ThePortForum.com

A horizontal of 1994 and a G83 were tasted at Bordeaux Index, 10 Hatton Garden EC1N 8AH on Tuesday 4^th March 2014, in the presence of Richard Mayson, as arranged by Michael Schuster of MichaelSchusterWine.com.

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 1994 Quinta do Crasto (#1);
• 1994 Smith Woodhouse (#2);
• 1994 Gould Campbell (#3);
• 1994 Ramos Pinto (#4);
• 1994 Martinez Quinta da Eira Velha (#5);
• 1994 Martinez (#6);
• 1994 Niepoort (#7);
• 1994 Quinta do Noval (#8);
• 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio (#9);
• 1994 Dow (#10);
• 1994 Warre (#11);
• 1994 Graham (#12);
• 1994 Fonseca (#13);
• 1994 Taylor (#14);
• 1983 Graham;
• Arrangements on MichaelSchusterWine.com;
• Arrangements on ThePortForum.com.

G94. Purple-red, 80% opaque. Good well-made Port, sweet, but simpler than G94 should be. Graham should have been able to compete with the best of this company (DTFW), but this bottle didn’t.

85% opacity, lovely dark deep red, a rim with golden shadows, great legs. Nose, roasting coffee then plum. In the mouth, very nice. Compact. Starts full with rich plum, caramel, stays full, nice exit. Great balance, nice structure and long finish.

Wow, we had different Ports. maybe I had (another!) dodgy glass.

jdaw1 wrote:Wow, we had different Ports

That's exactly what I was thinking when I read your note! Let's see what others come up with...I am but a mere novice at this right now, and I think this was the last glass I tasted in the sequence...

Re the glasses I also had a couple in v poor state of repair...dried suds abound.

Excellent, but ready now. Graham '94 should not be ready now.

***

(I think JDAW and I are not disagreeing)

24 hour decant. 85%, ruby with a very slight brown-orange tone. Nose very fruity, with a note of medicinal spice and something old and brown - old library; slightly warm and musty. In the mouth rather straight, austere without being excessively so, with a backbone and bitterness. Drier than I expected. Very different to the G94 that was at the BBR Port Walk last November...

Dark brick red in colour with an opaque centre and a medium width transparent rim. A developed nose of ripe cooked red fruit, sweet and with a lovely sweet-spice component. Balanced entry, with the fruit showing at first before powerful tannins give an impressive control. The fruit reasserts on the late palate with a lively nutmeg-infused fruit. There is a lovely elegance to the fruit on the aftertaste that just lasts for so long. A stunningly good combination of fruit, complexity and structure wrapped in a smooth elegance. 95/100 and my wine of the night. 20 hour decant.