ThePortForum.com

I know that some people are attracted to presentation packagings, but is it really necessary for wines like Vesuvio to be entirely packed in those fancy (and doubtless very expensive) boxes? Yes, it is absolutely essential that Vesuvio should be packed in the fancy and expensive boxes. (a) they are...

Axel,

Apologies for any inconvenience caused, but I'm not going to be able to make this offline on May 14th. I'll give my place up to someone else who is able to attend.

jdaw1 wrote:Alas I was unable to take a tasting note of this port.

It was no hardship to miss out on this unfortunately TCA contaminated bottle

Very impressive and still years from it's peak. 94/199. Cool scoring system. A moderately irritating feature of the iPhone's otherwise excellent spell check on entry capabilities is that it insists on adding an apostrophe between it and s regardless of the context. I can only apologise for having m...

Thanks for the explanation. Now I realise that only those wines allocated an abbreviation are vintage ports. The penny has dropped.

JGH added to the list

Light red in colour, with a very slight hint of green on the rim. Mandarin peel all over the nose, redolent of a middle-aged Sauterne. Sweet and mouthcoating flavours on entry. Initally Sauterne-like but with so many layers of flavour developing on the tongue - very sweet oranges everywhere. A long ...

Golden colour, a rich brown with an orange rim. Barley sugar nose, straw and a hint of pear drops. Surprisingly dry in the mouth, very tertiary and evolved, with little fruit but lots of nut flavours and that lovely bitter-sweet barley sugar. Quite a delicious tawny and very drinkable. The aftertast...

Bottled 1973. Fusty nose, perhaps some bottle stink, underneath which was some atractive molasses and some unattractive black treacle. Smooth entry, sweet and pleasant but then some bitter tones come through that spoil the mouthfeel, but these resolve themselves to yield a balanced and pleasant mout...

Bottled 1972. Slightly cloudy chestnut colour. Musty nose of rubber bands kept in a drawer for too long. A sweet entry that is followed by the odd rubber-band tone that is quite unpleasant although others enjoyed this wine far more than I did. The aftertaste is reasonably pleasant but drops off very...

Bottled 1947. Cloudy and a very dark chestnut brown, holding strongly into the rim. A subdued nose with some medicinal notes and some molasses, but strangely hollow. Thick entry into the mouth, sweet but with balancing acidity following in the mid-palate. Plenty of fruit and complexity. Good afterta...

Bottling date not known. IVDP sello reference number CF682137. Light chestnut colour, holding right into the rim. A slight menthol tone on the nose with a fresh apple-iness and mint from the spirit. Searing acidity in the mouth but with some lovely toffee tones, biscuits and brazil nuts. Great initi...

Something that has puzzled me for a while, is the occasional apparent inconsistency in the layout of the tasting note index. By way of illustration, consider: 1863 Ferreira - there are two tasting notes and these both show as separate sub-titles under the 1863 title 1890 unknown - there are two tast...

Doesn't stop me from being right and the ref from being yet another example of horribly biased decision making intent on following his own agenda and interpretation of the rules rather than there to help the flow of the game. There were 12 other people sitting round the table and they know the truth...

1975 Offley Boa Vista vintage port From a bottle which showed signs of slight seepage and a cork that was failing slightly; fill level was good. Decanted off a surprising amount of thick and heavy set sediment. Very pale in colour, a light orange - almost the colour of old-fashioned barley sugar. B...

Chris

To help the process which sorts out the tasting notes into the indices, could you edit the title of this TN to read "1963 Offley" please.

Thanks,

Alex

Giles Wigoder will be added to the list of attendees shortly

Sainsbury are currently discounting various champagne marques, maximum of 6 bottles per transaction. Currently on offer at £15 per bottle are Lanson Black Label, Piper Heidsieck, Heisieck Monopole Blue Top, Sainsbury BOB (Duval Leroy). Sainsbury BOB vintage 2003 is down to £14. Buy 6+ and get a furt...

I tasted this 48 hours after Axel gave me the sample. I'm not sure when it was opened - perhaps 24 hours before I was given the sample?

PS. I love the phrase "lusty acidity". I shall try and use that in the future!

From a sample kindly provided by Axel Probst. Inky purple in colour, opaque and sticking to the sides of the glass. Very fragrant and floral nose, full of ripe blueberries but swirling brings a slightly unpleasant streak of petrol. Strong and firm tannins hold a grip on the cheeks and teeth. Good le...

Young, opaque and with a vivid purple rim. Blackcurrants spring out of the glass. Aggressive acidic / tannic entry, with the powerful tannins dominating the fruit. The aftertaste is tannic and grippy - there is fruit in the aftertaste, but the tannins are all powerful. Interesting and potentially ve...

A trial blend. A glass staining and opaque purple colour. Paul Symongton described the nose as "blue violets" and explained it was a very desirable scent, which predicted a lovely cinnamon tone in the future of the wine. Blueberries and floral perfumes dominated the nose. The texture in th...

Very dark, deep red and absolutely opaque. Still showing blueberries all over the nose, with hints of other things. Fresh violets mixed in with dry blackcurrant skins dominate the initial impressions before the tannins grab hold; delicious fat fruit dominating over a lovely acidity. Sweet blueberry ...

Rich and attractive red colour with an easily transparent centre. The nose developed a perfumed strawberry sweetness over the course of the evening. Sweet and smooth entry with a lovely balance in the mouth before the tannins took hold. Full bodied and complex in the mouth. Warm, sweet and attractiv...

Clear centre, but a well pigmented mature looking wine and lighter than the '66 shown alongside. A dusty nose that opened up as it sat in the glass and was at its best 3-4 hours after the tasting started when it was soft, full of cinnamon and a fabulous fruitcake. Assertive entry, dense and concentr...