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B7: An inky dense sweetly fruity nose. Quite a distinctively sweetly fruited lighter style. Balanced and attractive. Hints of liquorice over black fruit. More like a sweet wine than a port in some ways, but delicious in its way.

B8: A lighter style with a spiciness to the nose, Somewhat aggressive on palate-acids and tannins bite possibly somewhat unbalanced but we shall see given time.

B9: Dusty note on nose; plenty of fruit… This was to be my last tasting note of the night and I didn’t exactly finish it! I recall it had the expected fruit than the corked bottle at a previous tasting (clearly) missed. Would be wrong to rate it but certainly nothing wrong with it or I would have wr...

C1: Attractively herby with slightly greener fruit-rhubarb? Similar palate. This has lovely complexity aligned to dense, rich fruit. Supple tannins, great balance and length. Fantastic, distinctive port. (Dow)

C2: A more spirity nose with subtle fruit. Quite a powerful yet positively assertive palate. Grippy, tannic structure. Very ‘correct’, traditional style. Is this Taylors? (I suspect I noticed the distinctive bottle top )

C3: Lovely violet top note. Slightly high toned with a dusty note to the dense fruit. Beautifully pure and powerful black fruits on the palate. Perfect balancing acids and tannins completely unobtrusive. Fantastic. (Taylor VV. This was a better showing than a previous tasting, relative to the straig...

C4: Open, concentrated fruit on nose with a slight spirity edge. Dense fruit and yet seems a lighter style. Nice balance, structure not obvious and could be an attractive earlier term prospect.

C5: Dense, powerful sweet fruit on nose. Palate powerful with intense sweet fruit and supple structure. Red and black fruits wrapped up within a sweet core. VG+

C6: A lightly prickly high toned nose yet maintains a darker fruit profile. A lovely fruit perfume runs through the palate. Bright. Great acid cut and very drinkable today-indeed difficult to spit. The structure is lighter, or extremely well hidden. Quite delicious – but what does its future hold..i...

C7: Another lovely fruit driven nose. Perfumed and delicious fruit driven palate. Sweet and balanced. Hardly any grip or tannic structure in evidence and delicious already. What for the future?

C8: A densely concentrated fruit with notes of dust and spirit. A good balance of dense fruit with power and acidity balanced with grippy tannins just noticeable on the finish. Concentrated yet balanced for the long term. Excellent.

C9: A somewhat muted nose with attractive hints of red and black fruits. Doesn’t show the concentration or depth to mark out as great but beautiful balance and mid weight. Could be deceptive of course if closed.

D10: Slightly high toned red currant fruit. Palate fresh red fruit driven. Hints of spicy heat and supporting acids through to gently warming finish. Solid port, but lacks the suppleness/immediacy of others in comparison.

D1: Slightly closed, spirity nose; simple fruit on palate in lighter style but shows more spirit too. Even somewhat LBV like in style with fruit not as expansive as the majority today. (Croft)

D2: Another slightly spirity edge to the nose, with red and black fruits with the vintage’s citrus edge. Palate more expansive with good mid-weight fruit and balance. Some warmth evident on clean finish which its good acid cut. Good solid port here. (Croft da Roeda Serikos)

D3: A dense fruit driven nose but still somewhat reserved brooding nature. A solid fruit density matched to clean balanced structure. Good persistence with a clean fruity perfumed finish. Quite Taylors like with its tightly coiled yet perfumed fruit profile but certainly not the power. (Vesuvio)

D4: A slightly orangey note to the herby mixed fruit nose. A very intense concentrated palate entry. Citrus notes throughout. A deliciousness makes it difficult to split. Perfect balance with great cut and plenty of ripe tannin. Great length. Superb. My pick of the tasting. (Prior to being revealed ...

D5: Very attractive red fruit driven nose, mainly cranberry. Powerful entry. Bright acids. Little tannin in evidence but certainly present. This is a very attractive earlier drinking style on the red fruit spectrum. Lovely, slightly warming finish.

D6: A dense, reserved, slight spicy fruity nose. Slight prickle of VA. A bright floral deliciousness to the sweetly red fruited palate. Balanced with good freshness through its good acidic cut. Another where spitting was not the preferred option!

D7: An attractive spicy fruity, liquorice tinged red and black fruits. Surprisingly complex and open. Palate matches nose almost exactly with a slightly dryer finish. Excellent early term prospect.

D8: Slightly high toned spirity nose. Redcurrant fruit. Similar notes on palate. Bright, lighter fruit. Decent balance but more spirit than fruit showing today. Classic in its way but not expected from a ‘17.

D9: A very direct fruit driven nose. Perfumed red and black fruits. Some earthy undertones. Really good concentrated fruit-both red and black. Perfectly balanced with great acids. Excellent.

D11. A nicely integrated spicy fruity nose. Quite grippy tannins and acid cut. Concentration is there but clamped down a little. Long tannic, drying finish. Needs some more time to show how it comes together as promising nose isn't quite followed by the palate.

Thanks echoed for organisation and supply of ports. With 40+ notes to type up it is likely to be the weekend for me. I have finally placed my first orders for 17 and heavily into to Dow, Grahams and Capela that I thought showed superbly (and were available!). There were plenty more and clearly a vin...

Lightest of the flight. A pinched nose, almost like lead pencil, nutty and quite tertiary. Dried fruits and a burnt raison finish. This bottle at least is past its best.