1980 Fonseca Vintage Port
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Tasting notes
Very pale tawny – paler than many of the wines from 1970 and 1966! Delicate floral, tea leaf, orange peel, dried cherry and cinnamon. Juicy acidity, just as noted on both Dow and Graham 1980s, with delicate, elegant red fruit. Not the longest, but carries a graceful style. (TJ)
Critic scores
Wine Spectator
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
Slightly muddy ruby with a pale rim. A bit spirity on the nose. Round and treacly and then a hot finish. Not that long. Slightly sugary. (JR)
Quite deep red. Animal, sweet and spirity. A certain lusciousness on the front palate but no follow through – already a bit spirity. Grainy and just slightly coarse. (JR)
Fonseca is one of the great port lodges, producing the most exotic and most complex port. If Fonseca lacks the sheer weight and power of a Taylor, Dow or Warre, or the opulent sweetness and intensity of a Graham, it excels in its magnificently complex, intense bouquet of plummy, cedary, spicy fruit and long, broad, expansive flavors. With its lush, seductive character, one might call it the Pomerol of Vintage ports. When it is young, it often loses out in blind tastings to the heavier, weightier, more tannic wines, but I always find myself upgrading my opinion of Fonseca after it has had 7-10 years of age. The 1980 is very good, possibly excellent, but tasted lighter than some of the best ports from that vintage.