Croft 10 Year Old Tawny Bottled in 2021

Croft 10 Year Old Tawny Bottled in 2021

Clear red colour with a touch of amber. Butterscotch and oak on the nose. This port had sweet burnt caramel flavours with a pleasant underlaying oakiness.

Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage 1998

 Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage 1998

The colour was a remarkably dark ruby while the nose was pleasantly fruity. Tasting revealed a harmoniously rich port combining lots of jammy fruit flavours with subtly spicy hints. The striking thing about this port was that it had good depth and quality without any one element being over predominant. Tanins were almost non detectable meaning that, whilst it was a full bodied vintage, it was also very approachable.

Quinta do Bomfim Vintage 1998

Quinta do Bomfim Vintage 1998

There was an inky dark ruby colour with a lightish nose of old fruit. Whilst this port did not have the great depth of some vintage ports it excelled in the balance that it achieved. Subtle tanins were noticeable, which reminded of the smell that I had experienced while walking along the track beside the quinta during the harvest time when a machine would be spitting out the sticky stalks from the grapes onto a big heap alongside the building. To be honest I was surprised by the admittedly modest level of tanins after 22 years. These were balanced with equally subtle plum jam fruit flavours and acidity to give a satisfyingly harmonious experience.

Quinta da Pacheca LBV 2012 Bottled in 2016

Quinta da Pacheca LBV 2012 Bottled in 2016

This wine was last tasted at the Quinta in 2016 soon after being bottled. It wasn't half bad then so it will be interesting to see what difference four plus years further ageing in the bottle adds to the experience.

 

There was a deep ruby colour with a touch of plumminess on the nose. Tasting revealed a smooth and fruity wine but without a lot of depth. Whilst it was easy drinking and went down nicely with our chocolate cup cake dessert I can't say that it was particularly outstanding. It's probably at the limit of its development and needs drinking right away if you have any knocking about. 

Quinta do Tedo Colheita 2005 bottled in 2019

 Quinta do Tedo Colheita 2005 bottled in 2019

Here we are in the middle of a global pandemic of a respiratory virus disease. I would far rather being doing this tasting at the Quinta where we have done many tastings in the past. Well that just isn't  possible; we are so fortunate that Quinta do Tedo have an on-line shop from where they can send their outstanding ports across the world.

 There was a clear red colour with subtle hints of amber. The nose was quite light with the smell of alcohol at the front. However the nose was deceptive because tasting revealed a full bodied and unctuous mingling of flavours. Bitter oak was there tempered by the sweetness of citrus peal. The finish was long without being overly complex. This wine achieves a superb balance between the wood flavours derived from its ageing in oak and the orange peal sweetness coming from the sweet grapes that constituted its origin.

Taylors Vintage 2003

Taylors Vintage 2003

I bought a dozen of these when they first came out hoping they would come good around the 20 year mark. Well here we are after seventeen years so I guess it is time to find out how it is doing. The colour was a very inky dark ruby with a surprising amount of oxidation evidenced by the tawny tinge. The nose was mildly fruity with hints of a rich spiciness. Tasting revealed a soft fruitiness whilst the predominant future was the markedly rich spice element. Although there was some depth I was expecting a bit more from a Taylor's port. It will be interesting to see how this develops as the tannins mellow further.

Caves Santa Marta Vintage 2000

Caves Santa Marta Vintage 2000

We well remember buying this bottle. We were trying to get to Quinta do Valado but missed the turning and a good two hours later found ourselves at Caves Santa Marta. We had an interesting time there. It turned out they were in the process of rebranding so they were selling off there old stock at bargain prices. We came away with three bottles of vintage which poor muggins had to lug all the way back to our hotel.

I have never seen such a heavy deposit after decanting a bottle of port before. There was a ruby element to the colour but it was well on the way to developing tawny characteristics. The nose was vaguely fruity but was reminiscent of something much older than just twenty years. Tasting revealed a well integrated and harmonious combination of subtle plummy fruits with a rich spiciness. The body was acceptable if not exceptional. For the price paid this was a good vintage port but was probably nearing the end of its drinking life.