My general summary of the 1983 port vintage is that is produced some wines which are pleasant drinking today and will continue to be for another 10-20 years. It is a vintage in which the Symington wines performed better than most of the other big names, but there are also some very enjoyable less-often-seen names (Feuerheerd, for example). I believe this might last longer than the 1985s as there is more structure and less fat fruit, but given a choice today I would probably choose to drink 1985.
It was also a delight to drink only my second Cockburn 1983 that did not suffer from any TCA taint.
1983: Average, with a few pleasant ports.
Examples/justification: F83 and D83 in particular, while not spectacular, I have enjoyed (probably) every bottle of. Many others have been poorer than the good years.
Graham 83 is a serious candidate for port of the 80s, in my view. Ramos Pinto, Niepoort and Warre 83 have all been drinking very nicely over past couple of years. Gould Campbell shows good promise. I had my doubts about this vintage for some time, but now I think it no better or worse than 80 or 85. Though all are admittedly very variable.
94 is a very curious one. Nothing I've drunk in the past 12-24 months has made me want to buy more, but weren'the people writing off 1960 as dead a few years ago? I've taken a reasonable gamble on Vesuvio and Graham 94, but otherwise have quite low stock (Taylor was already far too expensive for me at the time I started buying).
RAYC wrote:Graham 83 is a serious candidate for port of the 80s, in my view. Ramos Pinto, Niepoort and Warre 83 have all been drinking very nicely over past couple of years. Gould Campbell shows good promise. I had my doubts about this vintage for some time, but now I think it no better or worse than 80 or 85. Though all are admittedly very variable.
Not the Graham 83 thing again. I suppose there is a very remote chance that the Graham 83 might get better, not something I would predict, but each to their own. But I do not think that if you did a side by side with the 85 and 83 right now that there would be much doubt of the outcome. As to the point about the three eighties vintages I think you are probably near the mark, the difference being marginal, particular and personal. But I would still rate the 83 behind the 80 and 85, I realise the 80 would not garner much popular support.
But the points you make about the 94 I entirely concur with, even to the comparison with the 1960.
The US version of the 1983 horizontal had notably better results. Yes, there are some poor ports. But at ours there were a good number of very good or excellent ports as well.
DRT wrote:1963: Anyone who is unhappy that their stocks are overrated or fading too quickly can give them to me.
Hmm I think this falls in the same category of another quote from you related to Croft 45 if I recall correctly:
"This can be served to me for breakfast, lunch and dinner!"
Despite some of the 63s got a bit lighter in color recently e.g. the Averys 63 I had two days ago had a proper red color and everything for another 40 years.........
Hope you will be succesful with your plea!
Sorry, but I decided to keep my few cases of 63s I have left in my house
"Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough" Mark Twain
AHB wrote:1963 Fine wines; great are still great, lesser now fading or faded
Mostly fading now, even the best have begun the slide. Over rated and over priced.
WS1 wrote:
DRT wrote:1963: Anyone who is unhappy that their stocks are overrated or fading too quickly can give them to me.
Hmm I think this falls in the same category of another quote from you related to Croft 45 if I recall correctly:
"This can be served to me for breakfast, lunch and dinner!"
Despite some of the 63s got a bit lighter in color recently e.g. the Averys 63 I had two days ago had a proper red color and everything for another 40 years.........
Hope you will be succesful with your plea!
Sorry, but I decided to keep my few cases of 63s I have left in my house
I was not offering my few bottles of 63 'free to good home' as it were. I was noting that over the last five-ish years the descent of the 63 has become more precipitous. It may of course do a 1960 and pull itself together. But current prices and reputation seem excessive. Maybe I have just been unlucky with those I have tried; they have been rather too charming.
LGTrotter wrote:over the last five-ish years the descent of the 63 has become more precipitous. It may of course do a 1960 and pull itself together. But current prices and reputation seem excessive. Maybe I have just been unlucky with those I have tried; they have been rather too charming.
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