Richard Mayson relishes the opportunity to visit Raby Castle in County Durham to taste exceptional, fully mature Ports, of which substantial quantities will be sold at Christie’s.
When Michael Broadbent MW reestablished Christie’s wine department back in 1966, one of his more intriguing tasks was to visit the cellars of country houses up and down the kingdom to assess valuable old wines. It is fair to say that a country house with thick stone walls in a cool, damp climate is the perfect place to store and age wines made in sunnier climes. He must have made some fascinating discoveries. I know for myself (on encountering two dozen Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 1961 many years ago) how finding an old wine is like coming face to face with a friendly and rather thrilling old ghost.
I thought that most of the wines from these old country-house cellars must have been either sold or drunk by now. Imagine my delight when I was invited by Christie’s to visit Raby Castle in County Durham, where a cache of rather wonderful Vintage Port had been found in the cellars. The castle dates back to the 11th century, with parts of the surviving building dating from the 14th century and 18th and 19th centuries. (John Carr of York, who designed a number of buildings in Oporto, was responsible for the 18th-century modifications.) Built from local gritstone, Raby Castle has a forbidding, fortified appearance, with stone walls that are many feet thick in places. It is the home of Lord and Lady Barnard, who took over the property in 2016 and have a fairly daunting restoration project on their hands.
These Ports were laid down by the 10th Baron Barnard, who, according to the cellar ledger, bought the wines as soon as they were (UK-) bottled and cellared them. They have been laying there ever since, quite possibly untouched since Christopher Barnard died in 1964. Substantial quantities are being sold at Christie’s in multiple lots over the next year.
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It was a great privilege to also be invited by the directors of Christie’s and Lord and Lady Barnard to attend a lunch at Raby Castle on April 25, 2024, the 50th anniversary of the revolution in Portugal. Sporting my red carnation (the symbol of the revolution), we tasted and then drank the wines, raising a toast to Portuguese liberty with Dow 1924, a wine made two years before the events that brought the Salazar regime (overthrown on April 25, 1974) to power. Staring out over the countryside of County Durham on a day of cold April showers and dappled sunlight, this is one the most magnificent Ports that I have ever tasted.
The wines are listed in the order in which they were served. There was some bottle variation (to be expected with wines of this age), but it has to be emphasized that the wines were in perfect condition and demonstrated the staying power of Vintage Port if it is kept in the right place. There can be no better place to store Port than the cool, stone cellars of Raby Castle.
Tasting the Vintage of Ports of Raby Castle
Cockburn’s 1950
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This was not the most auspicious Port vintage. It was a challenging growing season redeemed by perfect conditions during the harvest itself. 1950 was declared by only a handful of shippers in difficult market conditions. Cockburn’s, then under the direction of John Smithes, had a rather idiosyncratic approach to vintages, but how right it was to declare this wine. It retains a mid-deep color, with a broad, browning rim. Quite restrained on the nose initially, with a bitter-cherry fruit emerging. Still relatively firm, all together, with lovely, linear (but not “lean” as Michael Broadbent claimed) if rather sinewy tannins all the way through to the finish. It isn’t powerful, but it is very elegant, with demure cherry-stone fruit just hiding behind the dusty/gravelly tannins. I have tasted this wine on a number of occasions, and this bottle was in perfect condition. To drink now and with a long drinking plateau ahead. | 96
Taylor’s 1948
The years after World War II were kind to Port (even if the markets weren’t), with some outstanding and fully declared vintages in 1945, 1947, and 1948. In 1948, the early summer was unusually hot, followed by a cool July and another blast of heat in August and September. The weather during harvest was hot, but crucially in these days before temperature control, the nights were cool. Sugar levels were high, and the wines were generally ripe and opulent. Taylor’s certainly reflects the natural richness of the vintage. Still deep in color for its age, with striking immediacy on the nose; exotic subtropical fruit akin to ripe pineapple. It is similarly voluptuous on the palate, with gloriously rich texture and mouthfeel mid-palate; the opulence of the fruit still masks the underlying structural, spicy tannins that emerge on a broad, ripe finish where both soft summer strawberries and pineapple freshness and tropicality leave their mark. This was not quite my favorite wine in the lineup, but it is an outstanding and thrilling Vintage Port nonetheless. | 99
Fonseca 1934
The years 1934 and 1935 were a so-called split vintage, and the consensus is that the latter year may just have the edge. The summer of 1934 was variable, but July was hot, and September rain helped swell the grapes before picking began toward the end of the month, a good two to three weeks later than the norm today. The harvest took place in near-perfect conditions. Having tasted Fonseca 1934 on a number of occasions, it is undoubtedly the pick of the vintage and as good as the best wines from 1935. Bottled by Hatch Mansfield, there was some bottle variation here, with wine from the first decanter seeming a bit dumb and dusty on the nose, while the second was more effusive, showing dark-chocolate intensity on the nose and some flesh on the palate. The soft berry fruit remains beautifully defined, supported by fine, linear tannins and cherry-stone freshness on the finish. Impressive and in perfect condition. | 98
Dow’s 1927
This was a monumental year for Port, declared by 30 shippers. It was one of those rare years that seemed to combine quantity and quality, the large crop taking time to ripen, and picking began only at the start of October. The wines were declared at the top of the market, shortly before the Wall Street Crash, and then proved slow to sell. When I first tasted a lineup of 1927s back in 1989, we had a discussion as to whether some of the wines were ready to drink (after 60 years in bottle at that time!). I think we can conclude that they are now ready but that you need to be in no hurry to drink. This was UK-bottled by Page & Sandeman, still retaining a wonderful rosy color, but there was some bottle variation, the wine from one decanter seeming a bit Bovril-like on the nose. The second was more restrained on the nose, with lovely rich, suave fruit on the palate backed by tight-knit, spicy/peppery tannins, still grippy and very fresh, with that firm, dryish finish that is so characteristic of Dow’s. | 98
Dow’s 1924
Tasting this on the 50th anniversary of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution, I had to pinch myself when I realized that this wine is now 100 years old. I have tasted this wine on a number of occasions, and it has always been impressive. This was perfection. The growing season in the Douro was cool but dry, the drought alleviated by September rain. Gordon Cosens of Silva & Cosens (the producer of Dow’s) concluded that 1924 “will prove to be a better than ordinary vintage.” So it has proved. This wine, bottled by Page & Sandeman, retains beautiful color and a glorious fragrance, with lovely berry fruit (“cranberries,” in the words of one fellow taster) and a classic floral character. Pristine freshness on the palate, with well-defined berry fruit, milk-chocolate richness, grippy tannins mid-palate, and a wonderfully complex finish. I picked up esteva (gum cistus), so evocative of the Douro and, unusually for Dow’s, a sense of subtropical richness and sweetness. This was not the biggest or boldest of the wines here but certainly the most complex and haunting, all in a very good and very remarkable way. | 100
