The other night we opened and decanted a bottle of Yalumba Kingston Town Vintage 'Port' 1980 - for which I paid about $8 at auction a few years back.
The wine is a blend of Barossa Valley cabernet sauvignon and shiraz.
The cork was in good condition and so was the wine. Clear, red to russet-hued with an edge of onion skin colour. The nose was rich with hints of liquorice and raisins but nowhere near as spirity as real VP. Smooth as velvet on the palate it showed sweetness and flavours of Christmas fruitcake with no oakiness or evidence of oxidation. If I'd been asked to taste this blind I'd have guessed it was about half its actual age.
Yalumba's Thoroughbred vintage 'port' releases enjoyed celebrity status for a short while in the early 1980s. At one stage, bottles were selling in the after market for around $100 each. Then collectors got over it and prices plummeted.
Cheers!
Martin