1966 Constantino

[Millsey]

Hi all,
New to this forum, but thought I'd share with you that I opened a bottle of 1966 Constantino last night to share with some guests after dinner and it was absolutely stunning, which was a major surprise as I know this bottle has had a rough life up to now! To be honest I expected it to be like vinegar, but even without decanting I was able to carefully pour the most perfectly clear glass of port from the bottle.

The colour was deep amber, sweet and nutty to the taste, and absolutely prime for drinking. I had to restrain myself and re-cork the bottle otherwise the whole lot would have gone in one sitting.

This morning I decanted the remainder and removed the remains of a broken cork that had fallen into the bottle last night - I managed to get it out and cleared the remaining crust before re-bottling the remaining contents and sealing with another port cork that I happened to have.

I know that Constantino port isn't widely regarded as being among the best, but I was delighted with my bottle which I've been preserving since it was given to me 21years ago on my 21st birthday, and it really was worth the wait despite the poor condition of the cork.

It was a glorious end to a lovely evening, wish I could afford to replace my bottle with another!

[griff]

Welcome to the forum and pleased to hear of your experience

[Millsey]

Thanks Griff - happy new year!

[RAYC]

Sounds fantastic.

I know that Constantino port isn't widely regarded as being among the best,

To be honest, it is quite hard for Constantino to have any sort of widely-held reputation these days when the last vintage port released under that label was (i think) the very same 1966 that you drank!

I missed out on a 1963 Constantino drunk at a Forum event by others earlier this year that also went down very well.

A large proportion of the grapes that went into your Constantino were likely harvested from Quinta do Crasto, so good pedigree considering the quality of the Douro wine that the quinta is turning out nowadays (though, in terms of geography/terroir, i must admit i don't know how the boundaries of the "Quinta do Crasto" vineyards have changed over the last 50 years and therefore whether or not they are comparable!)

[Alex Bridgeman]

Hi Millsey,

I'm delighted to hear of your good experience with the Constantino 1966. I was lucky enough to be one of the ones who tried the Constantino 1963 not so long ago - and that was also really good!

But I am just a bit worried about what you have said about what you did with the rest of the bottle. Are you planning on drinking the rest of the bottle soon? If you've opened and decanted the original bottle you should ideally drink the rest over no more than 2 weeks, keeping the bottle in the fridge and allowing the port to warm up in the glass before you drink it. Vintage port won't go bad, but it will weaken in flavour and show the alcohol and lots of stewed fruit with too much exposure to oxygen.

Best of luck with the rest of the bottle!

[Millsey]

Hiya, yes, I have a date with the remaining contents on Saturday night - the house will be empty, the decorations will be gone, so just me and an old bottle of port and perhaps a bit of cheese but I'll be interested in your comments on that! Would be it too much for the port to enjoy it with some food?

[Alex Bridgeman]

I love drinking port with food. If combining mature vintage port with cheese I go for a hard white cheese (not Stilton!) - something like Spenwood, Cheddar or Emmental.

But most of all, I love drinking vintage port with the sort of meal you might normally associate with red wine - steak, beef casserole, spaghetti bolognaise, venison. The port just seems perfect with the flavours and richness of the meat.

And just to prove it, I'm meeting WS1 in London tomorrow night to do exactly what I've described above - rare cooked burger and vintage port!

[Millsey]

Dear AHB, as they might say in Portugal, Bom apetite!

And out of interest, where would you recommend for a decent burger and port experience?

[Alex Bridgeman]

Our favourite location is the Davy's Bar & Grill on High Holborn, where you can buy Smith Woodhouse 1983 by the glass to wash down your burger. Most of the Davy's wine bars are pretty good. El Vino also has good snack food and a nice choice of port by the bottle.

[Axel P]

Constantino.jpg (82.49 KiB) Viewed 3858 times

We had an excellent Constantino lineup two years ago at Crasto, the direct descendants of Constantino de Almeide, after whom the brand was named and they all showed extremely well - no dropouts.

Axel