This is a rough-and-tough wine for laying away. Deep, dark purple-ruby, with an intense, ripe raisin and mint nose, full-bodied, with raisin flavors, full tannins and a long finish.

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A controversial wine in some circles, I’ve always enjoyed the ’83 although I have never considered it in the top tier of the vintage. Plum and black cherry in profile with a mocha note. Smooth and drinking pretty well today, it is slightly simple without much going on in the middle and a modest length to the finish. I came back to this later in the evening and it had put on some weight and filled in around the mid-section. Initially it just needed more time in the decanter.

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Fonseca is one of the great port lodges, producing the most exotic and most complex port. If Fonseca lacks the sheer weight and power of a Taylor, Dow or Warre, or the opulent sweetness and intensity of a Graham, it excels in its magnificently complex, intense bouquet of plummy, cedary, spicy fruit and long, broad, expansive flavors. With its lush, seductive character, one might call it the Pomerol of Vintage ports. When it is young, it often loses out in blind tastings to the heavier, weightier, more tannic wines, but I always find myself upgrading my opinion of Fonseca after it has had 7-10 years of age. The 1983 is magnificently scented, full-bodied, creamy, rather forward, but showing great length and character.

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