Decanting advice for '77 Delaforce

[AW77]

I would like to open a bottle of 1977 Delaforce for Christmas.
How long would you decant it? I have thought of 2 hours. Or is that too short?

[PhilW]

2 would do if needed, but I'd allow 4-6 if that was viable.

[AW77]

Phil, thanks for your advice. I decided on 6 hours, which were just right. The TN will follow soon.
What would you recommend for a '01 Vargellas or a '99 Malvedos? I thought of 4 to 5 hours.

[PhilW]

Phil, thanks for yor advice. I decided on 6 hours, which were just right. The TN will follow soon.
What would you recommend for a '01 Vargellas or a '99 Malvedos? I thought of 4 to 5 hours.

I'd expect 3-4 to be sufficient, though longer 5-8 would do no harm either.

[AW77]

Thanks, I will try 4 hours. I had a '97 Roeda last week and that tasted much better after 4 hours than after 3 hours (at which time we started drinking the port). Wine (and especially port) is a really fascinating drink. It changes so much in terms of smell and even taste over a couple of hours (the only drawback is that this makes tasting notes quite complicated.)

[Alex Bridgeman]

I love the way port changes in the glass or decanter and once did a series of tasting notes at roughly 4 hour intervals across 4 days. That was really interesting and showed me that I generally like ports which have been in the decanter for longer than most people recommend. Your '01 Vargellas and '99 Malvedos I would happily open 12 hours before they were to be drunk.

I also agree with your comment that tasting notes can be quite challenging when a port changes so much with time in the glass or decanter. When I am writing my tasting notes, as often as I can I make a note of the time of decanting and the time of tasting so that I can work out how long the wine has had to breathe.