking windows, so I will also make one of the windows upstairs, that gives a different view of the garden, into a drinking window.

[Alex Bridgeman]

I also like middle aged Ports where the tannins have subsided but there is still a solid structure. I'm not quite so happy when the wine is falling apart even though it maybe 'delicate'. However, there are the dumb phases that most wines go through where it is on a transition from one phase to another and it seems be neither one thing nor the other, like the 2000s at the moment, not screaming baby fruit bombs nor brutal adolescents, just not fun.

So when would you define a port as "middle aged"? Which vintages would represent this sort of drinking at the moment?

[g-man]

as long as the flavors are in balance, I feel any age is a good drinking window.

Fonseca 77, perfect balance, and I would love to drink it now, if in 20 years time it becomes lighter but still maintains that perfect balance, I would still feel it'd be in drinking window.

I agree with you and Julian too. young ports are very enjoyable to drink because the good ones have such a wonderful blend of tannins, fruit, and body that just feels like a wonderful wine when balanced.

When they hit the dumb phase, I'm guessing our F00 did, then it feels disjointed, ie; too pruney, not enough body, closed nose, bit watery, over spirity ... etc.

i liken it to steaks.

You could have both incredible veal and regular cow. If it was flavorful and delicious, I would happily eat either any day.

[KillerB]

I also like middle aged Ports where the tannins have subsided but there is still a solid structure. I'm not quite so happy when the wine is falling apart even though it maybe 'delicate'. However, there are the dumb phases that most wines go through where it is on a transition from one phase to another and it seems be neither one thing nor the other, like the 2000s at the moment, not screaming baby fruit bombs nor brutal adolescents, just not fun.

So when would you define a port as "middle aged"? Which vintages would represent this sort of drinking at the moment?

Obviously this depends on the Port but generally the 55 - 77 range hits it for me

[Alex Bridgeman]

I agree that ports from the vintages '55-'77 would be perfect for drinking now - and would certainly meet my general rule of thumb of 21 years or more (unless desperate to protect those better ports which need more aging).

If only I could drink port from '55-'77 all the time! I'm normally drinking from the '80s and early '90s these days.

[Glenn E.]

I don't really have a serious answer to the question, but every time I see this thread I think "when it's open."

I tend to prefer 30+ years of age on VP and 40+ years in cask on Colheita, with just occasional exceptions. I also enjoy 20-yr old Tawnies, but prefer the 30-yr and 40-yr varieties.

[keytohwy]

The first VP I had was the 94 Fonseca in 2005. There were certainly no tannins there, and yet, it has a ton of time left.

My tuppence,
keytohwy

[uncle tom]

As tasting samples, I find the very young ports quite interesting, but would I want to tackle a whole bottle? - not really, I am a bit too tannin-averse for that.

After the initial flush of youth, the wines mostly go through a dumb or 'closed' phase, when they are flat and unexpressive, but very tannic still. Those of a chocolatey nature seem a little more approachable during this phase.

Then there is the teenage 'Kevin' phase, when the wines begin to emerge as adults, but lack composure. The '91's were notorious for this, but now seem to be growing out of it, whereas a recent encounter with a Cockburn '94 (a wine that I re-visit roughly once a year) showed the characteristic for the first time.

After about 18 years there is a great divergence of maturation between different wines of the same vintage, and of wines from different vintages. In the worst cases, wines can sometimes appear to be over the hill at that age, while others can still seem immature twenty years later.

Another characteristic, one that I associate with the '77 vintage in particular, is what I term the 'Peter Pan' problem - a wine that shows signs of growing old, before it grows up - showing loss of colour and problems with integration, while the tannins are still quite harsh.

Setting aside any infanticidal tendencies you may have.. I would suggest the best way to determine the optimal drinking windows for the stock in your cellar is to leave them in their cases until they are about 16-20 years old, and then take them out of their cases and into a rack, selecting the weakest bottle as you do so. From that bottle, and your own personal preferences, you can determine whether the wine is good current drinking, needs a few more years - or needs loads more time.. - and re-visit accordingly.

Tom

[RonnieRoots]

I thoroughly enjoy drinking young vintage ports. The full and fruity phase they're in the first 2-3 years after bottling is lovely. After that, they become a bit of an awkward beast, and I find it mostly best to leave them alone. I wouldn't touch 2000 at the moment. But of course there are exceptions. Croft 2000 showed very well last year, as did Burmester. But that might also suggest both will not last very long.

I like to have a VP that still has a bit of bite to it. Therefore I currently enjoy drinking single quinta ports from the mid eighties to mid nineties and fully declared vintages from the sixties, seventies and eighties. I love it when a port has a beautiful balance between fruit, tannin, and secondary flavours. Taylor's 1970 is a perfect example.