1977 Hutcheson

Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
Forum rules
Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
Post Reply
Will W.
Taylor’s LBV
Posts: 183
Joined: 14:33 Thu 11 Aug 2016

1977 Hutcheson

Post by Will W. »

Whenever time allows, I hire a farmhouse situated a short drive from Lamego; this stone pile affords ready access by car to all manner of quintas in the Baixo and even the Cima Corga, such that one might pilot the vehicle successfully back to base following all but the most distressing sorties. Lamego itself has little to recommend it, being most notable for a cathedral which is accessed from the town centre after a laborious, and frankly pointless ascent over 686 steps. I was compelled recently, with uneven humour, to make the climb; that is, on 30 October in the year of our Lord 2020. I found the summit, upon reaching same, to be bereft of spiritual significance – there was no port wine to be had and the cathedral was closed in response to the pestilence – though I did find an old crone peddling rebucados da Regua, a local, boiled sweet. I shall return presently to the significance of this confection.

As far as one can determine, Hutcheson ports warrant nary a mention in Wiseman and are referenced only in passing in Probst. There is a reason for this: Hutcheson vintage ports and colheitas, whilst appearing frequently on the secondary wine markets of continental Europe, are unremarkable. This bottle constituted no exception.

My reward upon returning to the quinta after reaching the summit of Lamego was this bottle of Hutcheon’s, which had been afforded a four-hour decant. Despite five days stood up in the bottle before decanting, the wine was a touch cloudy in the glass. Beyond that, its appearance was redolent of light amber with the barest hint of lime on the rim. The nose was modest, though spirited coaxing gave rise to faint notes of lemon grass, apricot, orange peel and crème caramel. At the mouth, the primary fruits were no longer in evidence. Instead, the port had evolved into … well, into rebucados da Regua; that is, a not-overly-sweet, albeit otherwise crude concoction of lemon, honey, cinnamon and orange infusion. It was if the woman flogging the sweets from a dilapidated van alongside Lamego cathedral had found a way of transforming 1977 Hutcheson’s vintage port into a hard candy. The sweets had constituted something of a diversion whilst descending the 686 steps back to the chariot; at the dining table, the port was something of a disappointment for a 1977. The finish was agreeable to the extent that it was of reasonable length whilst being neither hot nor cloying - though it confirmed the impression gained at the nose and mouth that this is a wine well along a downward slope, having peaked a decade or more ago. Those possessed of this port should consume same with despatch.

-88 points
User avatar
JacobH
Quinta do Vesuvio 1994
Posts: 3300
Joined: 16:37 Sat 03 May 2008
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: 1977 Hutcheson

Post by JacobH »

I enjoyed this note. Thank you. Looking at the photographs of Lamego (which I haven’t visited) I can see why a trip up the steps might be somewhat more appealing on a warm Spring morning than at the end of October!

Your comments about rebucados da Regua remind me of one striking feature of the Douro: the real lack of local edible delicacies. The next big town West from Lamego is Resende where the delicacy—Cavacas de Resende—is essentially a plain sponge cake covered in plain icing. I think it is supposed to taste mildly of egg yokes but it is nothing like, say, those ovos moles de Aveiro where a crisp shell is filled with a unctuous egg-yoke custard.
Image
Post Reply