ThePortForum.com

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).

W63. Brown, 30% opaque. Nose rather like rotted meat. Taste of simple sugars, and something dirty, perhaps bacterial. Well over the hill.

Funky nose - brown/red and quite pale in colour. Dry on the palate and lacking fruit. A flawed bottle.

Strange that DRT and JDAW disliked this one - my note simply reads: 'Sound, good typical Warre' - and rated it as one of the winners of the flight.

brownish, but very clear red color; nice brown sugery smell; good port, a bit thin mid palate; good complexity but not great; nice sweet palate and a bit passed its best.

Grants of St James. Mature red appearance, 50% opaque. Odd wet nappies on the nose, not attractive! Smooth texture, very soft and with gentle flavours. The flavour becomes full, but light and delicate. There is some lively spice before a burst of heat on the aftertaste, which leads into a mildly bitter cranberry finish of good length. Still a disappointing showing though. 82/100. Drunk 12-Oct-13. Decanted 8½ hours.