This is leftover from 9-1-02 PNW Soiree , at which time I enjoyed it, but was in no condition to analyze it. It is perfectly fine after these few days, just a couple small glasses left.
Dark ruby with tinge of violet.
I'm being creative & making legs that look like Spongebob's friend Squidword , but then I'm not a big leg man when it comes to wine.
I've been at home the last 2 days fiercely (successfully?) battling a cold, so will just say it smells like Port with lots of berry fruit.
Moderately sweet, just to my taste, with lots of raspb-cherry & a little anise.
This is better than the 89 points that Suckling gave it in '90, but I think he also rated it higher in '97.
Probably about at its peak now, & will last a good while longer. The '85 Ferreira that I had last month was more mature; the Graham's that we also had 9-1-02 was still a teenager (I took a taste when I opened it.)
Better than the leftover '87 Fonseca G. that I had last night (sorry Tyee .)
I paid $29 for it 1-96, a very good price at the time, so got several.
Tomorrow night: leftover '77 Smith Woodhouse.

Thanks for the TNs Blobby. While I don't have any 85 Taylor, I do have Graham, Fonseca, Warre and Kopke from that vintage and as you know, I'm always in the market for advice on drinking windows. I wasn't planning on opening either of the first two before 20 years and will continue that strategy based on your notes.

Looking forward to your notes on the SW, though I've got none

Side question: would you say that, as a general rule, the better the vintage port, the longer you should let it mature? No doubt there are exceptions but this seems to be a handy rule of thumb.

Yes and no. I think the really great Ports by nature take & last a long time, but there are some really good ones that are almost as good in their earlier prime. Does that make sense? (I've had a few.)

Finished off the last bits of '85 Taylor, '83 Gould, '87 Fonseca, '77 Smith tonight with 3 couples from our volleyball group, and opened a '77 Sandeman. Believe it or not, they're all good. The Sandeman is a bit too alcoholic (or is that me?), no better than its 85 rating, & not likely to get any better.

Of the several other leftover open bottles from the Soiree, the '99 Hightower Merlot was the favorite. Kind of a surprise, since I had never heard of it.

Have to get back to the foosbal game.

i agree with Suckling an gave to the taylor's 85'
an 88-90 (diffrend time tasted "blind")

i didn't like the style, it's an antipical taylor's to sweet and without complexity.
compared to other taylor's it's worth "only"
89 points!

allthrough it's still an enjoyable port
if it's at is peak, i could not say it, it's
been quite a few years that i had it.
i have still 3 bottles at the cellar!

Blobby-

Graham's 77 VP available thru a secret chain. Any comments to worthiness? Reasonable price I should pay?

TIA

DrT

Dr. T: I have a couple, but haven't tried it yet (aside from a stray glass from an open bottle, full of sed.) Bman got a mag a few months ago for what sounded very cheap, but their prices on VP are generally better in Canada. I think Jones commented once about liking it. I've seen it retail for $125 or more, but wouldn't pay that myself. Tinamou has it for $99, which I would consider a pretty good price.

I only have one '85 Taylor, I guess I'll be holding on to it for a couple more years. Did anyone of you try the Sandeman from the same year? We'll be opening it next weekend at a port tasting.

I paid CAD$209 for the magnum of 77 Graham, but that was reduced from CAD$ 299, or about USD$ 185 or so. But it was in a nice wooden box with some Milllenium certificate and other marketing guff attached, so no doubt this jacked the price a tad. Any highly rated 77 vintage port is going to cost these days, but the price will only continue to rise so my advice is to buy all you can afford now. If worse comes to worse I'll take any extras off your hands DocT! Or maybe I should be offering you my magnum in return for the encouraging and free medical advice you've been giving me.

I got married in 85 and a couple of years later the wife bought me a bottle of 85 Taylors for my birthday. I think that my plans to open it for our 25th anniv. is still shound based on the comments here.

Thanks for the TN's Blobby...

Stevie: I only have 1 '85 Sandeman, haven't tried it. WS rated it 83 in '90. I'd have to check the archives again, but don't recall that it was mentioned in WS/Suckling's 3-31-97 article about flawed '85s, which also had some updated ratings on the good ones (including Taylor, I think.)

As I mentioned elsewhere, I opened a '77 Sandeman last weekend & had the last glass last night. I agree with WS' 85 rating--good but not great. I have no problem drinking 85-rated wine when I only paid $43 for it (about 6 years ago.)

I had a mag of '80 Sandeman (WS 85) about 5 years ago & thought it was much better than that.
I don't hold a lot of hope for my '82 (WS 82), a buying mistake on my part.

I find that while I may enjoy opening & drinking Port mostly in social settings, I taste it better sitting right here with a more clear palate.

My Port Buddy & his wife have their annual pool closing party at end of month, so we'll see what he breaks out then. It's always funny when he guards it.

I'm out of '88 Malvedos (except for the few put away for later), so may have to get a couple tomorrow.

Jeers!

Blobby, I've had the Sandeman '82 only once , and found it simple, but enjoyable. Quite raisiny (is that a word?) and virtually no fruit left. It's not faulty, just one-dimensional.

I'll be visiting MY port loving buddies tomorrow, there are some nice botlles ready to be decanted...TN to follow on monday.

blobby: I think you mentioned this previously, but what do you pay for the 88 Malvedos there? Just curious.....

And while (and if!) I have your ear, is the 97 Sandeman Vau vintage port available locally, and if so, how much is it? I've read that it is supposed to be made to be ready to drink earlier than other vintage ports. Do you believe it? Advice from others on this would also, of course, be welcome.

Bman, I haven’t had any Sandeman Vau, but my retailer assures me that these are indeed very enjoyable young, with lots of juicy fruits. However, I think I’ll keep drinking my ports with lots of bottle age; for me it’s a part of the vintage port experience.

Alternatively, if your interested in this “new-style-vintage”, keep an eye open for Niepoort's Secundum. This is also a VP for early drinking. The first vintage released is 1999. However, it is a bit more expensive (over here, at least) than the Vau (appr. $45, the Sandeman retails for $30-35).

bman: Since I like you and always accept the opportunity to talk about Port, I'll overlook your forgetfulness

The '88 Malvedos is $39.99 here, & I've only seen it at one store. That is a good price here for a Port that good. I got one today, & was assured that there is a decent supply (for what that's worth.) Pike & Western now knows to keep it in stock for me.
I got the '87 for same price spring '00, then found that Costco had pallets of it for $31.99 & bought a case.

I got '97 Sandeman Vau for $32-33 late '99 & early '00, including 2 signed by George Sandeman while he was in the area. At that time, the '97s ranged from $23 for Messias Cachao (supposedly a good one from a historically poor house) to $65-70 for Graham's & Dow's to $90 for Taylor & Fonseca.
I drank a couple right off, as I like to do, & loved it.

I still haven't heard anything about early- maturing style Ports.
A year or so ago a wine salesman from whom I had bought a bunch of '94 told me that another batch of '97 Sandeman Vau was going to be available for a special low price of $32( ), but I was buying something else at the time. He had also told me earlier that I had missed a bunch of '97 Warre's mags for about $60 because he couldn't find my phone # .

I found some stray '94 Sandeman about a year ago, marked down from $70 to $35, bought one & drank it. Although I had bought 6 cases of about a dozen diff '94s, I had skipped Sandeman due to low rating. I really liked that one bottle, but didn't make it back to get more. At that time, it should have been dumb & full of suspended sed, but for some reason wasn't.

I also got '88 Sandeman Vau for $38-40 3-4 years ago, have opened some & loved it, put some away.

I like to like Sandeman. When my parents went to Portugal in the early '80s, that was the one lodge that they visited in Vila Nova de Gaia. When they kind of got stranded there (& Dad's high school latin didn't help much) an employee gave them a ride back to their hotel. Mom got me a big framed Sandeman "Don" poster last Christmas.

Stevie: Raisiny is how WS; Suckling describes many of the '82s, due to over-ripeness. I love the '82 Malvedos, though, which is not raisiny & have one ready for friends' 20th wedding anniversary this fall. Wish I could find more. Seaquam told me he also likes it.
Oddly, the one Port that I found objectionably raisiny was '83 Fonseca; and we drank it alongside an '82 Malvedos.
Our ears are wagging in antici.....pation.

Thanks for the thorough reply blobby, we really must share a bottle (or 5! ) some time.

Your port prices seem to be pretty much the same as ours, or at least those in Quebec, we get so little VP in Ontario it is hard to judge. The 88 Malvedos was CAD$45 last year, the 97 Vau is CAD$51 for a full bottle, CAD$24 for a half.

I have a bottle of 1991 Sandeman Quinta dos Canais (I THINK it's Sandeman), about which I have read very little. Nothing in fact about the 1991, though I read somewhere that it was not as good as the 92 which was rated 89 points I think. It was the first bottle of vintage port I ever bought from Berry Brothers at Heathrow, and I will probably open it some time in the near future just to see what a young-ish port is like. You know I prefer them much older than 10-12 years, but a weak single quinta seems like a good one on which to break that habit, for once.

I'm off to Europe again in late October (provided my affliction is better by then ), and have been checking the Berry Brothers website. They still have some 1983 Graham for under CAD$100, and some 1980 Graham for a very reasonable price (which of course I've forgotten). I know 1980 is not the greatest vintage, but I've only ever had one and that was not under the most optimal drinking circumstances so I'd like to try another just for fun.

Finally, while we're nattering on about vintage port (and boring the others to tears, no doubt! ), here's the link to Berry Brothers' 2000 vintage port futures page:

http://www.bbr.com/db/vintage/-609/2000?new_search_F=Y&en_primeur_F=Y&ID=MM0MBFRJ4SK00BF

I am thinking of ordering a half case of Grahams, if I can persuade my old pal in London to hold it for me until I can arrange for it to be carried back here. I'd buy more, since the prices and ratings seem so good, but how to get it into Ontario!!!!???? At my age, it will probably be my last good vintage.

Quinta dos Canais is Cockburn's (P. 92, last line of The Purple Book.) I watched one for a while on a shelf a few years ago, but was too busy buying what I thought were better QPR. I agree it would be good to try about now, then of course tell us about it. (Unfortunately(?), Wife's sister's family are moving from Toronto back to Kelowna, rather than to Ottawa.)
Don't know what Sandeman did in '91 & '92, have never seen one.

I got a bunch of '83 Graham's for $35/ 6 years ago; great stuff.
Haven't had '80, which is $85 here , but I liked the '80 Dow's.

I'm just holding off on 2000 till they hit the shelves, then am not really sure what I'll get, kind of like the '97s. I'm trying to convince myself that I should save more $ for other things, & my current job may end, at least for a while, end of Oct.

I hope that condition is doing better.

Blobby, Sandeman declared neither the ’91 nor the ’92. I once read that the ’91 wasn’t declared because it was less in quality compared to the ’88. They did made LBVs those years (and quite tasty ones, I might add).

Sandeman sure has a strange list of vintages in the eighties and early nineties. They only declared ’80, ’82, ’88 (Quinta do Vau), and then ’94. I believe it was a period with lots of take-overs / mergers and consequent management changes.

Bman, ever considered extending your stay in Europe, and hop over to Amsterdam? We sure have some nice cheap VP over here (oh yeah, and the city is quite nice as well)..I'd be happy to show you around.

I seem to have a mental block (one of several... ) that makes me confuse Sandeman, Cockburn and Churchill. D'uh!

Stevie, thanks for the offer! I've made many visits to Amsterdam (well, maybe 6-8) though none in the past few years. In fact, I will possibly be there in late October though I will be with my boss on business, and only in town for two nights. He's never been and has already made it clear he wants to see the sights.....between meetings, of course! If it looks like I may have some time to myself I'll let you know, thanks again for the offer.

Port talk is never dull and boring to fellow (and aspiring) 'Portheads'. I try to soak it all in.

bman...
FYI, BCLCB offers '83 Graham's for $103 Cdn.

Funny, our BCLCB has never offered much in the way of Sandeman Ports. I've never tried one.

Now for a rookie question...
Can any of you tell me what 'Fonseca- Guimareans bin 27 vintage character' is?
Its' cheap ($23 Cdn).

thanks....(from an aspiring 'Porthead')!

Tyee,
Vintage Character is a blend of high quailty wines from one or more vintages that is matured in wood for up to 5 years before bottling. It is full bodied with rich fruit that is and rerady to drink.
I like the Guimareans for QPR.
Cheers,
Mishy

Thanks Mishy...

Now for rookie question #2:
How does it differ from Late Bottled Port?

once again...thanks from an aspiring 'Porthead'.

Port labeling can be confusing & sometimes misleading.

One of my books describes Vintage Character or Reserve as usually a premium Ruby, similar to what Mishy said. It is a blend from diff vintages; not the best juice, which would be reserved for Vintage or LBV...aged average of 5 years, but perhaps some of it 6 or 7. Standard Ruby is aged 3. To me, that sounds like somewhere between a standard Ruby and a tawny, since a tawny is usually aged average of 7 years (although there are reports of adding white Port to Ruby to make tawny. )
I've only bought Bin 27 once, don't bother much with such things anymore--I don't drink Port all that regularly, & when I do, like the good stuff.
I drank a few Sandeman Founder's Reserve early on, liked it.
I also had some Quinta do Infantado unfiltere