A Christmas gift from a good friend - I decided to open it on a weekend where I had absolutely zero plans, so I could enjoy it over several hours/nights.
The cork was a bit of a problem. I eventually only got about 80% of it out. Luckily the wife reminded me of the fine mesh tea infuser I have in the cabinet. So the infuser basket went into the opening of the decanter & captured everything, allowing me to decant about 98% of the wine.
I poured some right off the bat to check for any obvious problems. It revealed a deep ruby color with a pinkish rim, with perhaps a little touch of orange. No hint of TCA or oxidation on the nose, and an overall mature fruit (dried cherry, raisin, some crushed berry) and somewhat alcoholic aroma set. A quick sip was dried cherry and alcohol (as I would have expected). The rest was left to sit in the decanter until after dinner (I had decanted at about 4:00 PM on Saturday).
About the time that the first football game was ending (7:30 ish?) I poured a small glass. Still a bit hot on the nose, but not to the same level as on opening. Now there is some spice that joins in with the fruit, as well as some iron and hard candy. Tasting the wine there is still a distinct alcoholic burn that mars the finish, so I put it aside for a while longer. Going back to it about 9:00 PM the fruit is still deepening on the nose, but not on the palate. I covered the decanter and put it in the cellar for the night.
Sunday the Eagles are ending the Giants' season (yay!), so a small afternoon glass of Port is called for at about 3:30. Well now the raisin and spice has come to the front on the nose, and finally the wine has filled out and deepened enough on the palate that it does not burn. It's still not particularly rich in flavor or texture, but it's much more balanced and thus drinkable.
Back again at about 8:00 PM on Sunday, now a full 28 hours after the wine was initially opened, and I think we have hit a steady state. It's pretty much the same as it was during the afternoon, and that's ok. It's certainly drinkable in a pleasing way, but never has become anything special. I'm not enough of an expert to predict the future, but I see little upside, but just a need for substantial decanting in order to allow the wine to come together.