AJ | Dark deep russet-walnut with garnet glints. A magnificent nose here: splendid aromatic power, the vault of age, but at the same time an amost truffley richness. Chocolate truffle as well as black truffle. And a smoky allure in the finish, too. Fruit survival rates in this wine are very good, too: clearly it must have been quite something in its youth, but age has left it with a wealth of carvings, inlays and finials. On the palate, it is very rich, too: long, sweet, time-burnished and concentrated. It's very harmonious, and you can find all the aromatic notes on the palate, too, though harmonised and synthesised by time and also, note, coccooned in sweet figgy sugars. The acidity is nonetheless splendid,and there is almost a green vegetal freshness on the finish too -- where on earth does that come from? A wonderfully managed success from a single vintage, and astonishing that it should still have so much to give 50 years later Drink Dates: 2025 - 2050. 96
SF | Vintage dated, unlike its peers in this tasting, a child of 1975, a vintage of mixed reputation, and certainly not in the league of , say, 1970 or 1977. No matter. This one flies under a different colour and its selection will have been on a barrel by barrel basis, itself depend on so many variables that the effrontery to presume by the nature of the vintage itself is far form appropriate. The wine has a mahogany hue and fades to amber as it approaches the rim, itself quite watery Quite a gradation therefore, but not necessarily a degradation! both nose and palate are marked by pleasing citric elements, orange peel, crystalised lemon and the like , the palate marked by its delicate and very refined nature; cigar box, iodine, thyme and dried fruit. Joyous and perfectly integrated, with no burn form the alcohol and no distracting volatility. Very harmonious in other words and if it lacks the complexity of a multi vintage feed it more than makes up for it with an elegant balanced attack. Drink Dates: 2025 - 2045. 93
RM | This was the 'hot summer' of the Portuguese revolution but it really doesn't show in this wine: lovely copper-hued red with a tawny rim; super-suave and beautifully melded on the nose with gently lifted fragrance and similarly seamless on the palate, still combining the freshness of youth with the complexity of age on and a long, lithe finish. Not over sweet: perfect poise at fifty years of age. Drink Dates: 2025 - 2040. 96