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| I have no notes, although some houses shipped a few pipes. | |||
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| I have no notes, although some houses shipped a few pipes. | |||
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| I have only tasted Noval 1941, and in 1985 it was already completely over the hill. | |||
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| Few people ever took the 1942 seriously, but many were still very good to drink in early 1990. I have tasted six 1942s and four were very good to oustanding. They do not have the huge concentration of the 1945s but are more in the style of the 1947s - soft, delicate and delicious. The 1942 Sandeman, Graham and Niepport are all outstanding. | |||
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| Apparently Barros, Guimaraens and Sandeman, among othors, shipped some vintage Port in this year, though 1943 never had a good reputation. | |||
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| I have never tasted a 1944, although I have seen bottles of Dow in Britain. | |||
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| The Douro Valley made magnificent wines in 1945, as did most other vineyard areas in Europe. Shippers spoke of the vintage as a small one, but many houses produced average-size declarations. The aftermath of World War II created difficulties for the vintage. Many shippers had little money to buy wine; one such house, Cockburn, did not declare the 1945. An added burden was created by import restrictions in Britain, which forced houses to bottle in Portugal. Thus, shippers had to bear the costly investment of holding their stocks. All that aside, the wines were superb. Nearly all the 1945s are packed to the brim with concentrated sweet fruit flavours and firm tannins. In late 1989, 1 tasted eight 1945s and was speechless before so many great wines. The best wines of the vintage are Croft, Niepoort, Taylor and Sandeman. | |||
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| I recently discovered bottles of 1946 Sandeman in a London auction but have never tasted a wine from this vintage. | |||
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| The 1947s have always been described as light and delicate. Many British wine merchants in the early 1950s said that the 1947s would not last - they were very wrong. 1 tasted four 1947s in late 1989, and they were drinking beautifully. They were pretty, with the elegance and exquisite craftsmanship of a fine antique Swiss watch. There was no indication of declining quality in their evolution. The 1947 Cockburn underlines the quality of the vintage, showing delicious,round cassis flavours and fine, silky tannins. These are truly fine vintage Ports. | |||
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| There has always been a debate over which vintage is better, 1948 or 1947. I have always favoured the 1948s. They are massively proportioned wines with layers of ripe berry flavours and iron backbones. These wines are easily on their way to ageing 100 years or more. I have tasted only three wines from the vintage: Fonseca, Taylor and Graham. But they scored 100, 99 and 98, respectively. They were all magical. Their concentration of ripe fruit was due to an extremely hot growing season, leaving the grapes bulging with natural sugars when picked. It was so hot during the harvest that some producers had problems controlling their fermentations. Those who managed, however, made stunning wines. | |||
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| This vintage has no reputation, and I have never tasted a 1949. Warre shipped a few pipes to British customers in need of vintage Port after World War II.. | |||
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