-
1977 Sandeman Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto (11/28/2009)
Decanted 5 hours.
Day 1: This was disappointing because it was way too light for a VP. My brother in law thought it was lightly corked, but I disagree, and corkiness did not increase over the following two days, so I doubt it. The alcohol predominated over the fruit and other flavors and those other flavors were very light. The Touriga Nacional flavor you find in port and in non-fortified Touriga Nacional wines just wasn’t there except to a very minor extent. There was a hint of acetone (nail polish remover) on the nose.
Day 2: I am always amazed how a lot of Port fleshes out with an extra day out of the bottle. This is still not a great VP and still disappointing, but much better than Day 1. It’s light but definitely Port-like.
Day 3: Getting a little better, but still too much alcohol and a bit on acetone on the nose. You can get a tiny bit of roasted nuts on the nose, and cherry on the palate, but not a lot and the alcohol is still too strong.
Given a choice between this and the dreaded 83 Taylor, I would choose the Taylor, which puts it below what I would say is Roy’s Hirsh’s benchmark for the low end of mediocre. (84 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker