Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port 1980

1980, my birth year. I'm not sure I should be admitting that, but I suppose it's still within a reasonable distance from the present. 1980 was, it seems, a pretty good year for port, and while I was saving this for some occasion or another, my recent experience with heat damage prompted a 'what the hell' pop open of this very intriguing bottle.

The nose was a little toasty, but also had currant, raisins, and dried cherry. While at first I thought the alcohol on the wine was a bit forward and unbalanced, with a little air everything seemed to settle into place and this turned out to be a very enjoyable experience. For those who haven't tasted older vintage port, with time the youthful vigour and intensity gives way to subtle layering, moderate tannin and great delineated expression of flavours that, when young, are often lost in the density of the wine.

With this Smith Woodhouse I tasted cherry, blueberry, chocolate, wood, fig, strawberry, burnt caramel, bergamot, and cigar. The level of complexity was impressive and the fact that such distinct flavours expressed themselves to a moderate palate such as my own was quite exciting. I was also shocked by the level of juicyness in the port, despite its leathery and dried fruit character. Even compared to other older vintage ports, this was a special bottle, and not really over the top in terms of pricing. Port fans owe themselves a sip.

Excellent
$50 at BCLDB

CARM Grande Escolha 2003

Portuguese wine always goes unnoticed, and for no good reason at all. I've mentioned this before, but Douro dry reds can really be quite stunning and it's a shame not too many people indulge in their power and finesse. This wine came from the hot 2003 vintage which produced many overly alcholic wines across Europe, but in Portugal both the ports and the dry reds of Douro faired very well indeed.

The nose on this gem was all balance straight on the attack: I got wood, cassis, and blackberry jam on top of nice grip and excellent concentration. While this is a full mouth-coating wine, it is also not over-extracted nor does it have pronounced glycerin. Indeed, there is even a slight salty side to this eminently drinkable wine. Pair it with a great goat or sheep's milk cheese from Portugal or Spain and you will realize the unique approach that Portuguese wine brings to the fore.

Excellent
$40 at BCLDB (Purchased for $28 on sale)

Quinta do Infantado Vintage Port 1995

Another of the joys of California is that you can get smaller producers and older wines off the shelf for reasonable prices. I picked this bottle up at a great store called The Spanish Table, which, self-evidently, specializes in Spanish products.

I have not had a vintage port quite like this before. The nose was figgy with further notes of raisin, date, and prune - but not over the top; rather very refined. The palate was super spicey with the same characters as above, with a maple-like edge. This was simply brilliant with real character, depth and elegance. And, it proved to me that, dear god, aged port is good!

Excellent to Excellent+

$24 at The Spanish Table

Graham's Malvedos Vintage Port 2001

My first introduction to port many years ago was, perhaps fortuitously, with a half bottle of the Graham's 2000 Vintage Port, selected almost randomly. This was an absolutely stellar bottle and made me wonder why I hadn't had port before. I later found out that 2000 was a brilliant vintage for port and that the Graham's 2000 Vintage received 98 points from Wine Spectator. This port is still available today, but at $80 for a half bottle - $50 more than I paid.

Thus it was that I couldn't resist picking up a bottle of this 'lesser' port from Graham's in a year where a vintage was not declared. The Malvedos, however, is a single quinta port, meaning that it is made from a single vineyard, the grapes from which are normally used as the backbone of the regular vintage bottling. The single quinta ports come out when the weather wasn't good enough to declare an official 'vintage' year. The price reflects this, but if this bottle is any indication, great values are to be had here.

The nose was grapey, chocolatey, and filled with sugared plums and dates. Very rich and a little boozy - but not 'hot'. The palate was well tannined and full and introduced pepper and spice with figs and dates. With a texture that was rich, smooth and very beautiful in the mouth, a perfect sugar level, and a brilliant sumptuousness, Graham's upheld their reputation in my mind for top level sweet wine: simply put, not many sweet wines taste this good. And, of course, this voluptuous liquid paired perfectly with chocolate (it went particularly well with a maple infused chocolate bar that was dappled with alder smoked salt from a lovely local chocolate maker).

Excellent
$32 for 375ml

Niepoort Redoma 2003

Niepoort is best known as a family firm producing superb vintage ports. However, although this part of their operation has less breadth of recognition, they also produce some fantastic dry red blends from grapes grown in the Douro valley. I think Portugal is an exciting place for wine right now, although they are having some problems with marketing themselves as well as the other big European exporters. They are, nevertheless, worth seeking out for good quality and good value dry red wines.

This particular red blend was very rich and dark in the glass. Its nose of blueberry, plum and earth was powerful and yet restrained. A tasty earthy and blueberry tang fills the mouth as the wine progresses smoothly to a licorice and herb-like mid-palate and into a nice mid to long finish. While not terribly complex, I do think the Redoma strikes a good compromise between flavour, drinkability and length. It is, perhaps, a tad too expensive in this market, but I expect it is less than half price down south.

Very Good
$56 at BCLDB

Quinta do Crasto Touriga Nacionale 2001

I've become quite fascinated with Portuguese dry reds in the past couple year after tasting a Quinta do Crasto old vine Douro blend from 2004. Over time I managed to pick up a fair sampling of Crasto's more expensive bottlings on sale at the signature store in downtown Vancouver. The aging potential is still not the same as top french wines, but I like the fact that these wines can be consumed younger - I already have enough stuff waiting in the cellar as it is.

The nose on this Varietal wine (Touriga Nacionale) was rich in bacon fat and luscious dark fruit. The palate was incredibly silky with blueberry, chocolate, and dark berry compote. Round and port-like, this was also delicate with very fine tannin. Perhaps fading slightly now, this could have used a bit more grip, but the elegance and rich luscious fruity goodness was unmistakable. So, while this wine didn't have a crazy bevy of complex layers nor a particularly long finish, it did have incredible purity of fruit. And, that is pretty enjoyable in itself.

Excellent
$80 ($54 on sale)

2004 Quinta do Crasto Douro Riserva Old Vines

I think Portuguese wine is really underrated and generally under the radar. Douro's tend to be big and intense port-like dry red wines that can often be a great value. The BC LDB doesn't carry that much of the higher end stuff so it was a nice treat to find this bottle at the Thurlow and Alberni location. The best way I can describe this is really intense and rich chocolatey and leathery flavours that had a good measure of dark berry fruit. However, the wine wasn't jammy and I wouldn't describe the fruit as 'fresh', but maybe more as 'withered'. This was a great wine for the price and pretty much typifies the kind of wine making I love. On another note, I have a 2003 sitting around and I think this wine could be pretty interesting with a little age.

Excellent
$35 at BCLDB