Vista Alegre Tawny Over 40 Years Old (Bottled 2012)
Clear brownish amber colour with a nose reminiscent of leather tack. The depth and complexity of this port were quite striking. The underlying butterscotch sweetness of sultanas presented a backdrop to complex dry flavours derived from the oak. Tasting this against a couple of excellent ten year olds demonstrated how the prolonged ageing contributed to the development of depth and complexity as this port was significantly superior in both qualities.
Quinta de Val da Figueira Tawny 10 Year Old (Bottled 2012)
Clear deep brownish amber colour with a rich and fruity nose. This port was full bodied being characterised by complex astringent wood flavours tempered by the sweetness of dried fruits. The depth was striking making it hard to believe that this was just a 10 year old. If you can track this down definitely buy a bottle as, in my opinion, this is the one to judge others by. It comes into its own as a superb digestive at the end of an excellent meal.
Dalva Tawny 10 Year Old (Bottled 2011)
Clear deep amber colour with a rich nose of dried fruits. On tasting the sweetness of dried fruits was balanced by the astringency of the contribution from the oak. This meant it was not as sweet as some ten year olds therefore allowing greater appreciation of the complex flavours derived from the barrel ageing.
Fonseca Vintage 1963
Clear ruby red with a slight amber tinge having a rich plummy and fruity nose. Two to three hours after decanting it had opened out into a harmonious experience of plummy richness in a full body with just the right amount of hinting at oily aldehydes. After fifty years the depth of its youth has been replaced with complete integration of the component flavours.
Vista Alegre White 20 Years Old (Bottled 2013)
The appearance of this port was not like any I had seen before being a bright copper coloured brown. This colour was lighter than a tawny port but significantly darker than your average wood aged white port. The nose was rich and almost tary yet it had a honey sweetness at the same time. There was substantial oaky body on tasting with the sweetness of the grapes almost overcome by the bitter astringency of the wood. This port had complexity and depth but was very different from a tawny of the same age having noticeable less fruit flavours coming through. This made for a fairly unique port wine experience as the contribution from the oak barrel was very much to the fore but pleasantly matched with a gentle sweet component from the grapes.
Sainsbury's Quinta da Eira Velha Vintage 2000
This was bought from Sainsbury's under their "taste the difference" label about five years ago. It was obviously a bit young then but it was a silly price. By the time we had used up all our vouchers and Nectar points and had five for the price of six it was about £15 a bottle. The wine had a really deep ruby colour and a strikingly fruity nose. It still tasted quite young with lots of fresh grape flavour and noticeable tannins. Not a lot of depth so this may end up being one of those pleasantly easy drinking ports in another five years or so.
It is interesting to note that this must have been one of the last vintages made at the quinta before it was bought by the Taylor Fladgate group. I doubt that they kept the vinification equipment at the quinta as the grapes may now be shipped off to their established adegas. Historically and uniquely the ports from this quinta used to be shipped to Newfoundland for aging prior to being sold on the Canadian market.
We opened another bottle on 11th September 2015. The wine was still strikingly dark with lots of fresh grape and tannin flavours. On the basis of this tasting I think I will revise my prediction of five years to ten years for this port to reach its best.
Royal Oporto Colheita 1999 (Bottled 2013)
Clear bright amber colour with a strong barley sugar nose. This was a lovely smooth port which was moderately complex with the sweetness of dried fruits balanced by an oaky dryness.
