I have an birthday dinner coming up for a friend who is turning 48 this year. I’m thinking I’ll bring a bottle of 1970 Port, and my Local happens to have several available - Fonseca, Taylor, Dow and Graham’s.
Any suggestion on what to go for? I was reading a bit on another thread about the bottle variation/bad cork issues for 1977, but couldn’t find any similar info for '70.
I also snagged a bottle of 1970 LRA Ardanza - hoping it’s still in good shape!
It’s been a while sinc I have had any 1970 ports, but I have always loved the 1970 Graham’s. However I don’t think you can go wrong with Taylor or Fonseca either. I don’t remember if I’ve ever had Dow’s.
I think I have had all four and you can’t go wrong with any of them (I’m just not sure I’ve had the Grahams). Talk to the shop and ask them which provenance is the best, look at the bottles, and go with the one that sounds and looks like it has had the best treatment.
Had one of these a year ago. It was definitely in good shape and drinking beautifully. Although I must say I was surprised how the wine still showed some American oak vanilla character even after +45 years! Although not to the extent of vintages 2001 and 2004 tasted alongside.
Where are you and who is your local? I’m a 1970 birthday and I picked up a 70 Fonseca’s that I came accross but I now have concerns about its storage, etc. Would not mind having a backup for my 50th.
Hi Vince
1970 port – an inspired choice! I would echo Jay’s comments. I’ve also had them all, and they were all terrific. Really, you can’t go wrong. If I had to rank order, perhaps Grahams and then Dow. Check out the provenance as best you can, but don’t get too worked up. I’ve had great old VP from bottles that looked awfully beaten up. Most importantly, give it at least several hours of decant.
I would be curious to hear about the LRA as well.
Thanks for the thoughts. I was told the Ardanza is from a library release a few years back, which seems plausible given the flurry of relatively recent CT activity.
Rodney - my LWS is K&L. They have plenty of inventory and are pricier than others, but they’re a block from my office, so that’s worth the premium. 
There’s pretty good availability on WS:
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/fonseca+porto/1970
I’ve picked up a few older ports over the last several years Vince on trips to the in-laws in England, where prices remain remarkably cheap as there has just been so much of it rocking around in the market there. In my readings about the 1970 vintage, both Grahams & Fonseca feature as two of the top wines from that year, though both of the other two would likely also acquit themselves well.
All are great. I’d go with the one seemingly in the best condition. If all else equal, I’d go with the Fonseca.
I’d go with the Taylor.
I drank quite a lot of the 1970 Fonseca at one time, and take the perhaps contrarian view that while it’s a nice enough Port it’s not a great Fonseca, and somewhat overrated. It doesn’t have much in common with the 1963 or 1966, that’s for sure.
Thanks, and interesting view William. What do you think the '70 Fonseca is missing that the others have?
What William said. I have both the Fonseca and Taylor in ‘70. It hs been a couple of years since my last bottle of each because i am trying to get through my ‘63s, and, more urgently, my ‘77s. Of the two, Taylor is my pick for ‘70.
Your local has all four: buy and taste them all and report back!
1970 was a great year for vintage Port. Drank a bottle of 1970 Fonseca (my favorite 1970) with friends in January - it was fabulous. I think the other 1970 Ports are all excellent, especially Graham’s and Taylor with Dow and Warre maybe a half step below.
Haha, yes, 4 bottles of port followed by an insulin mainline for dessert.
It’s a very nice port, and still quite youthful and well-integrated, but it lacks the spicy, exotic signature of the great Fonseca vintages to me. It was very inexpensive at my college so I must have drunk a good two-dozen between 2008 and 2015, and the result was always the same.
The first time I ever tasted the 1963 Fonseca, I identified it blind because it was exactly how I imagined it would be. Now that’s a wine with personality!
As students, we once did a 70 Fonseca with Peking duck. The result was actually rather revolting.
I’ve had the 1970 Fonseca a few times recently and it’s always been outstanding. It drinks well now but I wouldn’t consider it to be at full maturity yet. It’s also generally recognized as one of the top wines of the vintage.
Interesting…I’m not really a port guy, but I just came into something of a trove: 4 '63’s (Niepoort,
Gonzalez Bias, Martinez) and a bunch of '77 (Messias and Fonseca). I have heard of the first and the last, but not much about the others, especially the Messias, of which there is a fair amount (5 bottles). Any thoughts on these producers in these years would be very welcome and also the order to drink them in (I assume the '63’s first, but which?)
Joshua, I held a horizontal tasting of the 1977 ports last fall to see how they were doing at 40 years old. We didn’t have the Nacional present and the two bottles of Taylor we had were both flawed! But the 1977 Fonseca showed itself to be the top of the heap by far, which is consistently where it usually lands. We didn’t have the Messias at the tasting, so I can’t comment on it.