Vintage Port

[Drew]

Georgie, here's a nice article on ports from Robin Garr's site.

http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/tswa011218.shtml

Wines, and ports, are given estimated maturity dates by wine critics, educated guesses if you will, as to when the wine will peak. You'll see tn's that say, "best after 2008" or "best from 2003 through 2008". There's no hard or fast rule for when to drink. Some people prefer young ports and others aged ones. Provenance plays a HUGH role in how a wine ages. Also, aged ports do throw a lot of sediment so proper decanting is important. I drink wines/ports when I want to and I don't live or die by the maturity dates. I've read far too many tn's on mature wines that were disappointing to the taster, indicating the wine should have been drunk earlier. WW buys many wines by the case and opens them at different time periods and adjusts his maturity expectation accordingly and enjoys the transformation of the wine. I tend to buy more single bottles and drink my wines younger.

Drew