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At Wolfgang’s excellent instigation, we gathered in the Bung Hole to quality-assure a batch of Taylor 1985.

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 1985 Taylor:
  • T85 (α alpha);
  • T85 (β beta);
  • T85 (γ gamma);
  • T85 (δ delta);
  • T85 (ε epsilon);
  • T85 (ζ zeta);
• 1994 Tesco;
• Placemats (and parameters by which constructed);
• Planning and arrangements.

T85 (ζ zeta): decanted 1pm, cork pushed slightly by Wolfgang, and then extracted whole. At D+0 some cheese on the nose, and by 7pm this thought faulty by me: bacterial acidity. I just didn’t like ζ.

One of 6 bottles from the same case of Taylor 1985 consumed at the same tasting to investigate how much bottle variation could be found in bottles that had good and identical provenance. The bottles were of very similar appearance in the glass, looking to be brick red and in the early stages of maturity and 60% opaque, with only Bottle 2 being slightly more brown than the others.

Bottle 6: Attractive nose, but probably the least developed of the six bottles. Strong lemon juice dominates. Nice texture, sweet but balanced, on the palate. Full of charcoal tannins and the typical strawberry fruit. Not as complex as some of the other bottles but nice port that comes with a generous aftertaste and finish. 85/100.