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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).

Fr63. 30% opaque. Burnt sugar, again like many of these ’63s. Taste similar, with acridity mid-palate.

By the end of the weekend my notes had become rather concise.

Good wine, but like so many 'Portuguese style' VPs from this vintage, the sweetness has become over-prominant.

Awful nose. Very acidic, lacking fruit and a short finish.

orange ruby red color; sweet nose, subdue fruit; lightish finish; good port; really sweet but good; a bit alcoholic finish.

Brick red, pale centre; 40% opaque. A touch of alcohol and antiseptic on the nose, smelling of a typical old Ferreira. Satin texture with modest fruit that has dried out and allows the tannins to dominate over the sugar water. A horrible aftertaste. A shame this bottle is so poor when others from the same parcel have shown so much better in the past. 83/100. Drunk 12-Oct-13. Decanted 11½ hours.