Fonseca Vintage Port 2007 (and a tale of woe...)

Nearly black hue to the rim with the first overwhelming aroma is that of WET CAR BOARD! Buried beneath the stench is lovely super rip plum, raisin and prune. 

Palate--Ultra rich, texture with gorgeous thick sweetness, with flavors of stewed prune, raisin, unsweetened chocolate and a lingering finish.

After waiting for 14 years to open this, it was quite disappointing to get a *"corked wine" on THIS wine when I experience cork taint SO rarely! Why this wine?  Never-the-less, I forced myself to get past the ugliness and enjoy what was there. 

*Now the tale of woe: I bought this vintage port on release in 2009 for around $80 and laid it down in my temperature controlled wine fridge. "Vintage port" needs to be cellared for a long time, some up to 40 years or more.There it sat until last night for an after Thanksgiving surprise.  On opening and my first smell was the gross mildew nastiness of a damp basement with cardboard boxes that are beginning to rot. So what happened? Cork taint is what happened... It occurs when contaminated cork is inserted into a bottle. It is not "common" but neither is it "rare." Industry types assert that 15% of cork finished wines have cork taint.  That number is grossly over-stated in my 40 years of experience.  After drinking over many thousands of bottles of wine I would say cork taint is more like 2-3%. At any rate--it was enough to propel the controversial use of screw tops which commenced about 15 years ago perhaps more. 

In spite of this, in the grand scheme of things, this is a mere nuisance and I am blessed far more than I ever deserve.  Now let's head into the season of Christmas!