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Premium Ports & Madeira
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Thursday February 10, 2005
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Speaker: Jack Hecker
Northeast Regional Manager Premium Port Wine
Albert Lauber of Neuchatel Chocolates presented samples of his elegant Swiss Chocolates.
12 Premium Ports and Madeira's were tasted. Graham's 2000 Vintage Port was rated the favorite of the tasting.
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| Flight I: Port |
Votes |
Full Retail Price $ |
Graham's Six Grapes
Six Grapes is one of Graham's original Port blends and is one of the Company's oldest marks. It is a very full-bodied, luscious wine drawn from the same vineyards as Graham's Vintage Ports. Blended from two or three years' harvests, the wine is an average of three to four years old when bottled. It follows the Graham's Vintage style very closely, although it has softened more quickly by being matured in oak casks rather than in bottle. It's an extremely rich fruity style.
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4 |
$22.00 |
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Dow's Trademark
This Port originates from Dows own Quinta do Bomfim estate and a handful of neighboring vineyards. Fruity, luscious and mellow with an attractive undertone of spice. Trademark has the slightly drier finish, which has always been the hallmark of all Dow's Port. A full-bodied classic Port, ready for immediate consumption and requires no decanting. Tied for favorite of this flight. |
10 |
$17.00 |
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Smith Woodhouse 1992 Late Bottled Vintage
Smith Woodhouse did not declare '92 as a vintage, but their unfiltered, bottle-aged style of LBV is a little softer style. 4 years in oak cask, it has the gentle, generous maturity of a well aged vintage, with expansive layers of plummy fruit and spice. Refined and elegant. Tied for favorite of this flight.
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10 |
$30.00 |
| Flight II: Tawny Port |
Votes |
Full Retail Price $ |
Dow's 10 Year Aged Tawny
Brilliant gold and burnt orange colors in the wine reflect its powerful flavors. Hints of citrus, nutmeg, and dried fruits on the nose come through in the mouth followed by a gripping finish. Sweet and silky, its flavors integrate well with the alcohol. Dow's Tawnies have a typically drier style. |
7 |
$35.00 |
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Graham's 20 Year Aged Tawny
Bright amber color and aromas of rich caramel, orange blossom and mixed nuts. Velvety and rich on the palate, the long finish ends with layers of caramel, honey, buttered almonds and sweet raisins. Nicely balanced.The favorite of this flight. |
15 |
$50.00 |
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Smith Woodhouse 1986 Colheita
Smith Woodhouse's Colheita is a rare Tawny Port produced from a single harvest. The newest release is from the harvest in 1986. The wine has been aging 18 years in oak casks and was bottled in 2004. In this aging process the wine develops complex secondary aromas and flavors and surrenders its vibrant red color to take on a deep golden hue like other aged Tawnies. Smith Woodhouse's Colheita does not need to be decanted. Once bottled, Colheitas require no further aging. |
12 |
$45.00 |
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Quinta do Vesuvio 1999 Single Quinta Vintage Porto
A black stone fruit grown out of the schist, the flavor of '99 Vesuvio is both powerful and elegant. It's one of the Douro's great vineyards, planted high on a conical hill of the Douro Superior. There's concentration in the color, purple-blue black to the rim, and as the wine opens with air, instead of getting bigger, it gets more complex. The schist comes through in the finesse and tremendous length, cutting through the tarriness of the fruit to provide an open view of what the wine may become with age. One of the best vintages of the new Vesuvio. Sweet and lush on the palate.
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12 |
$19.00 |
| Flight III: Madeira |
Votes |
Full Retail Price $ |
Blandy's Alvada
It is virtually unheard of for a Madeira wine to be blended from two of the classic grape varieties. In this unique blend of five-year-old Madeira, Blandy's combines the very sweet and rich Malmsey style with the off-dry Bual to create a smooth, well balanced Madeira that nicely marries the caramel and burnt-sugar aromas of a rich Malmsey with the dried fruit characteristics of a subtle Bual. |
5 |
$19.00 |
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Cossart Gordon 10 year Bual
This fine wine is made from the Bual grape which produces a medium rich style, perhaps the most versatile among Madeira's. It shows a hint of honey and raisin on the palate with an underlying smoky complexity. The round and mellow Ten Years Bual has attractive fruit and a long creamy aftertaste. The favorite of this flight.
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16 |
$40.00 |
| Flight IV: Vintage Port |
Votes |
Full Retail Price $ |
Graham's 1991 Vintage Port
Impressive aromas of chocolate, tar and spice on the nose. The palate is intensely packed with flavors of berries and figs with ripe developed tannins. |
5 |
$90.00 |
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Dow's 2000 Vintage Port
Very deep purple with blue overtones. More austere on the nose than many of the 2000 ports, there is a marvelous black cherry and currant component, but much less of the floral quality of, say, Graham's and Vesuvio. The wine is aged for two to two and a half years in wood before being bottled, unfiltered. Quite tannic and lean in the mouth, but loads of fruit lurking in the background. Comparatively dry on the very long finish. Graham's and Dow's represent two stylistic poles, one sweet, the other less so, but no less intense and well knit. The Dow's is an excellent, restrained, powerful Port. |
8 |
$100.00 |
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Graham's 2000 Vintage Port
Smells like freshly picked orchids, with loads of ripe, clean fruit. Full-bodied, medium-sweet and very powerful and racy. It lasts for minutes on the palate. There's great balance and class to this Vintage Port. Best after 2014. The port is simply stunning, with floral and berry flavors in a classy package. As the top Port of the vintage, it earns a Collectible designation. Full-bodied, medium-sweet and very powerful. The favorite of this flight.
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12 |
$100.00 |
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