PLEASURE AT THE PRESENT TIME AND A SOUVENIR FROM THE PAST

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

This bottle is arguably one

of the twenty best tawnies

I've ever had in my life,

from any country, any region,

any grape variety, any winemaker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of the blue, without thinking, the immediate contenders are an old barrel of 1934 colheita at Niepoort's, the 1969 rancio from Domaine de Rancy in Latour-de-France and a 1922 Boal from Blandy's. I don't remember the exact flask, but a Florio's Marsale virgine of old also impressed me immensely on the estate and some oldies in Lustau's range as well. To cut a long story short: I'm a lover of oxidative fortified wines after a long time in wood. This being said, the look-alikes of lesser quality are an insult to my palate and more often than not I get very disappointed by this category, so hard to balance just right. Indeed, you are not offered many blending opportunities ... (oportunities?) 

 

Yesterday evening, we had a refined, not overmatured, Spanish cured ham and melon from Coursan, in the plaine de l'Hérault but of Cavaillon's type. This year has been outstanding for this crop: a lot of sun and hardly any disease. As of the water, they use a drip system anyway.

 

So I said to myself: a good bottle of old tawny is of the essence! And outstanding it was. Look at the colour. And the first nose wasn't moldy at all, nor burning. No, everything was picture perfect. So far for the present time part.

 

Back to my memories now. I had met one of Burmester's Belgian importers team at a tasting. He was a retired "gendarme" with a generous moustache and a kind man. He introduced me to his boss - whose name is not relevant - and I got familiar with the house, somewhere in the rue du Chat Botté, I think. So it came they organized a group visit to the port shipper, both in Oporto and up there at the Quinta, which had just been renewed and developed. I would be their invited guest for 4 days or so on location, but I had planned my trip for a fortnight, and paid my costs all by myself. The "sponger" side of wine journalism was never a favorite of mine.

 

Once I had landed in Portugal, and met delicious Maria Assunção at the Cálem lodge - she would also accomodate me for a while - I found out the Belgian party had not arrived 'cause the visit had been cancelled ! There I stood, and without a car, for once. I still resent this tactlessness.

 

Nevertheless, both Assunção and my acquaintances at Icep made up for it and I could enjoy a lovely stay, complete with a visit to Quinta Nova, where the late Arnold Gilbert and his wife entertained me for a whole day.

 

My next visits were of purely private nature and all went well. I've been able to buy a case of twelve bottles of both the 1963 Vintage (good to every standard but NOT the specialty of the house) and the 1963 Colheita, a marvel in its category. The specimen you admire on this blog is one of the last survivors. It was engarrafada em 1994 but is still in pristine shape.

 

Later, this shipper changed hands and landed in Amorim's portfolio for a short time. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Américo himself, a man with equally divided charm and wickedness. It is also on that occasion that I had the privilege to encounter friendly José Téles, now with Niepoort's.

 

I salute him heartily.

 

 

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Comments: 1
  • #1

    Thysebaert (Saturday, 15 August 2015 14:34)

    Dommage ... une photo se déguste des yeux mais ne se mange pas !...