TN: 2007 Vintage Ports

WINE TALK
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2007 VINTAGE PORTS - Beltramo’s in Menlo Park, California (1/23/2010)


This was a great lineup of Port from top producers, and Beltramo’s offered the complete flight for a very reasonable $30. This was the second time I’ve tasted through many of the '07s, and I’m finding them ripe, very tasty, but also lacking in the tannins and structure of some of the great recent years, like 2000 and '94. We were speculating at the tasting that many Port producers may intentionally be going for a more approachable style these days, and backing off on the tannins. I’m sure I will learn more about that when I visit the Douro with Roy Hersh on his “Fortification Tour” later this year.

The Fonseca was definitely in a class of its own, with immense power and structure that some others were lacking, but the Quinta do Noval, Graham and Taylor also showed very well.

Gary Chevsky and Richard

2007 Ports

  • 2007 Smith Woodhouse Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Opaque very dark red violet color; nice berry, blackberry, plum, oak nose with a sense of pepper; tasty, ripe berry, herbes de Provence, blackberry palate; medium-plus finish (92 pts.)
  • 2007 Warre Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Opaque, very dark red violet color; black fruit, chocolate, berry nose; tight, rich, deep berry, blackberry, plum palate; long finish 92+ pts. (92 pts.)
  • 2007 Croft Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Very dark red violet color; dark chocolate, oak, black fruit nose; dark chocolate, black fruit, tar, blackberry, vanilla palate, lacking tannins and structure; medium-plus finish (91 pts.)
  • 2007 Quinta do Vesuvio Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Opaque very dark red violet color; black raspberry, black cherry, garrigue nose; tasty, complex, herbes de Provence, black fruit, plum palate; long finish (93 pts.)
  • 2007 Quinta do Noval Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Opaque, very dark red violet color; graphite, licorice, black fruit, plum nose; tasty, juicy, ripe black fruit, licorice, dark chocolate, blackberry palate, with depth and polish; long finish (95 pts.)
  • 2007 Graham Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Opaque, very dark red violet color; pepper, herbal, graphite, black fruit, chocolate, oak nose; deep and juicy berry, blackberry, plum, mulberry palate; long finish (94 pts.)
  • 2007 Fonseca Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Opaque, very dark red violet color; rich, complex, berry, blackberry, faintly herbal, black fruit, tar nose; rich, powerful but poised, berry, black fruit, blackberry, vanilla, black cherry palate; long finish (97 pts.)
  • 2007 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Very dark red violet color; black cherry, black raspberry, berry nose; rich, poised, berry, black cherry, black raspberry palate; long finish 94+ pts. (94 pts.)

Alan and Willem

Posted from CellarTracker

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8 young VPs. That’s what I call REALLY taking one for the team. [dance-clap.gif]

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Thanks Bob. And this was after a flight of seven '07 CdPs (and a couple other wines) that I sampled at VVW that day, which I wrote up separately, and before an experiment with what red wines go with homemade Indian food later that night. [truce.gif]

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Richard, so how does the 07’s compare to the 03’s?

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Steve,
I’m more impressed with the '07s than I was with the '03s. '03 is a very ripe vintage that is lacking in the structure and tannin department. They should mature fairly early. Some of the '07s are light on structure too, but they are showing more complexity at this stage than I was getting from the '03s. If I were a younger guy and still buying young ports, I’d buy '07 over '03. The great thing about Port is that their prices don’t escalate at the same rate as other collectible wines. One can find pretty good values on fairly mature Port. I’m not at the stage, like my friend David–who jokes that he’s so old that he’s afraid to buy green bananas any more, lest he not live to see them get ripe–but I’d rather spend slightly more and get a fairly mature Port that I can drink in the near future rather than one of these young beasts that should really be laid down for 25-30 years.

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I need to add my notes to Richard’s here, will do that soon. Looking back at my 03 notes, and comparing to 07, I’m not quite as convinced. I actually think some of the 03s were more structured at this stage than the 07s are now, but memory is cruel :wink: I did just recently drink a half bottle of 03 Croft, which was simply spectacular, and extremely structured, which was kind of a nice booster shot on my 03 impressions. Also, seeing how the ports where changing over even an hour in my glass (particularly Grahams), I’m a bit fearful of making any strong proclamations, the probably deserve a much longer observation span to draw more serious conclusions.