Quinta Das Carvalhas Vintage 2004

 Quinta Das Carvalhas Vintage 2004

We bought this over 18 years at the quinta for just around £20. Let's see if it was a worthwhile investment. I must say that I was pretty impressed with deep inky red colour when I started to decant it. In my experience most single quinta vintages have lost quite a bit of colour by the time they get to 20 years old. Not this one though, it resemble something at least four times what we paid for it.

 The nose had fruity hints amongst the smell of ethanol. On first tasting this was a rich and full bodied port with jammy fruit flavours underlaying a distinct spiciness. There were marked aldehyde notes as well, which you may or may not like. However after a couple of hours these had disappeared leaving a quite impressive classical vintage port..As was suggested by the original observations on the colour, this wine stands its own against much more expensive offerings from the classical port houses. Which just goes to show that you don't have to spend a fortune to be able to enjoy a stunning vintage port but you may need a little patience waiting for it to mature. Now to sit back and thoroughly enjoy the rich plummy fruit flavours married to classical touriga spice.

Waitrose No1 Tawny Reserve

 Waitrose No1 Tawny Reserve

 Here we have a tawny port put together by the Symingtons for Waitrose.

The colour was a deep brown amber with a hint of red. There was just a little nuttiness in the nose. In the mouth it was well rounded with a good body and a smooth feel. The predominant flavour was a fair amount of dry oak mellowed by a sweet fruitiness. I hesitate to refer to prunes but that was the word that sprung to mind. But yes, the fruitiness really was of a dried plum nature but in a more subtle way than you get from eating tinned prunes. All together a very approachable example of a reserve tawny port that you don't have to take out a loan for to buy.

Quinta do Crasto Vintage 2004

Quinta do Crasto Vintage 2004

Here we are with another Crasto Vintage from Sainsbury's that has been in our cellar for a good many years.

 

There was a dark ruby colour with a significant amount of oxidation. The nose was a mixture of plummy fruits and strong alcohol. The taste was rich and fruity with a long finish. A little spiciness remained from the tannins but in a beneficial way giving structure to the overall flavour.