Search found 3518 matches

by uncle tom
16:00 Thu 15 Dec 2022
Forum: Organising Tastings and Get-togethers
Topic: Thu 15 December 2022 - The Port Forum's 15th Xmas Tasting
Replies: 82
Views: 21410

Re: Thu 15 December 2022 - The Port Forum's 15th Xmas Tasting

Would you like me to also bring a rack of 24 glasses?
We've probably got enough, but the odd casualty dwindles their number, if you could pack them for now, I'll check when I go over to get ready in an hour's time.
by uncle tom
14:50 Wed 14 Dec 2022
Forum: Organising Tastings and Get-togethers
Topic: Thu 15 December 2022 - The Port Forum's 15th Xmas Tasting
Replies: 82
Views: 21410

Re: Thu 15 December 2022 - The Port Forum's 15th Xmas Tasting

Tasting notes and other sheets about to be printed…
Excellent - will you bring tongs?
by uncle tom
17:43 Sun 11 Dec 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Anyone collecting from Strakers?
Replies: 1
Views: 756

Re: Anyone collecting from Strakers?

On the subject of collecting - I put a very keen bid in on one lot at Keys in Norfolk, and threw in a couple of shot to nothing bids as well. The long shots came home but not the one I was after.. - I will probably trundle up there on Wednesday to collect, and will have a lot of spare space in the c...
by uncle tom
16:48 Sun 11 Dec 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Pointless Statistics
Replies: 251
Views: 191721

Re: Pointless Statistics

The centenarian bottle I am pulling for the Xmas bash next week will reduce the average of the VP in my cellar by 3 days, 20hrs and 20 minutes..
by uncle tom
15:22 Fri 09 Dec 2022
Forum: Organising Tastings and Get-togethers
Topic: Thu 15 December 2022 - The Port Forum's 15th Xmas Tasting
Replies: 82
Views: 21410

Re: Thu 15 December 2022 - The Port Forum's 15th Xmas Tasting

@ Tom - if it's not an imposition pease could I start with just a green salad? I didn't do sufficient justice to my massive fillet steak last year. Could you possibly bring your own, or ask the Indian restaurant just down the road? We don't stock salad ingredients in the pub and I don't do rabbit f...
by uncle tom
17:31 Thu 08 Dec 2022
Forum: Organising Tastings and Get-togethers
Topic: Thu 15 December 2022 - The Port Forum's 15th Xmas Tasting
Replies: 82
Views: 21410

Re: Thu 15 December 2022 - The Port Forum's 15th Xmas Tasting

I will start getting the usual food order together tomorrow unless anyone has an issue:

Smoked salmon
14oz fillet steak + chips
Vanilla ice cream and gravy
Stollen slices
A selection of British cheeses + biscuits
by uncle tom
10:59 Sun 04 Dec 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Morphets auction
Replies: 7
Views: 1459

Re: Morphets auction

It's an old school auction house mostly selling local stuff to local people - always been friendly when I've dealt with them.
by uncle tom
23:31 Fri 11 Nov 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Filtration
Replies: 27
Views: 8823

Re: Filtration

In normal mechanical filtration, ever smaller gaps leave ever smaller particles free to pass through. However, the particles that form fine hazes are too small to be mechanically screened, so in wine making, fining agents, that serve to agglomerate fine particles are used. However, there is a third ...
by uncle tom
07:23 Fri 21 Oct 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Trafalgar day 2022
Replies: 0
Views: 1586

Trafalgar day 2022

Trafalgar day 2022 My initial assessment of the 2020 port vintage, its inclusion in my rolling evaluation of the sixty most recent vintages, and my updated full vintage rankings. This year we say goodbye to the 1960 vintage, a vintage that was quite widely declared, yet was overshadowed in its earl...
by uncle tom
09:00 Thu 13 Oct 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: 2020 Declarations
Replies: 74
Views: 33753

Re: 2020 Declarations

Isn't €44 significantly lower than release prices from a decade ago? And isn't that what you've been trying to encourage? For an SQ VP? I don't know about the US market, but a decade ago Dow Bomfim '99 cost me £19/bottle - less than $30/US at the exchange rate then. Look at the release prices of th...
by uncle tom
23:40 Wed 12 Oct 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: 2020 Declarations
Replies: 74
Views: 33753

Re: 2020 Declarations

Garrafeira Nacional now offers Dow's Quinta do Bomfim VP '20 for €44.00 Every time you feel the release price is getting somewhere close to the aftermarket price, the release price goes into another orbit. I have a really bad feeling about this. It's necessary for VP to be both seen and drunk by th...
by uncle tom
17:37 Tue 11 Oct 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: The 1980s & quality
Replies: 33
Views: 22248

Re: The 1980s & quality

the too rarely seen Ni80 and the RP82 (which I think is better than the 83)
Two producers who rather neglected the UK market at that time.

I have a nice stash of Niepoort 80 and it certainly drinks very well, but can't ever recall seeing the Ramos Pinto '82 offered.
by uncle tom
16:05 Tue 11 Oct 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: The 1980s & quality
Replies: 33
Views: 22248

Re: The 1980s & quality

Are there kits or tools available to re-seal bottles without using a cork? Some sort of appropriate shrink-wrap plastic followed by a healthy waxing would probably do it, provided the plastic in question was a type that wouldn't itself affect the Port. Re-corking with a cork, even one thought to be...
by uncle tom
17:11 Mon 10 Oct 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: The 1980s & quality
Replies: 33
Views: 22248

Re: The 1980s & quality

I'd be interested know how you proved that cork taint can come and go in a wine, and how you came to that conclusion? It started with a casual observation that I'd never had a corked '55. This turned into a trawl of tasting notes which revealed that reports of corked port bottles stopped appearing ...
by uncle tom
17:53 Thu 06 Oct 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: The 1980s & quality
Replies: 33
Views: 22248

Re: The 1980s & quality

Cockburn: 1983 is fabulous... provided it isn't corked. Which, sadly, is far too rare. As it approaches its 40th year, any cork taint should soon vanish as the cork itself becomes saturated. I have proven that TCA is not stable in the body of a wine (at least, a fortified wine) - only in the cork. ...
by uncle tom
12:42 Mon 03 Oct 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Selo no more - well, not quite..
Replies: 10
Views: 1379

Re: Selo no more - well, not quite..

I wonder if that Sandeman ’67 bottle is atypically light? I grabbed it because it happened to be handy - it may have been a little lighter than most bottles of that era. I’ve noticed very few have a deep punt any more which must save a lot of weight. As a rule, Portuguese bottles have a punt with a...
by uncle tom
08:00 Mon 03 Oct 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Selo no more - well, not quite..
Replies: 10
Views: 1379

Re: Selo no more - well, not quite..

I've somewhat sidetracked my own thread here - if anyone wants to discuss glass weights further, a thread split may be needed.
by uncle tom
15:34 Sun 02 Oct 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Selo no more - well, not quite..
Replies: 10
Views: 1379

Re: Selo no more - well, not quite..

The weight of this bottle intrigued me. I recall, a decade ago, a producer fearing that the green agenda would force them to use ultra lightweight bottles going forward. Seems that memo got 'filed'.. Here are some dry bottle weights, weighed just now: El cheapo Pinot Grigio bottle from my pub - 340g...
by uncle tom
12:25 Sun 02 Oct 2022
Forum: Organising Tastings and Get-togethers
Topic: 83@40 2023 - May 25th
Replies: 115
Views: 89254

Re: 83@40 2023 - Date TBA

CPR 1 wrote: 21:06 Sat 01 Oct 2022
uncle tom wrote: 17:56 Sat 01 Oct 2022 Does anyone have the Niepoort '83 VP?
Yes - Happy to bring this, it has been excellent on past occasions
Good - will put you down for that one.
by uncle tom
17:56 Sat 01 Oct 2022
Forum: Organising Tastings and Get-togethers
Topic: 83@40 2023 - May 25th
Replies: 115
Views: 89254

Re: 83@40 2023 - Date TBA

Does anyone have the Niepoort '83 VP?
by uncle tom
09:29 Fri 30 Sep 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Selo no more - well, not quite..
Replies: 10
Views: 1379

Selo no more - well, not quite..

Got a bit thirsty whilst walking the east coast of Anglesey this past week. I packed an SFE 2009 LBV - bit closed, no big star - for late night refreshment, but needed another bottle. So off to the local Spar convenience store. Therein I found a Cockburn 2015 LBV at £14.99. Yet another Cockburn bott...
by uncle tom
19:32 Thu 29 Sep 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Taylor's Very Very Old Port
Replies: 19
Views: 2377

Re: Taylor's Very Very Old Port

I would surmise that these are being primarily crated up for the nouveau riche in China, who usually have a sweet tooth but also tend to be tannin averse. And if they can command a great price, then the very best of luck to them. However as a UK investment prospect, I would advise no - the secondary...
by uncle tom
06:23 Thu 29 Sep 2022
Forum: Organising Tastings and Get-togethers
Topic: 83@40 2023 - May 25th
Replies: 115
Views: 89254

Re: 83@40 2023 - Date TBA

mosesbotbol wrote: 18:17 Wed 28 Sep 2022 Off hand I have Ramos Pinto and Ferreira '83
Eighteen bottles makes a good quorum for a horizontal.

Re. pitches for a date, I'm minded to avoid bank holiday weeks and school holidays as some people have other demands on their time.

- Any days of week preferred?
by uncle tom
12:30 Sun 25 Sep 2022
Forum: Organising Tastings and Get-togethers
Topic: 83@40 2023 - May 25th
Replies: 115
Views: 89254

83@40 2023 - May 25th

A while since I last hosted a London event, so I thought I'd take charge of this one. Date: Thursday, May 25th Theme: The 1983 vintage at 40, a horizontal Location: Boot & Flogger - booking now confirmed I have 16 different '83s available (with other people's wines also noted): Berry Brothers Ow...
by uncle tom
18:23 Sat 24 Sep 2022
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Vintage 2022
Replies: 40
Views: 7510

Re: Vintage 2022

Interesting report on the vintage - likening it to '48 is a bit of a tease - I wonder if there will be a limited number of very good VPs made? Which, curiously, also happened in 1922..