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An event titled The 2007 Vintage Port Declaration: Preview Tasting was held from 1pm to 5pm on Monday 27th April 2009 at the Four Seasons restaurant, 99 East 52nd Street, New York. Present were lots of important people, including David Guimaraens, Dominic and Rupert Symington, and Christian Seely. And, hidden away at the back not being silent, me!

Readers might also be interested in the thread 2007 Vintage Port Declarations.

Let’s have some pictures. People like pictures.

Noval Silval 2007, imperfectly focussed.

Quinta do Noval 2007

Romaneira 2007 with a shaking hand.

Croft 2007

Fonseca 2007

Taylor 2007

Taylor Vargellas Vinha Velha

Smith Woodhouse 2007

Warre 2007

Graham 2007

Dow 2007

Vesuvio 2007

I can’t do tasting notes of cask samples. Both because I lack the experience of them, and because palate exhaustion set in after approximately one sample. Nonetheless, here are some words, in (approximate) order of tasting. For all ports you may assume that they also had strong notes of perfume and of young port these words not repeated in every bullet below.

• Noval Silval 2007 cask sample: more red than purple. Nose of melon and of starfruit. Very approachable and drinkable now.
• Quinta da Romaneira 2007 cask sample: Seely’s new creation. Also very red rather than purple, though of a darker hue than the Silval. Nose: cigar wood, then lots of sweetness and red fruit. Again, almost drinkable now. Matthew Daniel of Vintus Wines said that ‟will mature early”.
• Croft 2007 cask sample: is that pink or purple? Oh no, not!! Much more tannin and acidity, much more structure than the Noval Silval and then Romaneira. More tasting experience needed for a comparator.
• Warre 2007 cask sample: ‟too horrible to swallow hurray!” Red/pink/purple, and very scented. The scent rather overpowering everything else.
• Quinta do Noval 2007 cask sample: dark blacker than Croft or Warre. Indeed later compared to Fonseca much blacker than the Fonseca. Never before have I attended a horizontal in which Noval is darker than Fonseca. The nose for me was of ‟La Tour Blanche pineapple”. Red Château La Tour Blanche. But to taste not very tannic, with lots of heat and fruit. Interesting.
• Smith Woodhouse 2007 cask sample: red. As tannic as the Croft; the fruits somewhat subdued.
• Taylor 2007 cask sample: intense perfume, with lots of soft fruit/ Lots of tannin, but drinkable with food.
• Taylor Vargellas Vinha Velha 2007 2007 cask sample: much paler than the blend (see photo in next post). Nose intensely smoky, with cedar wood for good measure. Lots of tannin, but drinkable. The first time TVVV has crossed my lips.
• Fonseca 2007 cask sample: I remarked on the relative hues of Fonseca and Noval to David Guimaraens, who suggested that colour can be chosen to the detriment of taste (but his phrasing implied no evil of Noval only that if his objective was colour, he could do that, but to the detriment of other senses). He also suggested that Fonseca might hold its colour better with the passage of time. As for taste by this stage my palate was a mess.
• Graham 2007 cask sample: very dark. Very mute nose. And very sweet (4.1° Baumé).
• Dow 2007 cask sample: like its sweeter brother, very dark. Light tannins drinkable. You won’t be surprised to be told that it is drier than the Graham.
• Quinta do Vesuvio 2007 cask sample: dark, but not as dark as Noval. Nosing and softly tasting of Vesuvio prunes. Heat. Gentle. Lovely to drink today really quite delicious.

The colours of the Taylor and Taylor Vargellas Vinha Velha.

Speeches and stuff:

People spoke.

Rupert Symington likened the young 2007s to his understanding of the young 1966s. His phrasing seemed to imply that this was not a guarantee.

There was a question-and-answer session, in which we were forbidden to ask how much they will cost. So I asked when we would be told how much they cost. Answer: about fifteen days (so about 12th May). With that question the Q&A was promptly closed: the subject must have been somewhat delicate.

After I was told by Dominic Symington (and was granted permission to quote) that the current best-guess is that prices will be, relative to 2003 in euro, ”“10% to ”“15%. Note that € ”“10% ≈ $ ”“9% ≈ £ +18%, due to the terrible performance of the pound.

Nacional? Apparently it is a bit mute, so a declaration decision hasn’t been made. But whether or not they declare, they’ll make it. If made without a declaration, presumably it can only be tasted at Quinta do Noval itself.

All corks seemed to have extracted in one piece, and had slight staining on the inside end. Taylor-Fladgate and the Symingtons used blank corks, whereas Noval and Romaneira didn’t.

Members of might be entertained by my official accreditation.

Excellent.

Congratulations to JDAW for bringing the Q&A to a close. I assume you did not throw your shoes at any of the speakers?

A great thread; many thanks for reporting back!

Do you think we should be stocking up on the Warre?

JacobH wrote:Do you think we should be stocking up on the Warre?

jdaw1 wrote:

• Warre 2007 cask sample: ‟too horrible to swallow hurray!” Red/pink/purple, and very scented. The scent rather overpowering everything else.

You’re asking me? Because you think I might know? You haven’t been paying attention.

jdaw1 wrote:

JacobH wrote:Do you think we should be stocking up on the Warre?

jdaw1 wrote:

• Warre 2007 cask sample: ‟too horrible to swallow hurray!” Red/pink/purple, and very scented. The scent rather overpowering everything else.

You’re asking me? Because you think I might know? You haven’t been paying attention.

Well, yes, as you are a member of the universal set of people who read the board, and no, not necessarily; the reason was that I thought it might be an appropriate moment to indulge in some idle speculation.

Speculation aside, I thought the "hurray" (especially following palate fatigue) would suggest a value judgement towards the Warre. But perhaps I am misreading? Or not paying enough attention

jdaw1 wrote:Rupert Symington likened the young 2007s to his understanding of the young 1966s. His phrasing seemed to imply that this was not a guarantee.

That would be nice. In another 43 years time we will have something to replace our declining stocks of the '66s. Not long to wait now.
Reading this line again, it comes across as being more sarcastic than is intended. I am unlikely to be around in 43 years time, but love the '66s so if these are compared to the '66s by people who have the experience to make this comparison, then I am happy to have a great wine to add to my cellar.

After I was told by Dominic Symington (and was granted permission to quote) that the current best-guess is that prices will be, relative to 2003 in euro, ”“10% to ”“15%. Note that € ”“10% ≈ $ ”“9% ≈ £ +18%, due to the terrible performance of the pound.

Ouch! Not many cases expected to be sold in the UK then.

Nice report Julian. Thank you for putting yourself through the inconvenience of having to attend on our behalf and for posting your thoughts and pictures.

An extra detail from David Guimaraens, accidentally omitted from the earlier report. There are 4000 bottles of Taylor Vargellas Vinha Velha 2007, but those vines if I understood correctly could make about 30000 bottles. So the full Taylor blend contains about 87% of the TVVV output: the separate declaration ‘cost’ the Taylor blend only 13% of this juice.

AHB wrote:Thank you for putting yourself through the inconvenience of having to attend on our behalf and for posting your thoughts and pictures.

As you say, a great inconvenience on your behalf. To be fair to me, let’s agree without further ado that all who read this thread owe me a bottle of a reasonable (or better) 1966?

An extra detail from David Guimaraens, accidentally omitted from the earlier report. There are 4000 bottles of Taylor Vargellas Vinha Velha 2007, but those vines if I understood correctly could make about 30000 bottles. So the full Taylor blend contains about 87% of the TVVV output: the separate declaration ‘cost’ the Taylor blend only 13% of this juice.

Taylor did stand accused (by Mayson, I think..) of robbing the 2000 VP of the best juice in order to make the VVV of that year. Whether or not that was the reason there was no 2003 VVV is uncertain. The accusation must have stung though, to make DG highlight the numbers.

The Taylor wines look pale in your photo - I assume your camera flash made them appear lighter than they really are..

The pricing issue is a bit of a nightmare for the producers. Have they ever before had to contemplate releasing a general declaration at lower prices than the previous one?

The exchange rate is a very big problem for all exporters in the eurozone, and I'm not confident that this will correct any time soon.

For the port producers, it is particularly difficult. Their key markets for high value wines; the US and UK, while officially on a course of astronomic borrowing, look more likely to print much of the money instead; leading to devaluation and inflation. In the eurozone, on the other hand, a lack of consensus among the currency's participants, aided and abetted by an ideological desire in certain quarters to see the euro trump the dollar as the world's primary reserve currency; looks set to propel the euro to even greater highs, and much of the eurozone toward a deflationary depression.

Countries such as Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain have much to gain from a course of wholesale devaluation, to put their exports and tourist industries back on a competitive footing; while other members of the eurozone, Germany in particular, will want nothing to do with a policy that promises high inflation.

The options seem to come down to either a fragmentation of the eurozone, or an ongoing commitment by the wealthier members to bail out the poorer ones on a massive scale. The second option would seem politically impossible to sell, even in the best of times, so the first option is beginning to look inevitable.

For the Port producers, it couldn't happen too soon.

Tom

thanks, Jdaw, very interesting.

Axel

Here's the 10$ question Julian, would you buy a few cases of the 07 fonseca?

g-man wrote:Here's the 10$ question Julian, would you buy a few cases of the 07 fonseca?

I thought prices weren’t being revealed until next month. If you have inside knowledge that Fonseca ’07 is to be only $10 a case, well, it would be cheap at a dozen times the price. Sure: lots.

jdaw1 wrote:

g-man wrote:Here's the 10$ question Julian, would you buy a few cases of the 07 fonseca?

I thought prices weren’t being revealed until next month. If you have inside knowledge that Fonseca ’07 is to be only $10 a case, well, it would be cheap at a dozen times the price. Sure: lots.

Would the same hold true at a $50 question?

Would the same hold true at a $50 question?

Per case? Sure.

More seriously though, if you take the release price of the 1977 Fonseca (£48/doz) and adjust for inflation, you arrive at £167/doz today (around $250)

Adding duty and VAT brings that out to approximately £18/bottle - a price I would consider acceptable, for a wine to lay down, if the critical acclaim suggested that it was of similar quality.

Unfortunately, a return to a pricing structure that rewards consumers for buying bottles at release and laying them down, seems very distant at the present time.

Tom

But today, that Fonseca which cost around £167 a dozen would retail for about £110 per bottle or £1,320 per dozen. Assuming that at auction with good provenance you would pay roughly 20% less or £1,056. It will have cost about £6 per year to store the port so by buying on release and selling today you will have made yourself a profit of about £700 over 30 years on an initial outlay of £167 - roughly a 5.7% compound return on the initial investment.

Not a great return and I'm not sure how it compares with having invested in other things over the last 30 years, but I have invested in worse!

But what this simple analysis overlooks is that it might have been possible to have bought the Fonseca 1977 in the mid-80s for something less than £167 per dozen.

However, I shall wait for the pricing indications with eagerness and will almost certainly buy some port on release and top up in years to come.

AHB wrote:But today, that Fonseca which cost around £167 a dozen would retail for about £110 per bottle or £1,320 per dozen. Assuming that at auction with good provenance you would pay roughly 20% less or £1,056. It will have cost about £6 per year to store the port so by buying on release and selling today you will have made yourself a profit of about £700 over 30 years on an initial outlay of £167 - roughly a 5.7% compound return on the initial investment.

Not a great return and I'm not sure how it compares with having invested in other things over the last 30 years, but I have invested in worse!

But what this simple analysis overlooks is that it might have been possible to have bought the Fonseca 1977 in the mid-80s for something less than £167 per dozen.

However, I shall wait for the pricing indications with eagerness and will almost certainly buy some port on release and top up in years to come.

if you had bought the fonseca 80s tho instead of said 77s. you would have been drowning your sorrows in the f80s instead of patting your back about the wonderful pick up in the f77s =)

Assuming that at auction with good provenance you would pay roughly 20% less or £1,056.

Current auction price, including BP, is only around £55 - £60 btl (typically £600 + BP for a case); quite a modest return for 30yrs storage and capital tie-up.

Tom

What is palate fatigue?

Is that similar to when you don't get enough sleep the night before and your palate is tired the next morning? Or do you refer to the dozen young samples you tried and by around VP #8 you are wondering if you are standing in the UK or US?

Roy Hersh wrote:What is palate fatigue?

That after several wines each seems increasingly like a blend of what went before.

Roy: in some previous thread you were telling us that there’s a secret about the 2007 declaration and that, of course, you couldn’t tell us. What was the secret?

jdaw1 wrote:Roy: in some previous thread you were telling us that there’s a secret about the 2007 declaration and that, of course, you couldn’t tell us. What was the secret?

Piecing together everything that has come since, my guess is that the secret was Vargellas Capella.

Glenn E. wrote:Vargellas Capella.

My guess would have been similar.