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First of a case of six acquired a year or so ago. Front label confirms this is part of the Niepoort empire, back label says "...bottled October 1996".

Level well into neck; excellent fully branded cork which came out drama-free. Then decanted. Then poured.

Maybe 60% opaque. Colour definitely starting to go; not yet browning, but on the way. Is this a surprise? 1994 was the first Port vintage I purchased en primeur, so I still think this was yesterday, but it's now a 28 year-old wine. I'm still sort of expecting these to be properly dark...

Pretty much nothing on the nose. It's not muted, there's just nothing there (an earlier note on here says something similar). Try really hard and there's generic "darkish fruit".

In the mouth a bit more interesting. Alcohol too forward but other than this it's quite soft and tastes like Port. No complexity; it's just OK.

So, probably better than an LBV; could be a good cellar defender if the price was right; unlikely to improve; drink soonish.

The remainder now going back into the bottle and Vac-U-Vin. Might provide progress updates.

Please do provide updates. The bottle sounds interestingly flawed, if that makes sense.

Every time I've had this wine it has had pretty strong volatile acidity, which sadly seems to have been a problem with everything Niepoort bottled around that time. We did a 1994 horizontal in 2014 and all 3 Niepoort-bottled Ports (Niepoort, Passadouro, Broadbent) stood out and were easily identifiable.

Definitely no VA issues with this one - it's just underwhelming. Maybe it'll be better this evening?

nac wrote:Definitely no VA issues with this one - it's just underwhelming. Maybe it'll be better this evening?

Your optimism is inspiring!

A glass last night (+1 day) was - I think - similar to Day 0, but wasn't in the mood to be all analytical...

Tonight I'll try a bit harder.

Visually unchanged and nose still pretty much dumb. Maybe there's a little more, but difficult to pick out any definite notes.

In the mouth there's more evolution. The spirit still intrudes and gives a unpleasant harshness, but there's now a bit more going on. Maybe some fig, possibly some bitter chocolate.

So, less optimistic than I was. Drink up.

I don't think this is in any way faulty, I just don't think it's very good.

One glass left.

Final glass at +5 days.

Nose remains pretty unresponsive, maybe some hints of secondary development but hard to get past the alcohol.

The alcohol is still there in the mouth, but there's now a very pleasant licorice.

Given where this started, I think it's held up pretty well. However, not especially looking forward to future bottles.