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An odd bottle from a job lot - appearance is compatible with good cellaring. Decanted 5.30pm - very pale with fine gritty sediment. First sip - bland, inoffensive. 3 hours on - pale golden red colour in the glass; light, slightly smokey bouquet. Light on the palate, but little fire. Unexceptional, b...

For a bit of fun, I thought that for my next little jaunt I might leave the car at home and put my faith in the railways (and Ryanair) Does anyone have any idea how often the trains run up the Douro valley, and how long the journey takes? The only Portuguese train times site I can find does not ackn...

Do we have a back-up bottle of Dow 1980 anywhere

Can supply ex. stock

Tom

could the hollowness have been a bottle-specific imperfection While there is often some variance between bottles, I did not suspect a duff bottle here. It filled out a little after my last observation, and was noticeably better at 32 hours. However, at 48 hours the finish was getting very coarse. Tom

Fred,

As I wrap up this decanter, I have to observe that this wine is not in the same class as, say, a Graham '91

But rather than argue the point, this is the perfect subject for a blind offline - let me know when you're next in this part of the world..

..and choose your weapons!

Tom

24 hours on and I have to report that I'm not hugely impressed by this one. It is far too young, and being somewhat tannin-averse, that does make me mark it down from the point of view of immediate gratification. But there is also something 'not quite right' here - the wine is extremely dark in appe...

Six hours on.. This is a brooding wine by any standards, and very young - I feel I'm being told off for opening it too soon. I have the feeling that it's only half way to mature, if that - 2020 might be way too soon.. However, despite great long term potential, it does not show well for the here and...

especially as it cost me just a little more than nothing

I wonder why..

Tom

Of all the vintages commented on last year, none seems to have had quite as bad a press as 1992 - I don't think I saw a single rave review of a wine from that year. I only opened one '92 at home last year - a Vesuvio - and was far from impressed. Despite that, the wines carry a premium in the market...

I have almost exactly the same quantity of table wine as Derek, but have 2166 bottles of port (all bar 105 bottles are VP)

So if Derek's an obsessive, I must be certifiable..

Anyway, there will only be 2165 bottles later, so a small step towards sanity..

Tom

Did you remember the corks?

Tom

Julian said:

might observe that 2000 was in the nineteenth century

Actually it was in the 20th - we are now in the 21st..

Tom

Bottled for the French market in 2004. Bottle is of unrackable shape, with gold finish... :? Wine is surprisingly tannic - quite a tooth grinder. Quite raw with a heavy toffee note. Will probably be much nicer after another ten years in glass. I have two more bottles - I may decant them into regular...

Why have I been missing this thread? - dunno..

Anyway, I have plenty of the '55, and would be happy to attend, complete with bottle!

Tom

..and sometimes you don't! But this is one of the happier stories. A mixed auction lot, typical of house clearance, with a few interesting bottles, and several that were patently rubbish - cupboard clearance.. Included in the listing of this lot were two bottles described as simply 'Chateauneuf-du-p...

There goes the 2008 theory! Rain in April is not a death sentence. The winter rain was close to average, and probably a little short of the ideal, so a soaking now should be beneficial, setting the ground water levels up for the season. However, having rained most days this month (so far) there is ...

and just before a flight to the Douro

But not before the best part of two decanters of port, a crawl of three local pubs and..

..did Derek tell you he overslept on my sofa and missed his flight?

Tom

Please post a picture of the bottle.

I was afraid you'd ask that..

I lack the technology at the moment, but I'll see what I can do.

Tom

PS: Thanks for the Borges '63!

A really handsome bottling by Avery, complete with the name BRISTOL embossed on the glass, gold foil capsule and wholly intact label. Had an 'end of an era' feel about it - I'm preserving the bottle. Contents were less impressive however - a good example of a 'tertiary' wine, with the evident decay ...

Fresh out of Derek's car on Friday, so not stood up at all before decanting. Despite that, the wine was decanted with only a modest haze. I don't think I've ever tackled a '68 before - none that I can recall, anyway. Writers such as Broadbent and Mayson are pretty dismissive of the vintage, so I've ...

An Oporto bottling, unusually, in green glass. Although a little lighter than some wines of this age, this bottle proved to be perfectly mature. Best after about 24 hours, and noticeably tired when Derek helped me finish the decanter two days later. Classic Vargellas - a really enjoyable wine Probab...

Ok we're live on stage - well at least semi vertical.. Tracy 'n' me have just had a reasonably good steak, but we needed to test drive three pubs first, and then there was the little matter of clearing one bottle and a decanter before we set out, not to mention test driving two we had set aside for ...

350$ ... bottle's top shoulder supposedly purchased from christie's auction 15 years prior and stored in his wine fridge. You could buy a similar bottle retail from Peter Wylie and get it Fedexed to you for about $300 including delivery. Alternatively, ask me nicely next time you're in the UK - I'v...

Cockburn 1955

For a sound bottle with level at base of neck or better,

At UK auction - £90 Incl. BP

UK retail - £130 + VAT

How much is the guy on WS asking?

Tom

The age related theory has crossed my mind, but I have seen both young and old wines with flakes, and very old wines with gritty sediment, so the notion that sediment evolves with age is not very credible..

Tom