As the clock continued to tick down toward For The Love Of Port Founder Roy Hersh’s relocation to Portugal, a series of tastings were planned to say a fond farewell to Roy. This weekend of tastings brought together some old friends to share some wines and Ports with Roy and enjoy one last hurrah.
Friday, April 7, 2022 – The Met Grill, Seattle
The first event of the weekend brought together most of the group that attended one of the most memorable tastings that I may ever have in my lifetime. In 2013, Roy helped to arrange the acquisition of a very rare Port for a group that was pulling together one of the most Epic Tasting of some of the most rare and outstanding Ports to have ever been produced. You can read about that epic evening at An Affair to Remember: 1851-1994.
The event was scheduled for the Metropolitan Grill in downtown Seattle, and most of the attendees from that epic evening were able to attend. The wines for this evening, while scaled down from the previous “once-in-a-lifetime” tasting, would make most Port wine lovers giddy with delight.
1931 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port – Dark amber-purple in color with a touch of brown on the edges. Noticeable sediment in the glass. There are some herbal notes, dusty grapes, and some intense dark fruit on the nose. Incredible intensity on the approach. There are fantastic rich mocha notes on the palate, along with fig, cherry, and red fruits. Really great mouthfeel. It is incredible that a 1931 Vintage Port still has this much to give. Simply outstanding. 97 points. 4/7/2022
1935 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port – Amber-orange in color. Light cinnamon and red fruit on the nose. There are some subtle notes that remind me of the funky characteristic of some Washington State and Oregon Syrahs. Rather than detracting, it gives this wine a unique complexity that I really find enjoyable. There is cinnamon, mocha powder, and strawberry on the rich, complex palate. The wine has great acidity and fine-grained tannins. It has a very long, luxurious finish. 96 points. 4/7/2022
1945 Croft Vintage Port – Very light amber-orange in color. Light raspberry on the nose. It is medium bodied, and the palate runs more toward Tawny descriptors than Vintage Port descriptors – cinnamon, dried fruits, and subtle sweetness. The finish is medium-long. This isn’t the best showing of this bottle, but it is an easy sipper and not something that you get to try every day. 89 points. 4/7/2022
1948 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port – Amber-brown in color. Rich chocolate and light herbal notes on the nose. There are cola, red fruits, dried fig, dried herbs, and light chocolate notes on the palate. An impressive, layered complexity that continues to surface new and interesting tastes and aromas. So much quality here to be so old and take my palate on such a fun ride. Very long finish. 96 points. 4/7/2022
1955 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port – Light amber-orange in color. Light bodied with red fruit and medium complexity. Some touches of vanilla on the palate, but this bottle is starting to show a few more Tawny characteristics than VP characteristics. 88 points. 4/7/2022
After tasting through these memorable Ports, we dove into dinner, accompanied by several excellent wines.
1996 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage
1990 Château Brane-Cantenac
2008 Joseph Drouhin Chambertin-Clos de Bèze
2005 Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes
2003 Giuseppe Quintarelli Amabile del Cerè Veneto IGT
Saturday, April 8, 2022
The second event for the weekend was at Surrell, located in Seattle’s Madison Valley.
We started with several fantastic table wines before and during dinner:
2007 Domaine Serene Clos du Soleil Chardonnay
2009 Domaine Serene Cote Sud Chardonnay
2009 Chateau Doisy Daene Barsac
1963 Mouchao Alentejo Red
1988 Georges Noellat Echezeaux
1966 Graham Vintage Port – From magnum. Amber-purple in color. Red fruits, cinnamon, and some spirit on the nose. Rich, warm, complex mouthfeel with spices, some spirit, and some subtle chocolate notes. This wine is very smooth in the mouth, with rich texture and fine-grained tannins. The acidity and the sweetness are well-balanced, and the long finish takes the opportunity to briefly revisit the cinnamon and strawberry notes. 95 points. 4/8/2022
DR L70 Year Old Tawny Port – Bottled in 2021. Dark amber-orange in color. Molasses, dark oiled teak wood, mocha, and a hint of vanilla on the nose. Rich, complex palate of vanilla nougat, caramel, and subtle orange spice. The rich textures carry all the way through to the crazy long finish. Wow! This is one of the better showings I have had of this bottle. It’s all there in one fantastic package. 97 points. 4/8/2022
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Sunday, April 9, 2022
The final event of the weekend was held at Daniel’s Broiler in Bellevue, Washington. This tasting featured several Magnums from Roy’s personal cellar.
2006 Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port – From magnum. Decanted for 8 hours. This magnum came from our first visit to Quinta do Vesuvio in 2006 when we got into the lagars with the local Portuguese workers and helped to foot-trod this wine. We all were offered magnums of the wine when it was bottled, and it has been quite a few years since I have tasted any of the magnums that our group were offered. I was really looking forward to seeing how this wine was progressing, as I still have magnums of this wine in my cellar. Dark purple in color, mostly opaque. Floral and fresh crushed blueberry notes on the nose. Some mocha, and great intensity of blue fruit on the palate – blueberry, boysenberry, and black currant. There is an elegance to the mouthfeel, but that is backed by a fantastic structure. This wine could go for 50 more years (at least in magnum). 94 points. 4/9/2022
1970 Fonseca Vintage Port – From magnum. This magnum was bottled in Oporto. There is some light TCA on the nose, along with some strawberry and red fruits. On the palate, there is some initial black fruits, cassis, and black plum. It has a rich mouthfeel, but some funky notes seem to be lurking just under the wonderful initial tastes. The more I smell the wine, the more TCA seems to be picking, and the few follow up sips I tried started to show only muted fruit and herbal notes. I called this as a corked wine, and several other people at the table disagreed with me, but thirty minutes later, the table was unanimous – the TCA was pronounced and the wine was no longer drinkable. N/R. 4/9/2022
1963 J.W. Burmester Colheita Port – Bottled in 2009. Orange-amber in color. Light nose of caramel, vanilla, and woody notes. The palate has rich notes of honey, caramel, roasted almonds, and dried fruits. It is full-bodied and has a luxurious texture in the mouth. The complexity of this wine was notable from stem to stern. 95 points. 4/9/2022
1935 Cockburn Vintage Port – From magnum. Amber-orange in color. There are light notes of caramel and a touch of red fruit. Good vibrancy but there is a dry nuttiness and a note that seems a little off on the palate. There is an elegant note to this wine, but it may be turning the corner into its last hurrah. There is still enough life here that made this a great showing for this wine, but I wouldn’t be holding onto these too much longer. 94 points. 4/9/2022
After the Ports, we opened some other fantastic wines to go with dinner.
2014 Adega da Cartuxa Pêra-Manca
1988 Moët & Chandon Dom Pérignon Cuvée Champagne
2001 Quinta do Crasto Touriga Nacional Douro Red
2005 Quinta do Vale Meao Douro Red
