Croft - Reserva Particular - 1978 Tercentenary Year

[smisse]

Gentlemen,

I just obtained a bottle of port which seems in first instance a well dressed tawny. Yet, I am wondering if any of you know how old the port used for this "special edition" was and/or tried it.

Surely "An exceptional port of Great Age" made "for the benefit of gentleman of taste" can only be good! ............. I hope

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[uncle tom]

The pretentious presentation, the lack of detail as to its actual age and origin..

Still, there is only one way to find out if it's any good

Sup it and see!

Tom

[smisse]

The pretentious presentation, the lack of detail as to its actual age and origin..

Still, there is only one way to find out if it's any good

Sup it and see!

Tom

It is indeed suspicious. Yet why would they spend that much money on the presentation (leather box with key) and then save on the actual port.

I agree there is only one way to find out (and that will happen soon )

[RonnieRoots]

A tawny that spent perhaps 6-8 years in wood (guess) and has since sat in bottle for 31 years? It can go all ways, but is likely to be a curiousity at best. Cool find though. Have you done research on the importer? Apart from the fact that I'm pretty sure they don't exist anymore, I wouldn't know a thing about them.

[AdrianBridge]

The Croft Tercentenery Port was bottled in 1978. I have spoken to the person who bottled it and they say that it is a 20 year old tawny.

Interestingly there is a bottle that was placed in a time capsule in the Croft offices - along with several newspapers and other items.

Ofcourse, our extensive research shows that the Croft company can trace itself back as a legal entity to a company incorporated in 1588 in York by a Mr Thompson. The Thompson and Croft families intermarried seven times in the ensuing 15 years.

Adrian

[jdaw1]

The Thompson and Croft families intermarried seven times in the ensuing 15 years.

Harrods 1912 General Catalogue listed ‟Thompson & Croft 1887” bottled 1890, at 115/0 per dozen. Please, was this regular Croft vintage port, or was the ‟Thompson & !” something different?

[smisse]

thanks for this information Adrian.
I was hoping for at least a 20yr old tawny.

I'm glad to know that at least one bottle will survive

[Prophet One]

Hi!
I hope someone will read this very old post.
I've found at my parent's home some old bottles of Port wine (they don't like sweet wine, I guess it was a gift of many years ago). They look very precious. One of those is exactly the one that appears in this post.
I am not an expert, I just visited some cellars in Porto and learned the basics. And got drunk, of course! So I have a couple of questions for you :
- After many years of permanence in a house (not in a cellar, in variable temperature) how could have changed the quality of this wine?
- I will surely drink it, but only for curiosity: how much do you thik could be the value of this bottle? It's without any box.
If you like, I can post a picture.

Thanks in advance for any answer.

Prophet One

[uncle tom]

Not of great value. It's condition will depend very much on the degree of filtration that was afforded to it when bottled. It could be very good, it might be just OK, but it will almost certainly be drinkable.

Don't think of it as a sweet wine - most port lovers don't have a particularly sweet tooth or an affection for overtly sweet wines in general - the sweetness tends to hide itself in port.

Probably best to decant this one as it may have thrown a little sediment - pop it into a decanter and enjoy at the end of a casual dinner party with friends..

[Prophet One]

Thanks a lot Uncle Tom! I will follow your suggestions.
A very good friend of mine is a big expert of wines. I will open the bottle with him and I will tell you our experience.

[Prophet One]

Well, I opened the bottle and tasted the wine.
Even though the metal cover seemed to be in good conditions, the cork inside was almost completely damaged and broken. I couldn't pull it out because it falled soon inside the bottle.
The taste is not good. Closer to the vinegar than to a porto wine. It's a pity...

[Doggett]

How disappointing...I have one in the cellar that I thought I would find a suitable occasion to save it for to open, but it seems that I should just give it a try to see if it is drinkable. Thank you for returning to the post to update.

[DRT]

Well, I opened the bottle and tasted the wine.
Even though the metal cover seemed to be in good conditions, the cork inside was almost completely damaged and broken. I couldn't pull it out because it falled soon inside the bottle.
The taste is not good. Closer to the vinegar than to a porto wine. It's a pity...

I suspect you have been unfortunate in finding a bottle of Port that tastes like vinegar as this is very unusual. Port is quite robust compared with most wines and even when stored badly it tends not to become overly acidic. Your description in the original post says that it was stored at variable temperatures, which probably explains what you have found when you opened it if that variation was quite extreme.

[Prophet One]

How disappointing...I have one in the cellar that I thought I would find a suitable occasion to save it for to open, but it seems that I should just give it a try to see if it is drinkable. Thank you for returning to the post to update.

Well, mine was not in a cellar, but anyway in a dark hall closet. It is at the ground floor of an italian house, where the temperature excursion is about 10 degrees between summer and winter. Looks like this "50 year cold-warm dance" deeply affected the wine.
Maybe yours, since lies in the cellar, is in better conditions. Let us know if you open and drink it!