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Midwest Gentleman’s No Reserve Auction & Hudson Highlands Preview Part II
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Lot 820
Estimate: $70
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Collection name
Reviews
19.5JR
"Rupert Symington: 'The vintage that saved the port trade.' Paul Symington: 'we weren’t sent to prep school in England in the late 1950s and early 1960s because there was simply no money. There was real hunger in the Douro. But prices for the 1963s were at last on a par with the first growths. Universally declared. Conditions were beautiful. Useful rain. Classic pattern of the growing season. This was the last vintage that the shippers treated in an entirely négociant way. The likes of John Smithes would go and supervise the vintage in outlying quintas with no electricity. The big danger was overfilling the lagares.' Derek Smedley remembered the excitement in the tasting room at Harveys when Michael Broadbent and Harry Waugh enthused over this wine. Wyndham Fletcher was less enthusiastic. These Oporto-bottled bottles had apparently kept far better than those kept in the UK. (He and three friends had bought a pipe at 13/6 a bottle.) Firm healthy ruby, deeper than 1967. Very concentrated and beautifully balanced. Great sweetness and dryness and freshness. Great lift. Utterly flattering. So mellow and far from dying. Long. Edge of ladies' handbags; hint of cheesiness. So lively! So complex. Still quite dry on the end but overall delightfully exotic and lively."
Region
Sweet
Country
Score
"Rupert Symington: 'The vintage that saved the port trade.' Paul Symington: 'we weren’t sent to prep school in England in the late 1950s and early 1960s because there was simply no money. There was real hunger in the Douro. But prices for the 1963s were at last on a par with the first growths. Universally declared. Conditions were beautiful. Useful rain. Classic pattern of the growing season. This was the last vintage that the shippers treated in an entirely négociant way. The likes of John Smithes would go and supervise the vintage in outlying quintas with no electricity. The big danger was overfilling the lagares.' Derek Smedley remembered the excitement in the tasting room at Harveys when Michael Broadbent and Harry Waugh enthused over this wine. Wyndham Fletcher was less enthusiastic. These Oporto-bottled bottles had apparently kept far better than those kept in the UK. (He and three friends had bought a pipe at 13/6 a bottle.) Firm healthy ruby, deeper than 1967. Very concentrated and beautifully balanced. Great sweetness and dryness and freshness. Great lift. Utterly flattering. So mellow and far from dying. Long. Edge of ladies' handbags; hint of cheesiness. So lively! So complex. Still quite dry on the end but overall delightfully exotic and lively."
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Best known for fortified Port from the Douro Valley, Portugal also produces distinctive dry reds from native grapes such as Touriga Nacional. Its dramatic terraced vineyards and blending traditions give the wines a singular identity.
One of the world's oldest demarcated wine regions, famed for fortified Port and, increasingly, powerful dry reds. Its terraced schist vineyards and native grapes yield wines of concentration and character.
Covers powerful dry reds and fortified Port from native varieties grown on the valley's terraced schist slopes.
Spain's noble red grape, producing structured, savory wines of red fruit and leather that respond beautifully to oak aging in Rioja and Ribera del Duero.
Portugal's finest red grape, giving deeply colored, floral and structured wines central to both Port and the Douro's dry reds.