1967 Taylor Vargellas

[Ghandih]

Hello all,

Long time, no speak, but here I am, prompted to check in by a fabulous bottle of TV67 cracked last night, and the guidance I received from TPF postings before opening it.
Mrs Gh and I had a university friend of mine and his family to stay. Last time I visited him, he opened a bottle of Warre 1970 (from Corpus Christi's cellars) so I felt honour bound to return the favour, and chose the oldest bottle of port we have, and the only bottle in my possession that is older than I - a Taylor Vargellas 1967. Three days before the day of tasting, I took it out of the wine fridge and let it stand. Noted that the fill level was only to the shoulder of the bottle, and hoped that did not mean significant deterioration.
First question - when to decant it? Turn to the oracle - TPF tasting notes, but these are very much focussed on the taste rather than the handling. However, one posting noted that about 5 hours hadn't been long enough, while another said it was failing after a couple of days, so I plumped for early on the day.
The cork came out in two parts, but was otherwise fine. The port threw an enormous sediment in the bottle, but the decanting itself was fine. That was 9am. At 22:30, we had seen off a steak dinner, and were ready to tackle the port, in the company of some cheese ”“ Wigmore (absolutely sublime), Cerne Abbas Cheddar (nutty excellence) and Cornish Blue and Oxford Blue (no comment on either ”“ nuff zed). So here are the actual tasting notes...

The port had a very light brown colour ”“ tan, even. It looked like dilute treacle. It had a distinct smell of ‟old”, mixed with fruit and dark treacle. No acidic or ethanolic notes ”“ just a really well balanced nose.
The taste was enormous. There was the hotness that had featured in TPF tasting notes, but the fruitiness was also definitely there. I had read about mintiness, too, and I thought I could certainly detect that. It was an unbelievably smooth, warming flavour, with comforting spiciness, occasionally threatening to get quite warm but never actually overbearing. Mrs Gh says it was like a big snuggly blanket! I guess in a formal tasting the port might have been demoted for its spiciness, but drunk in this context, after a fine steak and with some wonderful cheese, this was a stunning bottle of port, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ghandih

[Glenn E.]

Ghandih, the 1967 Vargellas comes in 4 different bottlings. 1969 Oporto and UK, and 1970 Oporto and UK. Which was yours?

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[Alex Bridgeman]

Great to hear of such a good showing - '67 is one of those vintages I rather like and which tends to be overlooked in fabour of the 1966.

[jdaw1]

Very pleased it showed well. Having decanted in the morning, what would you advise? Previous day? Lunch? Other?

in a formal tasting the port might have been demoted for its spiciness

But I love spiciness in port. It is a wonderful quality. No demotion from me would have been forthcoming, nor I suspect from others.