Had a port & madeira tasting this weekend, with some very nice ports! I'll keep the notes short:

- Churchill's crusted (bottled 1998):
Earthy nose. Flavour starts full sweet and fruity, later on the (hot) spices kick in. Very powerful with a long finish.

- Churchill's LBV 96:
Missed a bit body compared to the crusted port.

- Churchill's 10 and 20 years old tawny:
didn't like these. Way too much iodine on both (although the 20 year old was somewhat better balanced).

- Churchill's 1998 VP, Quinta do fojo:
Still rather closed, but nevertheless a great port! Very powerful, a full body with lots of fruit flavours and spices (hot pepper!). Lots of tannins.

- Croft 1991 VP:
My favorite of this tasting. Lovely. Starts very smooth, with a variety of fruit (strawberries, cherries, etc.) Later on lots of spices and a powerful, slightly hot finish. Loooong finish.

- 1980 Kopke VP:
Dull and one-dimensional.

I didn't really make notes on the Madeira. But StevieCage was also there, maybe he did??

Thanks for the notes.

I had the Churchill Agua Alta '98 just over a year ago & liked it a lot, but the '99 Quinta da Gricha was even better. I had the latter again a couple weeks ago.
'80 Kopke--WS 71 points .

My comments on the wines:

- Churchill Dry White: let’s just say that this is not my cup of tea. Nice colour, not very sweet (of course), sherry-like, with a bitter finish.

- Churchill VC Reserve and Finest VC Reserve: both a bit light, the Finest a bit sweeter. Not very exciting.

- Churchill's Crusted Port (bottled 1998): quite good, a pleasant every day port, but pricey ($20)

- Churchill's LBV 96: disappointing. Nice nose, but very light bodied. The ’94 LBV is much, much better

- Churchill's 10 and 20 years old tawny: I preferred the 10YOT. Nice colour, lots of dried fruits. Full and round, with a long finish. The 20YOT was actually a house blend for the company organising the tasting, made by Churchill, and came from Q.d. Grisha. I found this to be too light bodied for my taste, with none of the nutty flavours I associate with an older tawny.

- Churchill's 1997 VP, Quinta do Fojo: far from ready, of course. Powerful nose, medium bodied, long finish. All the elements are there for this port to become a nice one with more time.

- Croft 1991 VP: WOTD! Very good indeed. I really liked how more and more flavours appeared when you kept a sip in your mouth longer. Drinking well now, but enough backbone to improve for at least 5 years more.

- Churchill's 1989 VP, Quinta do Fojo: very ripe nose. Quite juicy, with a medium finish. Pleasant, yes, but a tad simple. Could use some more bottle age.

- 1980 Kopke VP: Over the hill. This is just brown. Light nose, raisiny. A body like cough syrup, but without any strong flavours. Long hot finish.

The Vintages were, without a doubt, the best wines of the tasting. The other ports of Churchill were just to light bodied for my taste. Perhaps this is the Churchill style, but they didn’t excite me much.

As far as the Madeiras are concerned:

We tasted the Raimwater, Medium Rich, Finest Dry, Boal 10YO and Malmsey 15 YO, all by Henriques & Henriques. The Boal was…interesting. Lots of very different flavours, but out of balance, IMHO. The Malmsey was my favourite, but overpriced at a regular price of $32.

Stevies 200th post above

Your post reminds me that I forgot to mention the 89 Churchill's VP. Glad you made that up for me.