Had these three Ports at various times over the weekend:
1. Quinta das Carvalhas Vintage Port Royal Oporto (Bttld: 1972; Shipped by Vinhas do Alto Duoro for Laytons Wine Merchants/London) 1970: Dark garnet rather browning/murky color; rather old Porto/coffee/plummy some cedary/pencilly/oak bit oxidative/smokey fairly complex oldPort nose w/ slight alcoholic character; some alcoholic/porty slightly sweet bit oxidative some cedary/pencilly/oak slight grapey/plummy/coffee rather complex flavor w/ light tannins; very long/lingering bit oxidative finish that mimics flavor; drying out a bit & a bit oxidative but a lovely example of an old Port.
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2. ShenandoahVnyds Calif Vintage Port AmadorCnty (19%; Zinfandel??) Plymouth 1982: Med.light garnet color w/ slight bricking; very strong grapey/ripe/boysenberry spicy/Zin lightly alcoholic bit Porto-like somewhat complex nose; fairly sweet slight alcoholic spicy/Zin/briary/grapey bit chocolaty some complex rather mature Calif Port lovely flavor w/ light tannins; very long/lingering bit alcoholic finish that tracks flavor; a very attractive fairly grapey fully mature Calif Port; still loads of grapey fruit.
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3. Santino Duoro Port LosAlamos Release ShenandoahVlly/ElDoradoCnty (17.3%; Portugese varieties from TwinRivers Ranch; Fortified w/ 186 proof grape brandy from mEastSide Wnry/Lodi) ScottHarvey & Mike Montaldo/SantinoWnry/Plymouth 1989: Very dark color w/ some browning; some fumey/alcoholic intense grapey/boysenberry bit chocolaty bit dusty/OV fairly youthful some briary/Amador very interesting nose w/ no signs of oxidation; fairly sweet/grapey/boysenberry/briary rather dusty/OV chocolaty bit alcoholic/fumey quite complex flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very long/lingering complex finish that tracks the flavor; a very interesting expression of a youthful Calif Port but little resemblence to Porto; not as alcoholic as most Portos, but w/ much more Calif fruit; still should go yrs yet. $cheap
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More purtoboing from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. ShenandoahVnyds: Lee Sobon always had a soft spot in his heart for dessert wines & has made some remarkable ones over the yrs. This '82 was in remarkable shape w/ plenty of grapey/briary Zin fruit.
This Port was one Stacey dug out from her Dad's cellar & we had it wth some Panettone. She also brought out a hlf btl of SobonVnyds LateHrvst Zin from the early '80's. When she pulled it from the rack, the capsule was intact, it was ullaged down below the shoulder, and the cork was floating in the wine. After we pulled off the capsule, there was a lot of corrosion on the inside of the capsule. But it seems to have maintained its seal pretty well. The wine showed a little on the tired side, some overripe Zin fruit, not any obvious oxidation, and still rather drinkable. Even w/ no cork for quite a few yrs. Just goes to show.
2. Santino Port: Therein lies a story. In the middle of 1990, I did a visit w/ Scott Harvey at Santino Wnry. He showed me a Port, made w/ Portugese varieties, and I was blown away by it & told him I wanted to buy some for my group. Even though it was too soon for his Santino bottling, Scott was agreeable. He bttld up some dozen cases for us & sold it to us for a song....around $7-$8/btl. They came to me as shiners, so I made up a fictiitious label, complete w/ a mushroom cloud to indicate it was a LosAlamos release. The Santino release came several yrs later & I thought our LosAlamos bottling was the better of the two. There's still a few banging around in LosAlamos cellars, including one in Stacey's.
Tom