10 to 40 YEAR OLD WINE - Tasting Time in Wine

[@duarteadorey]

Hi Konstatin Really nice video about the ports I’m a big fan, specially the one from kopke! Answering to your question about the cap, there are two main reasons for not using a traditional cork: 1- Tawny ports are not meant to age for long, they do not evolve in the bottle so there is no reason for keep them for long after bottling 2- after opened they last for some time (4 to 6 months) so is usual for people in Portugal to open a bottle and drink it for long, a cup or two once in a while. Hope this helps with your question Stay thirsty!

[@dtonpbac]

I've been catching up on a bunch of your older videos, and it's clear that the audio production quality has improved over the years. Thanks as always for your awesome channel and videos!

[@andreasb.769]

Thanks for sharing this, it is always a pleasure. (Btw: if I am not mistaken, the oldest Port wine house in Portugal is Croft.) Also, each Port wine house fashions a different sensorial style: i.e. Quinta do Noval is across the various Tawny ranges a bit sweeter than the equivalent years in the Graham's range. Although this is oversimplifying, but to give a very rough idea: Kopke is on the sweeter side of the sensorial spectrum;-while Van Zeller is sweeter than Quinta do Vale Meão if one were to compare their 10 year Tawny bottles. However Van Zeller is drier than the "fruitiness" of Quinta do Vale Meão in a 10 year old Tawny. Hope this helps or makes sense, if not ... "the proof is in the pudding". Cheers!

[@martinsimon2538]

Tasted quite a few Kopke Tawny ports usually in 375ml Opened a 1953 Coheita last summer still hanging on after 70 years Their white ports are very interesting as well

[@Jeroenbdesign]

YESSSS!!!!!!! This is what we asked and he delivered! Hope to see this concept with other big/easily obtainable port brands + maybe madeira, muscat or Sauternes? :D

[@stroopwafel6141]

Thanks for this black glass tasting Konstantin. Love it! It's pure coïncidence I got a 10 year old Kopke last week and I concur with your opinion. Compared to other 10 years old tawny's like from Graham's it is quite fruity in fact. I think it takes a bit of tasting experience to really appreciate those very old, often very delicate tawny ports.

[@baggrabb]

This is more awesome than usual, Konstantin! Loved it. I’ve just started drinking port, this was very informative. Thank you! 🙏 ❤

[@sew505]

thank you so much for this Konstantin. I love all your videos but especially your port ones. I had an '88 Graham's Malvedos port for my bday a few months ago and really got some beautiful raisin and leather notes. keep the port videos coming :)

[@silasrobertshaw8122]

Came back to this by chance. I got a chance to taste a Sandeman's 50 at an indistry tasting. Just divine.

[@frederickheard2022]

Wearing black. Drinking port from black bottles in black glasses. It’s wine tasting J. P. Sartre style! 😂

[@J-DUB-F1]

I've never had Kopke, but tasting older ports can be really interesting and surprising. I recently got to taste a 63 Krohn port, and it was still fresh as a daisy!. It was definitely on the lighter side, almost delicate.

[@rickwezenaar]

Port ! My favorite 'night cap' drink, and my favorite producer !!!! Yay ! Thanks for a very interesting video ! One of my other favorite producers is Dow's port wine :)

[@howie8582]

Isn’t a stoppered wine meant to be ready when bottled whereas a wine with a cork is meant to age in the bottle. I have found that wines that age the longest in the bottle, eg vintage port, amorone, clarets etc have the longest corks.

[@guitar911rock]

yes. its already been exposed to air

[@rupertarabia]

Right, tawny is aged in barrel not bottle.

[@Ildskalli]

Very nice, and the conclusion follows the 'conventional wisdom' on tawny port. 10YO tawny is nice, but made to a lower standard, while 20YO is the optimal buy-in point. Older wines just don't bring much more to the table in relation to the price increase.

[@robdielemans9189]

I'll buy a 20 year old cause what you're saying makes a lot of sense.

[@marknelson8724]

I agree that as the price climbs, I am less interested. I like tawny port, I like 10 year old, but I stop at 20 year old. However, if you opened something, I am willing to give it a try. Got to keep an open mind.

[@silasrobertshaw8122]

I will get a 30 or 40 by the glass when I can, but bottles is is almost always a 20. My first 40 was at Sandemans when I made the trip down to Porto after biking the Camino.

[@PolyDave]

Can't go wrong with Kopke. Their Fine White Port is delicious too! Great value, consistency and an accessable variety of vintages.

[@martygt3357]

Mr. K B Vintage port has a traditional cork and you cellar it at home for 20 to 50 years. When you open it, do so with friends and finish the bottle. These Tawnys are aged by the house on the label and they age them for you in wood. They are ready to drink when you buy them and the cork is short and is replaceable because most people drink a glass after dinner over two weeks time or two months. However long your will power holds to skip days and enjoy it's sweet goodness. Tawny will not improve in glass like it improves in wood. Same with Maderia. Look at the color of the wine at 8:00 minutes of your video. I think you tasted correctly!! From a color standpoint, the 30 and 20 should be just as you tasted them. There is a little creative license on Tawny port as many vintages are in each barrel / bottle. Some good years and some medium years. Here in the U.S. Tawny's get called caramel as a descriptor because we have eaten such candy. skoll

[@kekemausi02]

at kopke in villa novo do gaia one can also do a colheita vintage tasting, going from 2009 all the way back to 1967, huge recommendation

[@solomonmengeu1003]

I generally enjoyed aged wines with tertiary notes more than youthful wines with only primary fruit. That being said certain wine styles or regions are meant to be drunk younger and there is little point in over aging them. Port is an underappreciated category, one of my most memorable wine experiences was drinking a 40 year old Tawny at my WSET L2 course some 10 years ago. Awesome stuff and truly unforgettable. Great video, Danke Konstantin!

[@nikifo13]

Awesome channel and highly appreciated videos, both fun to watch and helpful. An idea for a future video would be a suggestion of typical, characteristic single varietal wines, for people that wish to discover the different grape varieties themselves and shape their preferences. Ideally one video for red, including pure Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Tempranillo etc. The same could also work for white of course. This way the consumer could form an impression more or less of the different tastes, without neglecting of course the impact of vintage, region, old vs new world etc. Cheers!

[@robdielemans9189]

I do both. I enjoy young wines and I always have some bottles for aging, mainly Riesling GG. But recently bought a case of Taurasi from 2012 and it is still too young to enjoy fully so I'll be waiting for the other 5 bottles to mature.

[@elfblood9127]

Great video! The first port wine I ever had was with a friend back in my youth out of a bottle in a brown paper bag that we shared on the street in front of his house one night for a buzz. I don't remember what kind it was but it must have been cheap. It didn't matter. I really liked it and kept drinking it over the years. I usually still drink cheaper port but sometimes treat myself to a higher end bottle to remind myself just how good it can really be. I also love cooking with it. I'm not a great cook but I have had some amazing results cooking meats and vegetables with it. Thanks again for the vid. Always look forward to your watching your content.

[@Koby616]

Madeira is amazing wine. I like port too. Great blind tasting. 😊

[@ramboyadas]

Tawnies...love them. I'm more of a Ruby (LBV or Vintage) guy, but 20y for me is the right choice in terms of price & taste. But if my wallet permitted, 40y all day! 🙂 Cheers.

[@ClementGreen]

Nice - I love a bottle of port. Had a thirty-year old tawny recently, and it most delicious, even if a little bitter. Don't know if it was just that particular port, or whether it's usual. Must press on with my investigations.

[@georgeliapis47]

Another great video Konstantin, thank you! Here in Portugal I’ve had the pleasure of tasting quite a variety of tawny ports, but never in a blind tasting setting like you did (always wanted to, I’m jealous!). From my experience, I do prefer the more aged ones due to their distinctive raisin, fig, nutty and subtle hidden aromas (from tobacco and oak, to chocolate, caramel, ginger, coffee and even Oudh notes), but I’m 100% with you when it comes to their differences; I’ll either choose a 10yo for finishing off a nice meal, or go for straight for the 40yo if I want something special. I can feel little differences between 20yo and 30yo, and even in terms of value for money I believe the 10yo and 40yo are performing better. And by the way, I love KOPKE and their packaging (wooden boxes even for the 10yo) and their unique branding. If you ever visit Lisbon, I’d advise not to miss the local garrafeiras, you’ll find aged ports and Madeiras from the 1800s!

[@kadenmccarthy2473]

I've been waiting for this type of video for ages!

[@forbidden_content]

i have bottle of kopke coleita 1978 for some time sitll didnt find excuse of reason to open it

[@bernardmenten2979]

Hi Konstantin, I'm a fan of your channel for a while. I've a technical question about your tastings... When you taste your wines in the various tastings in your cellar, do you taste them at cellar temperature (I guess 12* Celsius) or do you vary the temperature depending of the type of wines (white, red, sweet, ...). Looking forward to your answer. Greetings from Belgium. Bernard

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

It depends usually I taste them at 14-16 degrees C. That’s the temperature of my cellar

[@mr.funnyguy4162]

Hey Konstantin not going by what wine magazines and news. What kind of wine do you see taking off and selling big in 2024? And also what region of the world do you see taking off and selling big in 2024 is it Napa Valley or Sonoma County for your opinion not going by wine magazines and or news or what experts in wine magazines and news says?

[@MakingaStink]

Would love you to explore Portuguese wines on the channel, some of my favorites and what a value! I think reds from Alentejo are my favorites. Also question: the age on the bottle you say is an average. It is a weighted average based on volume? Or just a simple average (part 90 year, part 10 year=50 year)?

[@davidmontoya7899]

I love Porto wines. And more the 40 years old Porto’s. Konstantine, can you show us your cellar in other video? Thank you!

[@SeasideDusk]

I recommend the quinta do portal tawnys as well. They are among the best ports from Portugal 🤗

[@pereugenkristiansen6324]

Love Port also blends, PErsonally I typically prefere the 20 or 30 year over the forthy year old ones. I enjoy the Development of carmel, Brown sugar and what I did not hear you say any thing about the orange flavours. When it somes to preferences for wine I mostly drink young wines, but love to see haow some wine develops… Yes I do age wine and typically drink about 20 or 30 aged wines in a year.

[@jonaseberth9027]

Hey Konstantin, thanks for the great video! One thing: stoping the fermentation isn´t the only reason for adding alcohol, is it? I mean, the more alcohol the wine`s got, the longer it´s gonna be storable, right? Together with the amount of sugar of course.

[@megajointen]

Hey Konstantin Thanks for your Nice videos, i would say it should be like whisky age is the most young wine in the blend. Best regards. Thomas (Denmark)

[@ericifune5543]

The tee type stoppers are more designed for wines not to age in the bottle. That said, I think Kopke is one producer who's wood aged Ports can improve in the bottle. I've had Madeira bottled with these stoppers that had been in bottle for 50-80 years. They will hold up, but it is disconcerting to open a bottle with an 80 year old stopper! It would have been nice to include a Kopke 50 year old, but I guess the budget wouldn't allow for it. I do love the Kopke 40 year old. One of my favorites. I mainly buy the 20 and 40.

[@angusmcmillan8981]

Well timed vid as last night we had an old wine evening. Three Vouvrays from Huet: 2017 (sec), 1969 (demi-sec), 1964 (moelleux) and two Bourgueils 1989 and 1969). All three Vourays alive and kicking, indeed seem immortal with a lovely complexity in the older ones alongside enduring freshness and acid kick. The Bourgueils remarkably alike given twenty years apart, both dumb on popping corks and came to life magnificently after a couple of hours in decanter.

[@ongcheonghock]

Opened a 1994 Ch. Latour at our New Year's Eve dinner. Was initially disappointed with the lack of fruit. I realised that we have been so spoilt with the ready fruitiness of the last two decades of Bordeaux that I did not appreciate the traditional style of claret. After overcoming my initial misgivings, I enjoyed the balance and the dryness of the style. The length was moderate but expected for the vintage. I did open a bottle of the 1996 Ornelaia at my birthday celebration in June and it was absolutely awesome, just rich, balanced and with an incredible length!

[@joaopedrogomes4055]

In Port Wines, only vintages or Late bottle vintages, both classified as Ruby, evolve in the bottle. Harvests only with an age indication are left with a cork stopper. In Tawny wines, as they are wines that have already reached a certain age, they will not evolve much in the bottle.hug from Douro Valley 👊

[@jeremydavis4372]

Do a review on the seppelt 100 year old para liqueur and let us know if you have ever had a better wine! ❤

[@stpd1957]

I really enjoyed the video, thank you.

[@68Boca]

Interesting , It should also be said that a blended wine such as the Kopke you tasted , really won't improve with age once its bottled. Not much use in cellaring them.

[@sherriyu8737]

Years ago when I learned about port, in regards to thee 10-40 years old bottles, it was mentioned the used in the blend equal to or exceed the number used for the label. With my last visit to the region and if you Google info on this topic, the answer is the master blender would blend the wines to “mimic” what the wine would tastes like with the age indicated, now that sounds like a lot of marketing and production spin to me. I am hearing is they are definitely not using as much old wines as before to get the “mimicked” result. I am not surprised that are coming out with the 50 years old label, price between each level more or less double or triple the one before, why not out a 50 and at least getting double or triple the price if all they have to do is to “mimic”.

[@miguelinanutshell369]

My question of the day is: why didn't you score the 4 wines? It would be very interesting as i find our palettes tend to align very often. Thanks! Other than that the video was top notch as usual 👌 cheers!

[@VektrumSimulacrum]

I had a 20 year old Merlot that had me rethinking my preference for younger wine. I think I got lucky with the bottle but it was 👌

[@alastairgreen6783]

I like their colheitas, and have 14 vintages.

[@Elektero]

how the barrel lose water and concentrate the wine? ethanol evaoprates at faster rates than water, it is the opposite

[@joeydecarlo2532]

Which one do you think is the sweet spot of quality and price? Sounds like maybe the 20yr?

[@sixbone]

I've been to Portugal twice, primarily for port wine tastings. Tawny wines are typically not meant to be aged at all. That's why they have stoppers not full corks. They will not change much at all if held onto for any length of time. They are meant to be enjoyed after opening. The younger tawnies will last a couple weeks after opening and the 30/40 up to a month or more.

[@georgigeorgiev-ei4or]

Very true.

[@kylecmurphy]

Wow, twice to Portugal, you must be an expert.

[@TheHarryb]

I like nothing better than an old tawny. And yes, you can taste the difference between an old one and a young one.

[@dtonpbac]

I'll never understand these people who think they're more knowledgeable than experts, especially those at the Master of Wine caliber. It's like trying to show off your limited knowledge of physics in front of Nobel Prize-winning physicists.

[@blurds]

​@@dtonpbacI think you misread, the person in question has been to Portugal TWICE.

[@tomasz-kt9op]

I would like to know when you should wait and when you should drink wines when there are young. Are there some common rules?

[@csillagzoltan660]

As was told in the video, generally the steel tank fermented, light, floral wines are supposed to be consumed young (1-2 years after the harvest). It's especially true for light rosés, however you can experiment with older ones, it's kinda fun. As for the reds, there are lighter, not so structured ones (sometimes also produced in steel tanks) that are more for an everyday consumption at a young age. Here in Hungary these are typically the "volume" varietals of a given region, e.g. Portugieser, Blaufrankisch... The more complex varietal or cuvée wines are best for aging, but it also depends on the chemical composition of the given vintage, as acids tend to collapse during the years, wrecking the structure of the wine. In ideal cases the aging potential is also stated on the label, or in the description of the wine on the producer's website.

[@mathieuTME]

Hey Konstantin, I recommend you use edits to tell us the wines you taste in blind tastings throughout the video, instead of waiting for the end. This would allow us to engage more with the content (get insights right away, benefit from the details of your description instead of your recaps, etc.) Thanks for the great vids, see you in the next one. Mat (he/him)

[@Rudy0stefmeister]

I love aged wine, but not too much. I like grippy tannins so I don't want to age too much, for a lot of wines 10-20 years is my optimum, obviously fortifieds will need more.

[@stevenholt4936]

I find a massive difference in quality between 10 yo and 40 yo. Not sure about the other two. Aldi sells a 40 yo each Christmas made by Fletcher's and it is superb.

[@simonfernandez3621]

Is it worthy to age non vintage ports on the cellar?

[@pizzaRune]

In short... No

[@martygt3357]

Correct, but two or three bottles will make interesting conversation in 30 years. But they will not be improved in flavor. Do not do it with a case.@@pizzaRune

[@nickyes783]

Another fun video - you definitely chose the wrong coloured top to wear though! 😂 The ‘average age’ statement feels pretty ripe for exploitation. Is it just used on Tawny ports? I presume vintage port for example does all have to have been grown in the year of the vintage on the bottle and they can’t just say it has the average characteristics of a port from that year.

[@piffpaff1482]

Der Keller ist der Hit💪

[@RalphWendlandt]

I like young wines very much, but mature wines have more complexity and great aromas. In addition to Bordeaux and Burgundy, I find mature champagnes (e.g. 1964 Dom Perignon, 1995 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millenaires), old Barolo from Giacomo Borgogno (e.g. 1931 Barolo Riserva) and old white Rioja (e.g. old Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Blanco) sensational.

[@welshtoro3256]

The SWA in Scottish whisky might have some issues but the concept of the minimum age that they use is great. The lowest whisky age on the age statement must be the youngest age of any ingredient. Rum, Port and all the others might talk about average age but that means there's a load of young stuff in the beverage. 30 year old port which includes most of younger port is allowed to get away with it. Even the concept of average age doesn't mean the average age in the bottle. Just the average age of the age statements involved.

[@robertlucic7598]

It is easier when you wear a white shirt. Hard for us to see the difference. I guess I am not surprised at your conclusion since Port is fortified. It would be interesting to see this experiment with a cab or merlot.

[@gabrielmoratto9702]

Maybe do one comparing the 40 YO with a Vintage Port with 40 Yo

[@invinegod]

You would NOT believe what I thought that opening sentence was

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

What did you think I said?

[@murphythemullet]

Interesting that they use an average age. Generally with whiskey the age statement is the youngest whiskey in there, and other spirits or wines may have different rules.. .

[@guitar911rock]

the wine in these ports has already been aged, they will not age further. they have already been exposed to air

[@ernestadamo4634]

Looks like a Cantillon carafe

[@peteT269]

I stopped after your first taste "there's not a huge difference". That immediately makes the whole aging thing of these wines largely redundant. In general, wine aging is the thing I hate most about wine. I really resent that if I buy an expensive bottle of wine today I'm "meant" to wait maybe 10-20 years before it's at it's best. I find that just so annoying, and a significant barrier to my wine education. Also, it's not just impatience, it's practicalities. How can I ensure, as a normal person, that I can properly age that wine without messing it up? I don't have a beautiful, temperature and humidity-controlled wine cellar, and I don't intend to invest huge amounts in a quality wine fridge. Is it Peter, the master of wine from the Wine King channel that says "drink the shit"? I.e., just drink it, don't wait.

[@peterburlin8198]

Jeez you’re getting all worked up but why? If you don’t wanna buy a 150€ bottle of wine and then wait twenty years before opening that’s just fine, you don’t have to. Just drink and be merry 🍷

[@JohnAmidon-c6r]

👍👍

[@spyrosandreopoulos5922]

The older I get myself, the more I like my wines younger :D

[@TheOriginal_BigMac]

If only a 40 year old wine drinker got lighter

[@QualeQualeson]

This mantra about most wine being made for immediate consumption surely follows a market that's somewhat different than the one the demographic typically watching a wine channel represents? I just wish someone in your position would recognize as much and spit out a slightly different perspective in an effort to create some nuance, if there's any nuance to be found. I'm a wine noob. But simply by diving into the field to the best of my ability, and without specifically going for it, the vast majority of the wines I procure have a presumed drinking window of say 5-12 years from now. These are not super expensive wines, but certainly more expensive than mass market wines. Some might improve, but probably very few will lessen. And maybe that's considered immediate consumption I don't know, but it doesn't sounds like it to me.

[@askme-b6r]

Hi Konstantin. Good informative video as usual, but you completely missed the point. There was another video where you also tried Port and did the exact same mistake: wrong glasses!!! You're not meant to use normal red wine glasses with Port wine!! Please redo the test with Port wine glasses and you will see how different the outcome is! Also, try a "Colheita" from Kopke that is from 2014, 2004, 1994 and 1984 ( for the 10, 20, 30 and 40 years).

[@vaporizer1000]

Porto it is not a wine😂

[@vaporizer1000]

So as my opinion aging of wine it is а process that takes place at the expense of yeast. And when producer increase alcohol volume in wine yeast can`t live normal live anymore so aging like this is very different compare to normal dry wines. And products like this i regular wines. It is can be stored much more long time without big and noticable changes. Proces of maturing wine became from live and this porto is not like very lively wine.

[@thomasmichael6509]

Porto is fortified wine. Fortified wine is a type of wine, as the name indicates…

[@numanuma20]

Why didn’t you compare this to a wine aged in bottle? Weird video.

[@thomasmichael6509]

Are you drunk?

[@Ruirspirul]

sir, thats a clickbait, those are ports😅

[@ruaridhbakke1118]

If only they had another name to categorise Port. Maybe “Fortified wine”… That has a nice ring to it!

[@Ildskalli]

Port IS wine. It's a style of fortified wine, but it's made with wine grapes and aged like other red wines.

[@nickh9791]

Port is wine 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@thomasmichael6509]

Port is fortified wine, which as the name suggests, is a type of wine… holy moly