What are the top 1977 Port picks these days

With an eye to their 40th anniversary next year, which are now showing the best?

Had a '77 Taylors last week that was just vibrant.

Its my 40th next year, so I have a few of these stashed away, including Imperials of the 1977 Taylors and Croft!

The Dows in looking excellent at the moment too. Taylors probably the best.

The 77 Fonseca is far and away the best port out there.

Previous comment of mine (08/19/16):

“Graham’s is amazing - I had a 1977 a year ago that needed another 10 years or more!

T-F is my benchmark, as I can confidently lay down a bottle for my nephew’s (ages 6 and 4) children…

Sandeman 1985 was my first Vintage Port (drunk in 1997). I don’t hold it in very high esteem today, but it was a nice tipple back when I was 18…”

Had the Taylor’s a couple of weeks ago: very good. Based on Steve’s comment will try a Fonseca soon!

Andy V’s blog is definitely worth a peek:

I disagree, somewhat.

1977, as a whole, has issues that are typical of that era and what was going on in Portugal at the time. So much so that I rarely buy them these days.

Fonseca and Taylors both have massive bottle variations. You can get a lackluster bottle or a really good one, from the same case. It’s well known in Port circles and their current CEO has no issue saying so. It runs about 50/50 if you get a good one or a duffer. IMO not worth the risk to buy at the prices they command.

Dow’s runs about 80% corked

Gould Campbell, from friends in the UK, report vary high rates of TCA as well. Though I’ve not had the issues they have.

Noval is just not good

Smith Woodhouse is getting mature, but from mags is still quite young and good. Though in typical SW fashion, they aren’t the most complex VP out there. One of my favorites that has shown consistently.

Warre’s generally shows quite well. Another favorite.

Sandeman is mature and somewhat simple. A good QPR if bought at a good price.

Graham’s has never been up to the normal standard. It always showed a lot of alcohol, though it has subsided a little in recent years. It will never be a great Graham’s…I don’t care what people say and my on this is there is a lot of label bias on this one.

Croft is pleasant but the last good croft was 1970, until the 90’s that is.

Drew, thanks for the shout out!

Just to be clear Andy, when I said the 77 Fonseca is the best port out there, I meant that vintage. I’ve gone though 5 out the 6 bottles I bought and all were great. My Taylors though were hit or miss.

I opened a 77 Warre’s a few months back that was rather nice. In recent years I have had a Gould Campbell and Smith Woodhouse. I thought that the Smith Woodhouse still looked pretty young and was still a bit of a beast really. The Gould Campbell was a little more refined, showed pretty well.

“Dow’s runs about 80% corked”

Not from the case I bought at release. 10 have been opened. I think one may have been mildly corked, but I could be thinking of another '77 that was opened in the past several years.

As it is, I don’t buy vintage Port anymore. I open about a bottle a year and at 62 years old, I’m sure as hell not buying new vintages.

These days if I want something high-octane, I’d rather drink cask-strength Scotch or Calvados.

Larry consider yourself lucky. One thing we Port nerds have noticed with the Dow’s, it tends to drink well for several hours after opening. About 4-6 hours of decanting and stand by for the TCA to seemingly come out of nowhere like a runaway freight train. And I can tell you from many Port lovers, that corked rate is accurate (BTW, 1980 Graham’s has the same issue).

Andy, do you notice less variation/problems in larger formats? I have a bunch of magnums of Taylor’s and Tappits of the Dows.

That’s a tougher question as not many larger formats get opened on a regular basis. I can say the several times I’ve had a Tappit of '77 Dow’s it wasn’t right or was corked. As a disclaimer other Tappit Hens of Warre’s have been wonderful.

As for Taylor’s, I’ve had '77 Taylor’s from 3L but off the top of my head I can’t recall ever having it from a mag (I’ll have to dig through some notes to double check). Come to think of it, I’ve seen more 3L of it than I have regular mags. Which is odd because larger formats back then were not easy to sell due to the, then, IVP regulations. And the 3L was fine, thankfully.

For me, when on, the Fonseca is the wine of the vintage. I’ve not had a dud, but my sample size is only a handful of bottles. The PSA on the Dow corks is news to me and very much appreciated, as I do like Dow’s style and would consider purchasing from a vintage like 1977.

Cheers,
fred

My wife bought me a bottle of 1977 Dow’s, as it is my birth year. It sounds like the best bet is to drink it within a few hours? We’re planning to open it with a group, so we more than likely will finish it reasonable fast.

How long do you usually decant these before serving?

Thanks for all the info! Glad I found this thread.

Most '77’s I’d decant in the 5-6+ hours range. Dow’s, pop and pour and drink up quick.

Some differing opinions then!

Thanks for everyone’s input

Thanks for the posts… I’ve got a nice stash built up ahead of my 40th next year. That includes various Dow including Mags. Hoping they hold up!

Thoughts on Warre’s?