1997 Niepoort - Vintage Port Port Blend - Portugal - Douro - Red

Signs of past seepage. Dark and brooding nose, with aromas of dark cherry, vanilla, brown spices, and hints of red fruit such as strawberries. On the palate, notes of vanilla, brown sugar, smoke. I'm missing the fruit. Tannins are still strong and the alcohol doesn't integrate well. After one night open in the fridge corked and left out uncorked for four hours, the spirit dominates the nose. Fruit seems to have disappeared. Alcohol is still unintegrated, fruit is still missing, but tannins have now significantly smoothed out.

4pm Saturday 2/14 - Initial Observation: Opened at for consumption on 2/15 for post dinner. Resealed with an airtight artificial sealer gizmo that pumps out the air. Ruby red with tinges of rust and brown. Very vibrant but a tad cloudy after 24 hours upright. Indeed has a lot of life left from the initial observation. Red fruits and spicy cedar on the nose. A bit of bite on the first taste. Not overly sweet at all. The sweetness is in harmony with the fruit, alcohol and tannins. I will try to buy vintage port going forward! Superb red berry finish! 2/15: 2pm: Alcohol still bites but the cedar and red fruits have enhanced and more of the classic port aromas come through 2/15: 9pm Had with dessert. The group loved it as most it was their first vintage port. You can tell the pedigree by the composition. Rich, complex, still very youthful. Overall assessment: DO NOT touch this for at least 10 years! It was delicious but still very tight and not as generous as I would have hoped.