Friday 5 October 2012

Barão do Vilar Tawny

Barão do Vilar Tawny

Reddish brown colour with a light nutty nose. This was a rich and full bodied port harmoniously combining dried fruit, nut and oak flavour elements.

Thursday 4 October 2012

De Ouro Tawny

De Ouro Tawny

Deep reddish brown colour with sweet, nutty and fruity nose. This was sweet and rich, giving the sensation of drinking a liquid fruit cake. Delicious digestive.

De Ouro White

De Ouro White

Golden yellow colour with a lightly floral nose. This was very much a port for the home market being almost overwhelmingly sweet and mawkish. The sugar overwhelmed the slight grape flavours.

Euroshopper Tawny

Euroshopper Tawny

I guess I should have noted the price of this cheap supermarket offering. It had a deep reddish brown colour with a light nose of fruit and wood. Tasting revealed a quite acceptable young tawny which was slightly fruity having hints of dried fruits and an oakey nuttiness.

Wednesday 3 October 2012

Barão do Vilar Ruby

Barão do Vilar Ruby

Rich ruby colour with some old fruits on the nose. This was fruity and smooth with the tannic freshness of its youth.

Offley Rose

Offley Rose

Bright pink in colour, nosing revealed the sweetness of summer fruits. The flavour was deep and sweet with grape flavours to the fore but some hints of cherries coming through too.

Tuesday 2 October 2012

Quevedo Tawny

Quevedo Tawny

Well oxidised reddish brown colour with a rich toffee nose. This was rich and full bodied. The combination of sweet dried fruits and nuts was reminiscent of fruit cake, added to which there was a dash of oakey wood.

Quevedo Rose

Quevedo Rose


Light red colour with a slight floral nose. Fresh grapey flavours were combined with a hint of minerality.

Quevedo Tawny 20 Year Old

Quevedo Tawny 20 Year Old


Clear brown colour with just a reddish tinge. The nose contained elements of both caramel and wood. This port was sweet and full bodied combining dried fruits and nuts with a substantial contribution from the oak barrel.

Quevedo Colheita 1992

Quevedo Colheita 1992

Dark brown in colour with a reddish amber tinge, this had marked oak scents on the nose. This was a complex port having typical flavours of sweet dried fruits and a dry oakiness. However there was also a noticeable sense of freshly sawn wood, which I hadn't come across before.

Quevedo Colheita 1995

Quevedo Colheita 1995


Reddish amber brown colour with a rich nose of dried fruits. This had good body with a long finish combining dried fruit, treacle and oak flavours.

Quevedo Colheita 1996

Quevedo Colheita 1996

Reddish amber brown colour with a light nose of dried fruits. This was a smooth port combining hints of dried fruit, treacle and oak.

Quevedo Ruby Reserve

Quevedo Ruby Reserve


Deep ruby purplish colour with a full plummy nose. The predominant features of this port are fresh and fruity grapey flavours combined with noticeable tannins.

Kopke Vintage 1997

Kopke Vintage 1997

This had a deep inky purple and red colour. The nose combined liquorice with dried fruits. The body was huge and plummy. Good grapey flavours were supplemented by a touch of tannin and a hint of liquorice.

Monday 1 October 2012

Family Port

Family Port

Having gathered from our trip how much we appreciate port wine, Douro Wonderful Events (www.douroevents.pt) included this one with our tea time snack. Actually it was a lot more than a snack as it was a veritable feast of local goodies. We enjoyed this repast at the São Leonardo de Galafura viewpoint near Peso da Régua.

It had been explained to us that these ports were made in a single large barrel belonging to the family. Each year the barrel is topped up with fresh wine, which means that if the barrel has been going for several decades some of the molecules must be quite ancient.

The port had a reddish brown colour with a nose of fruit and nuts. The character was predominantly tawny plus noticeable hints of fresh ruby fruits. It was smooth combining oak nutiness with the grapey fruits and turned out to be perfect for the occasion.

Niepoort Vintage 2005

Niepoort Vintage 2005

Deep red colour with a strong fruity nose. This was full bodied, rich and repleat with plummy fruits. There was a significant amount of tannins present so perhaps this will have developed into something more refined in ten or so years.

Niepoort Colheita 1988 (Bottled 2000)

Niepoort Colheita 1988 (Bottled 2000)

Deep brown colour with a nutty nose. This was rich and sweet with good dried fruit flavours tempered by a subtle contribution from the wood.

Niepoort White 10 Year Old

Niepoort White 10 Year Old

Yellow colour with a honey nose. This tasted like a typical white port being sweet and grapey. However it was disappointing in that it lacked any of the tawny characterstics usually found it an wine of this age.

Casa de Santa Eufémia Colheita 1998 (Bottled 2008)

Casa de Santa Eufémia Colheita 1998 (Bottled 2008)

Rich brown colour with a warming nose. This was rich, smooth, and full bodied combining the sweetness of dried fruits with a moderate nuttiness from the oak contribution.

Casa de Santa Eufémia Tawny 30 Year Old

Casa de Santa Eufémia Tawny 30 Year Old

Clear amber colour with an oily nose. This was rich and fruity, warming and full bodied combining nutty flavours with the sweetness of dried fruits.

Casa de Santa Eufémia Tawny 10 Year Old

Casa de Santa Eufémia Tawny 10 Year Old

Deep brown colour with a full and rich fruity nose. This was a rich, smooth and full bodied port which combined sweet dried fruit, oak, and molasses flavours in a satisfying harmony.

Casa de Santa Eufémia Ruby

Casa de Santa Eufémia Ruby

Deep ruby colour with a fruity nose. This was rich and fruity showing good body and balance

Casa de Santa Eufémia White

Casa de Santa Eufémia White

A rich amber colour and a honey nose preceded a very sweet, rich and fruity experience.

Quinta de Marrocos Colheita 2000 (Bottled 2008)

Quinta de Marrocos Colheita 2000 (Bottled 2008)


Deep rich brown colour with a complex nose of fruit and nuts. This very smooth port was quite fruity with hints of oak and dried fruits. Its relatively light character reflects the fact that it was in the wood for only eight years.

Quinta de Marrocos Tawny 10 Year Old

Quinta de Marrocos Tawny 10 Year Old

Deep brown colour with a light nutty nose. This was rich and warming having a good body carrying the tastes of dried fruits and nuts.

Quinta de Marrocos Lagrima

Quinta de Marrocos Lagrima

Medium brown colour with a markedly honey scented nose. This was very sweet and grapey, however the body given to the wine through wood ageing counteracted the powerful sugars to give something that was a pleasure to drink.

Quinta de Marrocos White

Quinta de Marrocos White


Moderate clear brown colour with a sweet honey nose. Described as being medium-dry this was much sweeter than I was expecting. As well as the sweetness there were good fruit flavours and a hint of demarara in a full body.