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I’ve arrived in Porto for the Climate Change and Leadership Conference: Solutions for the Wine Industry<\/a>. I’m on the speaker panel, but rather than me talk about ideas, I’m here to moderate a session on winery design, with the actual content being delivered by people who have potential solutions for the industry. As Adrian Bridge said at the speakers’ dinner tonight, ‘we need to focus on solutions: we don’t have the time or need to endlessly debate what we see happening around us every day.’ He’s right.<\/p>\n But this post is about an old wine. Indeed, one older than me. Beatriz Machado, the impressive wine director of The Yeatman<\/a>, where I am staying, sent a glass of this to my room, which is a very welcome and cool gesture. So here is a real-time tasting note.<\/p>\n Croft Vintage Port 1966 Douro, Portugal
\n<\/b>This is why we cellar Vintage Port. This wine, at 52 and a bit years old, is utterly harmonious, mellow and elegant. It has complex notes of nuts, wax, cherries and dried herbs, with some lovely warmth and smoothness. There’s a spacious quality to the palate: there’s not too much going on – all the flavours are working together, and there’s a nice tension, too. It still has fruit, but the structure has melted into harmony. Age has improved this wine, but it doesn’t feel old. 96\/100<\/p>\n