1960 Vintage Port Tasting in London - the first good harvest of the great 60s

A couple of weeks ago I attended one of those tastings of Port Wine that I have been dreaming of for a long time. Tom Archer, a Port Wine enthusiast from the UK, who would be 50 on May 2010, was the perfect excuse for the members of The Port Forum set up a tasting of Vintage 1960, Tom’s year of birth. With 14 bottles on the table to share between 13 people, we had a chance to taste some very rare bottles in generous portions!

For the first time I tasted a bottle from Quinta do Rei, currently owned by Messias, which is located in front of our vineyard Quinta Vale d’Agodinho. Quinta do Rei is contiguous to Quinta do Cachão and was bought in 1958 from Gonzalez Byass. Latter Messias family incorporated Quinta do Rei in Quinta do Cachão and no longer bottling Quinta do Rei, making this bottles even rarer. In my opinion, the stars of the tasting were Croft, Noval, Dow’s and Delaforce. Croft and Delaforce were both elegant and delicate while Noval and Dow’s presented a nice body and structure.

At the end of the tasting some of the attendees said that Vintage 1960 wouldn’t be worth the price you pay for that (around 120 eur a bottle). This may be true, and although some of the bottles didn’t show well, others were worth each cent we paid for that!

Oscar