2011s, Thu 23ʳᵈ Apr 2026, B&F

[jdaw1]

An early horizontal of 2011s was held on Thursday 23^rd April 2026, at Boot & Flogger, as arranged by Christopher.

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• Tasting notes:
  • 2011 Quinta do Vale Meão;
  • 2011 Quarles Harris;
  • 2011 Capela do Vesúvio;
  • 2011 Graham Stone Terraces;
  • 2011 Vesuvio;
  • 2011 Graham;
  • 2011 Fonseca;
  • 2011 Taylor;
  • 2011 Quinta do Noval;
  • 2011 Niepoort Bioma;
• Placemats
• Planning and arrangements.

[Glenn E.]

That is a spectacular lineup, have a great evening! I can't wait to hear how everything shows.

[Christopher]

The first of a series of 2011 Vintage Port tastings on St George’s day as we approach the 2051, 40th anniversary tasting in 2051.
According to the mathematical experts in the club statistically 20% of who has signed up may not make 2051!
I have therefore not signed up.
Wonderful Ports

[Christopher]

Results of the night

[Glenn E.]

GST, F, and VM/V/Fr... what a finish for Ferreira! I'd have never guessed it could finish that high in this group of Ports.

[akzy]

GST, F, and VM/V/Fr... what a finish for Ferreira! I'd have never guessed it could finish that high in this group of Ports.

All third places were well deserved. Bar the capella which was obviously dodgy, an excellent showing!

[PhilW]

GST, F, and VM/V/Fr... what a finish for Ferreira! I'd have never guessed it could finish that high in this group of Ports.

All third places were well deserved. Bar the capella which was obviously dodgy, an excellent showing!

What was (perhaps worryingly) wrong with the Capela?

[winesecretary]

V Ca mildly corked.

[akzy]

GST, F, and VM/V/Fr... what a finish for Ferreira! I'd have never guessed it could finish that high in this group of Ports.

All third places were well deserved. Bar the capella which was obviously dodgy, an excellent showing!

What was (perhaps worryingly) wrong with the Capela?

Bottle was a duff. Corked

[Alex Bridgeman]

I try to drink one or two bottles of 2011 VP every year just to see how the vintage is developing. This was a great opportunity to try several bottles, including some of the top bottles, side by side.

As a general impression, I found these wines packed full of dense, ripe fruit. Fruit which is magnificent black cherry rather than anything less substantial. Most are still primary, with the fruit dominating but with the acidity and fine-grained, gentle tannins supporting the fruit. These are generally still delicious drinking today, but one or two might be just starting to shut down.

The Capela was slightly corked, but still showed that it should be full of big and dense fruit. The Stone Terraces was the deserved run-away winner out of the line-up. The Graham was so different from the Stone Terraces, and was the most evolved of the wines tasted - but that could be bottle variation rather than the wine itself.

I came away from the tasting convinced that 2011 is the greatest vintage for Port in the period 1995-2024. There are some lovely wines in that 30 harvest span, but none match 2011 for the quality of the fruit, their opulence and richness and the sheer joy they offer.

[Glenn E.]

The Stone Terraces was the deserved run-away winner out of the line-up. The Graham was so different from the Stone Terraces, and was the most evolved of the wines tasted - but that could be bottle variation rather than the wine itself.

In addition to holding verticals with each new release of GST starting with the 2016 vintage, at which I pair the GST against the Graham of the same vintage, I have also had the 2011 Graham at least 2 additional times (and I think 3) during that 7-8 year span. And while I do agree that the Graham and the GST are very different, I have not yet experienced a bottle that seemed to me to be more evolved than anything else in the lineup.

So I'm hopeful that your last comment is correct - this particular bottle was, sadly, the lower end of bottle variation. It does seem a bit odd to be seeing significant bottle variation this soon, but it can happen.

(One event was a wedding party and I brought 2011 Graham and Fonseca. Both were pretty spectacular, and the attendees were pretty evenly divided about which one was better. We drank 3 out of 4 bottles of each, leaving 1 of each for the bride and groom to take home. It is left as an exercise for the reader to determine how many Americans it took to drink 6 bottles of Port and 2 bottles of Malvasia. )