I'm new to this group and still relatively new to wine (just been
'serious' for a few years now)but last night I had the chance to taste
a 150 year old port at an annual Chirstmas party for a wine club I'm a
member of.

Thought I would share, since it's not everyday 150 year old Ports can
be tasted.
Here is their write-up of it, with my tasting note following.

This...Port was "discovered" about 25 years ago, still in barrel in a
family owned estate, Quinta da Salgueira, in the upper reaches of the
Douro river, where all the great ports originate. It had been in
barrel since it was made in 1853. Finally, Cristiano Van Zeller (whose
family owned Quinta do Noval until 1993) went back and persuaded the
owners to sell the remaining barrel. This was then bottled (in 2001)
by Dirk van der Niepoort. Under Portuguese law, this cannot
'officially' be labelled Port as it hasn't been in a controlled
warehouse (since 1974), so it has been bottled as "Reserve King Pedro
V" whose reign as King of Portugal began in 1853. But this is a
genuine pre-phylloxera wine – from one of the largest pre-phylloxera
vintages (which is presumably why it wasn't bottled - there was a glut
of wine back then).

Deep almond/brown colour. Very rich, concentrated and full. Rich
spices, oak and surprisingly good acidity. Loads of plum, fig,
caramel, and quite sweet (7ish?) without being cloying. Amazingly long
finish. Fantastic. Remarkable.

Peter Muto



Somebody else's tasting note that was included in the write-up.

The tasting note is "Exquisitely deep luminescent mahogany colour. The
nose is deep and full, with ambrosial scents of walnuts, figs, crème
brulée and tar. Powerful and intensely concentrated on the palate with
superb thickness weight and length. Very sweet owing to years of
evaporation in cask. Perfect balance. A marvel, not only for its great
age, but its all-enveloping richness."