Tasting a 1963 Dow's Vintage Port

Every so often I have a bottle in the cellar that I  hold off on opening, waiting for that extra special occasion worthy of  such a prized wine. I don’t want to open it just for myself and time marches on. One such bottle was a 1963 Dow’s Vintage Port. My sister had given me the bottle as a reminder of a trip to Portugal in 2016 that we had taken. 

This Christmas we were all getting together for a family dinner, I decided this was the moment to try it. I made a point of not looking up ratings and tastings of the wine so that I could taste it with an open mind. I stood the bottle upright for 5 days before carefully packing it up and bringing it dinner. I brought along my funnel and strainer along with a carafe to decant into. 

​Following dinner I went to work on the bottle and found it had a significant  layer of crud on top of the foil. Leakage? I had to chip that away before I could get the corkscrew going. When I started easing the worm into the cork I could feel how soft the cork was. Not a good sign. I went in as deep as I could and started bringing up the cork. It was two thirds of the way out when it broke. I started in on what was left but it just crumbled. The remaining cork fell into the wine. I set up strainer and funnel and started pouring very slowly. The color was surprising, very pale gold. As the rest went in it darkened up to a sort of murky brown. No chunks of sediment, just some sludge. 

I expected it to be undrinkable but was pleasantly surprised that it did not smell funky or spoiled. It smelled of walnuts and toffee. If I didn’t know what it was I would have said it was a very old tawny. 

Happy that it smelled fine it was time to taste. It was very good! Again, walnuts and toffee, a touch of sweetness with a fairly thick texture. It was a pleasure to drink. Floating in it were specks of brown/orange bits that were so small and fine that they were not noticeable when tasted. We all agreed that it deserved another pour. We also felt that it had survived well for such an old wine with a cork that was wet and crumbled. 
 
 
I wanted to pour it back in the original bottle but there was a solid ring of sediment around the punt. We tried to get a pic of it but it did not show up well. I transferred it to another empty bottle, capped it and brought it home. I have now taken a taste every night since Christmas eve and it has held up. The wine tastes just like it did the first night. There is one more pour and I will have it tomorrow, New Year’s Eve. That’s when I will resolve not to wait for a grand occasion to open something special. Having a friend or relative over is special enough.