1890 Croft
Posted: 01:42 Sat 18 Feb 2023
A bottle supplied by DRT. A distinct amber / russet colour with some lovely ruby traces. A pronounced nose of plums and figs, with a refreshing streak of lime juice. Much more weight and presence than when tasted yesterday on entry, with sweet raisin fruit initially dominating before the slightly bitter acidity comes to the fore. Perhaps a little simple in the middle, delivering only straightforward raisins and dried strawberries and dried cereal - almost like drinking sweet Alpen. The aftertaste on this wine is amazing and clearly a strong point of this elderly port - black Earl Grey tea with the combination of gentle tannins and citrus flavours that dances over the edges of the tongue and the inside of the lips, teasing and tantalising and taking a long, long time to fade to nothingness; timed at over 2½ minutes.
This really is a splendid wine, better today than when we cautiously opened and served it immediately last night. It is splitting hairs, but the bitterness to the acidity is off-putting, like biting into the peel of a ripe orange. Without this bitterness, I would rate this one or two points higher - but how wonderful to taste a wine this vibrant at the age of 117! 91/100. Tasted 11-Jul-08 at the Portal Restaurant - Old & Odd tasting. Decanted 18 hours when this note was written.
This really is a splendid wine, better today than when we cautiously opened and served it immediately last night. It is splitting hairs, but the bitterness to the acidity is off-putting, like biting into the peel of a ripe orange. Without this bitterness, I would rate this one or two points higher - but how wonderful to taste a wine this vibrant at the age of 117! 91/100. Tasted 11-Jul-08 at the Portal Restaurant - Old & Odd tasting. Decanted 18 hours when this note was written.