Simon Field | Russet, amber blood, with a rapid fade. Smoky nose, attractive but a little volatile, warm hay, the wildest strawberries and a hint of iodine. We ask for another bottle, just to see. It is the same; good, that is to say, but maybe straining too hard for perfection. The tannins dry a little as a result and there is a lack of inner resource, which negates prospect. These ’83s are all attractive, but one doubts their capacity to blossom further. | 89

Andrew Jefford | A much lighter wine than [Offley 1983]: translucent oxblood red, and a similar depth of hue to the ’77s and the ’75s. Rather disappointing aromas: sweet, but also a kind of chicken-yard rusticity. Some dried herb but overall it lacks finesse and seems a little constrained, almost reduced (as if such a thing were possible for a 37-year-old Port). On the palate, it is sweet and tangy, without resource or freshness of fruit. Nice enough to drink and there is some extractive matter there on the finish to act as a factor of balance, but not really Vintage material from today’s perspective. (Perhaps it should have been drunk 10 years ago.) | 85

Richard Mayson | Mid- to pale tawny, looking fully mature; flat and oxidized on the nose (second bottle requested and just the same); ditto on the palate, just a vestige of fruit and a dusty dry finish. | 74