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Chris G bought this from the Crusting Pipe's cellars as his contribution. Al-B knew what it was so Stevie and I went out to guess it. Quickly came to the conclusion that it was either Taylor's or Dow's due to the dryness at the back of the palate. I put a guess on 1985 Quinta da Vargellas as I knew they had it there. Stevie went for Dow 1983, which I disagreed with as I'd had it recently and this was much better. The youthfulness blew it for both of us.

We'd had this two years ago at Berry Brothers and Rudd, it was excellent then, it is excellent now.

My TN from the BBR offline, August 2005:

Very youthful color still. I hardly find any fruit on the nose, mostly tar. Taste is much more pronounced: peppery and spicy, with figs and other jammy fruit. Quite powerful and straightforward as Dow's tend to be. Lovely long finish with coffee and chocolate.

From the BBR off-line:

Really nice colour, obviously aged but still dark - best looking Port on show. Typical Dow being drier than most with a strong coffee finish (Thanks Lady Roots). My number 2 for the night.

Last week, we drank the second bottle of a duo we bought for the above mentioned BBR offline. This bottle was equally good. Prime drinking now, but there's no need to hurry as it will go a long way. What a wonderful port. Neither LadyR nor I made any notes, but we agreed it was around 95-96 points. We also agreed we need more.