The 2007 Vintage Port Declaration: Preview Tasting””New York

[jdaw1]

An event titled The 2007 Vintage Port Declaration: Preview Tasting was held from 1pm to 5pm on Monday 27th April 2009 at the Four Seasons restaurant, 99 East 52nd Street, New York. Present were lots of important people, including David Guimaraens, Dominic and Rupert Symington, and Christian Seely. And, hidden away at the back not being silent, me!

Readers might also be interested in the thread 2007 Vintage Port Declarations.

Let’s have some pictures. People like pictures.

[jdaw1]

Noval Silval 2007, imperfectly focussed.

[jdaw1]

Quinta do Noval 2007

[jdaw1]

Romaneira 2007 with a shaking hand.

[jdaw1]

Croft 2007

[jdaw1]

Fonseca 2007

[jdaw1]

Taylor 2007

[jdaw1]

Taylor Vargellas Vinha Velha

[jdaw1]

Smith Woodhouse 2007

[jdaw1]

Warre 2007

[jdaw1]

Graham 2007

[jdaw1]

Dow 2007

[jdaw1]

Vesuvio 2007

[jdaw1]

I can’t do tasting notes of cask samples. Both because I lack the experience of them, and because palate exhaustion set in after approximately one sample. Nonetheless, here are some words, in (approximate) order of tasting. For all ports you may assume that they also had strong notes of perfume and of young port these words not repeated in every bullet below.

• Noval Silval 2007 cask sample: more red than purple. Nose of melon and of starfruit. Very approachable and drinkable now.
• Quinta da Romaneira 2007 cask sample: Seely’s new creation. Also very red rather than purple, though of a darker hue than the Silval. Nose: cigar wood, then lots of sweetness and red fruit. Again, almost drinkable now. Matthew Daniel of Vintus Wines said that ‟will mature early”.
• Croft 2007 cask sample: is that pink or purple? Oh no, not!! Much more tannin and acidity, much more structure than the Noval Silval and then Romaneira. More tasting experience needed for a comparator.
• Warre 2007 cask sample: ‟too horrible to swallow hurray!” Red/pink/purple, and very scented. The scent rather overpowering everything else.
• Quinta do Noval 2007 cask sample: dark blacker than Croft or Warre. Indeed later compared to Fonseca much blacker than the Fonseca. Never before have I attended a horizontal in which Noval is darker than Fonseca. The nose for me was of ‟La Tour Blanche pineapple”. Red Château La Tour Blanche. But to taste not very tannic, with lots of heat and fruit. Interesting.
• Smith Woodhouse 2007 cask sample: red. As tannic as the Croft; the fruits somewhat subdued.
• Taylor 2007 cask sample: intense perfume, with lots of soft fruit/ Lots of tannin, but drinkable with food.
• Taylor Vargellas Vinha Velha 2007 2007 cask sample: much paler than the blend (see photo in next post). Nose intensely smoky, with cedar wood for good measure. Lots of tannin, but drinkable. The first time TVVV has crossed my lips.
• Fonseca 2007 cask sample: I remarked on the relative hues of Fonseca and Noval to David Guimaraens, who suggested that colour can be chosen to the detriment of taste (but his phrasing implied no evil of Noval only that if his objective was colour, he could do that, but to the detriment of other senses). He also suggested that Fonseca might hold its colour better with the passage of time. As for taste by this stage my palate was a mess.
• Graham 2007 cask sample: very dark. Very mute nose. And very sweet (4.1° Baumé).
• Dow 2007 cask sample: like its sweeter brother, very dark. Light tannins drinkable. You won’t be surprised to be told that it is drier than the Graham.
• Quinta do Vesuvio 2007 cask sample: dark, but not as dark as Noval. Nosing and softly tasting of Vesuvio prunes. Heat. Gentle. Lovely to drink today really quite delicious.

[jdaw1]

The colours of the Taylor and Taylor Vargellas Vinha Velha.

[jdaw1]

Speeches and stuff:

People spoke.

Rupert Symington likened the young 2007s to his understanding of the young 1966s. His phrasing seemed to imply that this was not a guarantee.

There was a question-and-answer session, in which we were forbidden to ask how much they will cost. So I asked when we would be told how much they cost. Answer: about fifteen days (so about 12th May). With that question the Q&A was promptly closed: the subject must have been somewhat delicate.

After I was told by Dominic Symington (and was granted permission to quote) that the current best-guess is that prices will be, relative to 2003 in euro, ”“10% to ”“15%. Note that € ”“10% ≈ $ ”“9% ≈ £ +18%, due to the terrible performance of the pound.

[jdaw1]

Nacional? Apparently it is a bit mute, so a declaration decision hasn’t been made. But whether or not they declare, they’ll make it. If made without a declaration, presumably it can only be tasted at Quinta do Noval itself.

[jdaw1]

All corks seemed to have extracted in one piece, and had slight staining on the inside end. Taylor-Fladgate and the Symingtons used blank corks, whereas Noval and Romaneira didn’t.

[jdaw1]

Members of might be entertained by my official accreditation.

[DRT]

Excellent.

Congratulations to JDAW for bringing the Q&A to a close. I assume you did not throw your shoes at any of the speakers?

[JacobH]

A great thread; many thanks for reporting back!

Do you think we should be stocking up on the Warre?

[jdaw1]

Do you think we should be stocking up on the Warre?

• Warre 2007 cask sample: ‟too horrible to swallow hurray!” Red/pink/purple, and very scented. The scent rather overpowering everything else.

You’re asking me? Because you think I might know? You haven’t been paying attention.

[JacobH]

Do you think we should be stocking up on the Warre?

• Warre 2007 cask sample: ‟too horrible to swallow hurray!” Red/pink/purple, and very scented. The scent rather overpowering everything else.

You’re asking me? Because you think I might know? You haven’t been paying attention.

Well, yes, as you are a member of the universal set of people who read the board, and no, not necessarily; the reason was that I thought it might be an appropriate moment to indulge in some idle speculation.

Speculation aside, I thought the "hurray" (especially following palate fatigue) would suggest a value judgement towards the Warre. But perhaps I am misreading? Or not paying enough attention

[Alex Bridgeman]

Rupert Symington likened the young 2007s to his understanding of the young 1966s. His phrasing seemed to imply that this was not a guarantee.

That would be nice. In another 43 years time we will have something to replace our declining stocks of the '66s. Not long to wait now.
Reading this line again, it comes across as being more sarcastic than is intended. I am unlikely to be around in 43 years time, but love the '66s so if these are compared to the '66s by people who have the experience to make this comparison, then I am happy to have a great wine to add to my cellar.

After I was told by Dominic Symington (and was granted permission to quote) that the current best-guess is that prices will be, relative to 2003 in euro, ”“10% to ”“15%. Note that € ”“10% ≈ $ ”“9% ≈ £ +18%, due to the terrible performance of the pound.

Ouch! Not many cases expected to be sold in the UK then.

Nice report Julian. Thank you for putting yourself through the inconvenience of having to attend on our behalf and for posting your thoughts and pictures.

[jdaw1]

An extra detail from David Guimaraens, accidentally omitted from the earlier report. There are 4000 bottles of Taylor Vargellas Vinha Velha 2007, but those vines if I understood correctly could make about 30000 bottles. So the full Taylor blend contains about 87% of the TVVV output: the separate declaration ‘cost’ the Taylor blend only 13% of this juice.