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The 2 bottles we've had were fine, still a bit closed if anything and looking like they would mature quite well.

If it wasn't for the offer of the Niepoort....

Alan

Just had a letter from The Wine Society saying their supplier is withdrawing Qunta do Vale Dona Maria 1997 due to "excessive levels of acidity" in some bottles. They will be replacing said bottles with Niepoort 2000. This seems a remarkably generous offer, given that they were purchased ab...

Half bottles of Croft 2004 unfiltered LBV

Tesco's have half bottles of Croft 2004 unfiltered LBV for £4.09 in store (ie. not from Tesco Wine). It would be rude not to!

As posted elsewhere:

8 x Odisseia Special Reserve Ruby

Couldn't bring myself to risk a whole case of the unknown, so 4 x Fonseca Bin 27 to fill the case!

Tasting notes to follow...

Thanks for that guys, I think i'll risk a case, seems appropriate as my status is "Cheap Ruby" now...

Anyone tried this?

Virgin have it for £12.99, so I'm thinking it might make a good alternative to Fonseca Bin 27 as a normal drinking port...

Alan

Immediately on decanting, very smooth, soft even, lots of red fruits, very lively. Very pale tawny colour, looks older than it is. D+5 hours, still fresh and lively, probably not quite as good as when first opened D+1 day, no significant change, maybe slightly harsher on the finish D+2 days, still s...

Have we not strayed into the realms of meaningless drivel?

Not if he becomes "Duke of Clarence"

I've yet to find a constructive use for those little pottery bin tags though.

I've been displaying them on the dining room wall, next to the shelf of vintage Madeira. Any you want to get rid of, Tom, will happily find a place there!

Alan

The value is in the box, not the port, as it is a beautiful piece of furniture in its own right.

If anyone wants to buy this as a piece of furniture, I would be happy to empty it out for them for a nominal fee....

Nice, but expensive...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

Bit of a strange one.... (This is about Port, so bear with me) I'm very keen on Vintage Madeira and we visit the island virtually every year. The advice about storing Madeira seems to change every year (this year the advice was that once open drink it within 6 months, instead of keeping indefinitely...

Was that Cockburn or Croft '70?

Er, yes it was Croft 1970, I knew it began with C!

Just going to check it's Krohn and not Kopke.....

I'm erring on the side of the Cockburns '70. The 2007 as a comparison may well just swing it. The Ramos Pinto 1985, I think, must have come from the Wine Society. As I've got 4 left it must have been half a case, I don't remember what happened to the other 2! I do wish I'd started taking tasting not...

Half a dozen Quinta de la Rosa 2003 LBV bottled 2007 37.5cl (handy snack size!) £8.95 very morish in a brief taste before buying.

Because of the differences in production it's very difficult to draw a direct comparison with port, a vintage Madeira is almost a LBV and a Colheita is almost VP if you go by the time in barrel. Virtually the opposite to actuality. I probably didn't explain that very well, my apologies. What I mean...

Colheitas are few and far between in the UK, the term apparently was only applied to Madeira in 2004. There seems to be a blurring of the definition with the Single Harvest wines, which can be younger than the strict definition of a Colheita. The problem, I think, stems from the Madeira wine industr...

Could I ask you, though, if there are any Madeiras you would recommend which are somewhat between the non-vintage/5-year-old and the vintage Madeiras? I was wondering what the Madeira equivalent of a 20 year-old tawny or SQVP? I would say the closest would be Blandys Single Harvest, (probably close...

The main problem is one of availability in the UK. I always keep a decanter of Broadbents 5 year old Reserve (BBR) as an everyday drinking Madeira. Failing that, bog standard Duke of Clarence can be relied upon. D'Oliveras are probably the best value of the Vintage Madeiras, their 1966 Vedelho was p...

Do you have a real name that we can address you by?

Alan's the real name.

My personal choice would be the Croft 1970 or the Warre 1985.

That was pretty much what I was moving toward. I was thinking the Croft still had some life in it yet, but the Warre's had peaked. Any thoughts?

Thanks

Hello Chaps,

Just joined, having lurked for a while!

Bit of a dilemma over what to serve after Christmas dinner this year, currently at the top of the cellar list are

1970 Croft
1985 Warre's
1985 Ramos Pinto
1987 Fonseca Guimarens
1995 Krohn

What would be best drunk, or kept?