JBurman and I were at the Miami International Wine Fair this weekend and had the opportunity to try some killer 30 and 40 year old ports. The woman who was pouring said that these bottles would last up to 7 or 8 months once opened if stored properly.
Has anyone had experience with port lasting this long? Figured this would be a good topic for discussion.
I assume you are reffering to Tawnys? They certainly can last a while after opening. Though 7-8 months seems long. My experience has been more like a month or two tops. Most vintage portos will hold for about a week or less.
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Posts: 684 | Location: Around Boston | Registered: Nov 08, 2006
Originally posted by sade58: I assume you are reffering to Tawnys? They certainly can last a while after opening. Though 7-8 months seems long. My experience has been more like a month or two tops. Most vintage portos will hold for about a week or less.
She made a blanket statement that even the vintage portos would hold which shocked us. We found that pretty difficult to believe.
30-40 year old vps definitely will not last anywhere near 8-9 months.
I've had a fonseca 66 which is a powerhouse of a wine and it drank well after 3 weeks, but you could feel the fruits were much softer then out of a 6 hour decant.
With tawnies, you'll start moving away from the raisin/prune fruit over to a cranberry profile and eventually over to woody nuts.
I've had my rozes 94 lbv opened for 4 weeks, It takes a week to meld and enter drinking, 2 weeks of perfect drinking, and this past weekend when I've tried it, it was nothing but volatile acidity and licorice instead of dark fruits.
Posts: 3637 | Location: NYC | Registered: Feb 16, 2007
Thanks g-man. Great stuff. Maybe I will pick up a bottle of the 79 I tried and play around with it. We all actually really enjoyed the 79 more than the 66 - the 79 showed very slight heat on the finish as opposed to the 66. The heat, however, added to the length of the finish whereas the 66 kind of fell-off. They just popped and poured so they obviously would have showed far more differently with ample decanting.
And this week is going to be a TOUGH game for the NYJ. Great offense v great defense. Should be must-watch.
Originally posted by g-man: I've had my rozes 94 lbv opened for 4 weeks, It takes a week to meld and enter drinking, 2 weeks of perfect drinking, and this past weekend when I've tried it, it was nothing but volatile acidity and licorice instead of dark fruits.
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Posts: 6342 | Location: Park Slope, Brooklyn | Registered: Nov 20, 2002
Originally posted by TBird: really tho, why bother?
what's the issue with simply drinking it???
quote:
Originally posted by g-man: I've had my rozes 94 lbv opened for 4 weeks, It takes a week to meld and enter drinking, 2 weeks of perfect drinking, and this past weekend when I've tried it, it was nothing but volatile acidity and licorice instead of dark fruits.
Because I've got more time then port available =)
Posts: 3637 | Location: NYC | Registered: Feb 16, 2007
Originally posted by MiamiWineNovice: Thanks g-man. Great stuff. Maybe I will pick up a bottle of the 79 I tried and play around with it. We all actually really enjoyed the 79 more than the 66 - the 79 showed very slight heat on the finish as opposed to the 66. The heat, however, added to the length of the finish whereas the 66 kind of fell-off. They just popped and poured so they obviously would have showed far more differently with ample decanting.
And this week is going to be a TOUGH game for the NYJ. Great offense v great defense. Should be must-watch.
79, now that's a great mystery, what were the houses? there are some random vintage ports usually of second labels lying around, but quite uncommon. Most of them tend to be colheitas (aged tawnies)
Posts: 3637 | Location: NYC | Registered: Feb 16, 2007
7-8 months? I don't think any type of port would still be good after that much time.
Vintage port usually has to be consumed within days (or sometimes hours).
Tawnies, LBV's and other ruby ports might be able to survive for a much longer period of time, but over half a year just doesn't seem logical.
That being said, I've never actually tried it. Plus, I've been to restaurants where I see bottles of LBV or ruby port with corks sticking out of them and I have to assume they've been open a long, long time (doesn't mean the wine is any good, of course - just that they'll sell it to you).
That being said, I've never actually tried it. Plus, I've been to restaurants where I see bottles of LBV or ruby port with corks sticking out of them and I have to assume they've been open a long, long time (doesn't mean the wine is any good, of course - just that they'll sell it to you).
I can tell you that a few of the steakhouses I frequent, the ports move alot faster than you think.
Even in montreal, they apparently go through a bottle of dow 85 every 2 days and the glass I had was opened only 6 hours before. Of course they could have been feeding me the hay.
Posts: 3637 | Location: NYC | Registered: Feb 16, 2007
Every wine begins to oxidize slowly once it's been opened. For some wines-- especially young tannic reds, for example-- this softens them and makes them more palatable. At some point, though, the wine has to begin to deteriorate.
I don't think there's a specific time or date that can be applied universally to Port. A more powerful and intense Port will take longer to show the effects of oxidation than a more fragile one. Vacuum or inert gas sealing, refrigeration, darkness, will delay the inevitable, as is the case for almost any wine. But needless to say, the wine doesn't get better after opening. Try to drink as soon as you can for maximum pleasure. I agree with the others: more than half a year is a huge stretch. It might last that long opened, but certainly it won't taste the same as it did upon first opening the bottle.
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Posts: 6489 | Location: Vancouver, BC | Registered: Oct 17, 2001
The procedure for getting the maximum additional storage time for an opened bottle is to decant what you want to save into a smaller bottle immediately after opening, re-cork, and store in a cold place.
Originally posted by latour67: You're right! I don't drink Port! But, I've had a glass of wine with TBird, Board-O and others, the last time I was in NY, 2 or 3 years ago!
While it might be difficult to say who could drink the most wine; all of us can do a decent job!
Tbird and I actually shared a bottle of 77 Fonseca at an offline not too long ago (with about a dozen thirsty Quebecers... ) and he does seem to like his vintage port as much as I do. If he ever gets his sorry butt (butless chaps covered or not! ) to Ottawa, he'll get a lot more great port (volume-wise at least) than he got that night!
As for the original question, the person who said a vintage port would last 7-8 months does not know port, or perhaps more fairly, does not appreciate good port, because even tawnies start to fade long before that, from my experience. And aside from really young vintage ports, I find they peak a day or two after opening, and begin to seriously fade within a week at most.
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You're right! I don't drink Port! But, I've had a glass of wine with TBird, Board-O and others, the last time I was in NY, 2 or 3 years ago! 
) and he does seem to like his vintage port as much as I do. If he ever gets his sorry butt (butless chaps covered or not! 