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Oscar visited London, so the team sampled some VPs and some stuff described as ‟brown sticky stuff”. Some were served sighted, some were blind.

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 1955 Dow (DRT);
• 1963 Quinta do Noval (JDAW);
• 1980 Warre (IDJ);
• 1982 Warre LBV (JDAW);
• 1965 Noval Crusted (AHB);
• 1952 Niepoort colheita (CMAG);
• 1968 Niepoort colheita, bottled 1979 (THRA);
• 1978 Krohn colheita (BMHR);
• 40Y Quevedo tawny (OJMQ);
• 30Y Sandeman tawny (WS);
• Placemats, and the parameters by which made;
• Planning and arrangements.

N63, brought by JDAW. Brick red, 30% opaque. Nose had spearmint, with cherry behind. To taste some heat, some soft red fruit, and slightly lighter than mid weight.

N63 is a variable bird. My alma mater, Queens’ College Cambridge, had, during the late 1980s, a stash of wonderful Noval 1963. I acquired a few bottles (less than a dozen), and drank the last in about 2003. One present at that tasting complained of ‟too much damson jam”. (Could it have been mis-labelled ‘NN’? Was it NN63 that taught me to like port? We will never know.) Other N63s have been thinner, or lighter, or too evolved, or just less good.

Bottled by Corney & Barrow. Orange rim, pale colour - clearly mature. Vibrant and fruity nose with lots of licorice. Balanced on the palate, smooth and elegant. Lovely poise and layering. Full of fruit and with a great focus that is underpinned by a spicy tobacco. Big on the finish, with a sweet jelly and long length of tobacco. Absolutely fabulous. Served blind, this was guessed to be Fonseca 1970. 95/100.