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To celebrate the Quinquagenary of AHB, he arranged a horizontal of 1963s in Wokingham at The Cantley House Hotel (evenings of Friday 11^th and Saturday 12^th October 2013) and The Walter Arms (lunch on Saturday 12^th), and two evening Champagne tastings for our better halves. Sadly the venue was not able to accommodate all he would have liked to have invited. Diaries had been blocked since early 2012, and bottles had been gathered for most of a decade before that. A splendid weekend indeed.

Partial links:
• Review of the event as a whole, which starts with a full set of links;
• Placemats (and parameters by which constructed).

Some links:
• Review which includes links to the Champagnes; Placemats and their Parameters;
• Fri evening 1963s: VS QH GC Ck G | Kh Pç Mg Av F | RV Rs S Dl Cn;
• Sat aftern’n 1963s: Sb RVi RCV Ad RO | Dm BBR T Cr Ni | Mk Fd O Mz;
• Sat evening 1963s: MC W D N NN | A B&I Df PS Cv | GB Cá CáF B Fr;
• Others: 1863 Burmester, 1977 Warre (tappitt hen), Martinez Crusted bottled 1973, 1966 Château Batailley (magnum).

Ck63. Dark red, 50% opaque. Nose had burnt sugar and spearmint. Taste starts with big sugary sweetness, and a hint of dark fruit. Some heat, and mid weight. Good port. Later though it had started to fall apart, showing a less charming sourness.

Good bright colour. Medium weight. Elegant, with some complexity and a nice soft and long finish.

I was alone in voting for this wine, which I thought was the second best of the flight. How can thirteen people be so wrong?

Quite a nice wine, dusty on the nose. A wine that seems to be sliding gently to oblivion.

1963 Cockburn Vintage Port
A medium dark cola color. Sweet oranges and soft berries on the nose. The palate is semi sweet, tobacco leaf, spices showed late then prominent, still supple, bordering on dried berries at the moment. Just starting to get to a plateau.
91 Points

light, tawnyish, ruby red; a bit one dimensional in the nose; good red cherry fruit, fresh, good length, but not long finsh; good compexity; a really good port

Medium red in colour, 60% opaque. Slight harshness on the nose but nicely sweet on the palate even if not showing much fruit. Actually quite bland on the mid-palate, even if inoffensive. Air does bring out more coffee, but not a lot else. Some heat, some sweetness and gentle charcoal. 88/100. Drunk 11-Oct-13. Decanted 5½hours.