An informal pre-Christmas tasting of ports with the theme "A bottle of port which cost you less than £25", as suggested by winesecretary and organised (with plenty of help from others) by richn.
This was Charles' bottle. Not much on the nose and not a big flavour on the palate, subtle and soft fruit with a little redcurrant. Quite spirit heavy and with a heavily acidic citrus cutting through. Good.
Full red colour. Strawberries on the nose. Quite spicy on the palate, and quite long. Not over-sweet. Very good. WOTN. I guessed Malvedos 1992, which just reminds one of how blind tasting is a spur to humility, not least because (i) the first thing I wrote down was 'Dow 1970?' and (ii) I brought another (admittedly rather differently presenting) bottle of the same wine.
A gentle and evolved colour, 50% opaque. Wonderfully fragrant on the nose, plenty of fruit but also with exotic spices which combine to give an amazing nose. Smooth entry with mature fruit with plenty of secondary flavours - rich and extremely flavoursome but with plenty of layers of flavour and development. So fragrant on the aftertaste! With stunning layers of flavour on the finish, a finish ending in a delicious red jelly. This is really very good. Served blind this was guessed to be Dow 1970. 92/100. Tasted 17-Dec-19. Decanted 12 hours.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.
2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
