1880 Millenium Port

Donated by Tim Littler who used to run Whitwhams. Cristiano van Zeller (ex Quinta do Noval) discovered this 1880 port in 1999 at a winery in Regua that was closing following the death of the owner. Cristiano was interested in acquiring stone lagares (foot-treading tanks) for his new winery but they also asked if he was interested in any old stock. Most was uninteresting but at the rear of the winery were three 20,000-litre casks, two empty but one containing 10,000 litres of 1880 port, 10,000 litres having evaporated during the intervening 119 years. The intention was to bottle the wine as 100 years old (for the millennium) but that was not possible. According to the Port Wine Institute it could only be called 'over 40 years', so the name 'Millennium Port' was chosen and the wording, agreed with the PWI, on the back label. The wine was bottled in 2002 by Niepoort after adding 5% of their 1945 vintage. Dark blackish green colour. Rancio-issimo! Very pungent and concentrated. More of a curiosity than a pleasure. Great story! (JR)