1955 Croft

Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
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Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
Posts: 14868
Joined: 13:41 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Berkshire, UK

1955 Croft

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Mature, brick red colour wih a pale rim, 30% opaque. Gentle sous bois nose, with soft wild strawberry. Lovely entry, slightly woody but with sweet fruits of the forest adding a pleasant complexity. Balanced and well structured but starting to dry out. A nice profile on the aftertaste with nutty dried fruit that leads to a delicious big finish, long lasting and with a chewy texture. Overall this is a port which is starting to dry out but which is very drinkable. Served blind this was guessed to be Quinta do Noval 1958. (The bottle was mid-shoulder fill.). 88/100. Decanted 5 hours. Drunk 28 September 2017.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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gerwin.degraaf
Taylor’s LBV
Posts: 169
Joined: 20:59 Thu 02 Jul 2009
Location: The Netherlands

Re: 1955 Croft

Post by gerwin.degraaf »

AHB wrote: 21:00 Wed 04 Oct 2017 Mature, brick red colour wih a pale rim, 30% opaque. Gentle sous bois nose, with soft wild strawberry. Lovely entry, slightly woody but with sweet fruits of the forest adding a pleasant complexity. Balanced and well structured but starting to dry out. A nice profile on the aftertaste with nutty dried fruit that leads to a delicious big finish, long lasting and with a chewy texture. Overall this is a port which is starting to dry out but which is very drinkable. Served blind this was guessed to be Quinta do Noval 1958. (The bottle was mid-shoulder fill.). 88/100. Decanted 5 hours. Drunk 28 September 2017.
I have 1 bottle left of this particular VP (of 2). Mine is possibly a Dutch bottling (neck label says Walraven Sax - Hilversum), and has a good fill level (1 cm in neck).
Do you think this will keep untill 2025 (I had planned to drink it during this year of it's 70th birthday), or should I open it a little earlier, say in 2020?
Andy Velebil
Quinta do Vesuvio 1994
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Re: 1955 Croft

Post by Andy Velebil »

I'm not AHB, he may or may not differ, in my experiences a good bottle of it should hold until 2025 with ease.
Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
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Joined: 22:27 Wed 09 Jul 2008
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Re: 1955 Croft

Post by Glenn E. »

In my relatively limited experience, 1955 VPs range from currently at peak/on a plateau to already fading. I don't recall having tasted one that I thought was still going to improve with further aging.

Most of the ones on a plateau - which as I recall included the Croft - should hold until 2025. Some may have started a gentle fade by then, but I very much doubt that any will have fallen off a cliff. So I think you should be safe saving your bottle until its 70th birthday.
Glenn Elliott
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gerwin.degraaf
Taylor’s LBV
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Joined: 20:59 Thu 02 Jul 2009
Location: The Netherlands

Re: 1955 Croft

Post by gerwin.degraaf »

Andy, Glenn,
Thanks for your reactions.

Given the good level of my remaining bottle, I will keep it untill its 70th birthday in 2025 :-)
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flash_uk
Graham’s 1977
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Joined: 20:02 Thu 13 Feb 2014
Location: London

Re: 1955 Croft

Post by flash_uk »

30% opacity, brown-amber, cloudy with some sediment. Sweet nose, candy and strawberry. Syrupy, some spiciness, dried fruits, oranges, dryness, long aftertaste. Guessed to be Cr60. It was the oranges wot gave it away...
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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Re: 1955 Croft

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