Simon Field | Garnet with a slow fade, a touch of crepuscular luminosity; straightforward nose of loganberry, late plums, and hints of the hearth-side. The wine is drinking well today, delicate and a little fragile, if such can be said of a fortified wine, but honest and harmonious of construct. Mid-palate there is not the weight of many of its peers, yet a charm, lifted and perfumed, cherry, plum, and rosehip, which makes it an ideal choice for early drinking— early, that is to say, if one forgets the passing decades that have unraveled so seamlessly when we were not looking. | 93

Andrew Jefford | Translucent and light in color. It has a little more fresh red than [Fonseca’s 1983], which is brickier, but there is still no depth of hue and it seems visually disappointing, certainly mature. Some cardboard notes on the aroma—I believe we have been through two bottles here? Unengaging, for sure. Setting aside cork issues, this is soft and pleasantly rounded, not without extract; fully mature, passable Vintage, but not more. | 82

Richard Mayson | Mid-deep and fully mature in appearance; gentle, delicate floral fruit on the nose, seemingly quite fragile, ethereal, and really rather beautiful; there is a little more substance on the palate, graceful fruit backed by firm tannins, with a hint of bitter-chocolate intensity, a rather short, bony finish, but a very enjoyable wine nonetheless. Drink soon. | 90