ABV: 20.5%
Size: 75cl
Closure Type: Cork
Country: Portugal
Wine Style: Rich and Powerful
Grape: Port Variety Blend
Description
Fonseca's 1985 Vintage Port is a remarkable wine that continues to impress, earning 96 points from Decanter. Richard Mayson notes its tight-knit, dense profile with minty freshness and a core of pure berry fruit. At 30 years old, it offers an exquisite peacock’s tail finish, promising longevity and a real ‘wow’ factor. The Wine Advocate follows with 93 points, highlighting its youthful appearance and complex nose of kirsch, sloes, and Christmas cake, alongside emerging notes of dried figs. Neal Martin appreciates its medium-bodied elegance and balanced palate, featuring dates and dried figs. Jancis Robinson scores it 17.5 points, describing its more brooding, savoury character, suggesting it is entering a closed phase, yet possesses freshness and fine tannins for long aging potential.
*****
DECANTER 96 points
Tasted by: Richard Mayson
Part of Fonseca Port: Six of the best
Drinking Window: 2015 - 2050
A troublesome vintage for many shippers, but Fonseca 1985 never fails to impress tight-knit, dense and minty with a core of concentration and pure berry fruit. Succulent, wonderfully fresh and vibrant at 30 years old. Peacock’s tail of a finish. A real ‘wow’ of a wine that promises to last a lifetime.
THE WINE ADVOCATE 93 Points
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Drink Date: 2013 - 2030
The 1985 Fonseca is still youthful in appearance with hardly any ageing on the rim. The nose offers kirsch, sloes and Christmas cake. With time, there are subtle notes of dried fig and dates beginning to emerge and add to the complexity. The palate is medium-bodied and beautifully balanced on the supple, rounded entry. It is not quite as complex as the aromatics, with dates and dried fig, the finish mellow and refined. It is very elegant for a Fonseca, weighty but supremely well focused. This is a fabulous Fonseca that is ready to drink now, but will age for another 30 or 40 years.
JANCIS ROBINSON 17.5 points
Deep black, with a narrow, garnet rim. Utterly different colour profile to the 1980 and 1983 wines. Brawn, black pepper and a crushed-rock note. A brooding and savoury nose, which needs extensive coaxing to give any liqueur fruit depth at all. The palate is more expressive, with blackberry liqueur and fig depth, suggesting that the wine is just going through a closed, grumpy phase. Good freshness and fine, compact tannins, built for the long haul. (TJ)
