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A comparison of mature and immature Vintage Ports from two major houses:
Fonseca 1970 - JDaw1
Fonseca 1991 - g-man
Fonseca 2003 - SushiNorth
Taylor Fladgate 1970 - (?)
Taylor Fladgate QdVargellas 1991 - SushiNorth
Taylor Fladgate 2003 - (g-man?)

Attendees:
g-man
jdaw1
sushinorth

January 3rd, 2009

(orig from Latest Buy)

should be easily made. Any friday / weekend is good for me.

I'm looking at the fonseca 91 in my hands right here

the 03 taylor should be a cinch to find too

g-man wrote:should be easily made. Any friday / weekend is good for me.

I'm looking at the fonseca 91 in my hands right here

the 03 taylor should be a cinch to find too

OK, what do we want to do about the Taylor 70? perhaps we find a fourth person for this tasting who wants to bring that -- or we locate one and divide the cost amongst ourselves?

Question -- how do we want to do decanting times for the babies? The 03's will be really raw, but we could decant them 24-48 hours in advance...
half into a sealed, refrigerated bottle
half into a decanter for oxidation

SushiNorth wrote:Question -- how do we want to do decanting times for the babies? The 03's will be really raw, but we could decant them 24-48 hours in advance...
half into a sealed, refrigerated bottle
half into a decanter for oxidation

I like the split decanting. And we could split the cost of a T70.

Where? My wife is away, suggesting chez moi.

jdaw1 wrote:

SushiNorth wrote:Question -- how do we want to do decanting times for the babies? The 03's will be really raw, but we could decant them 24-48 hours in advance...
half into a sealed, refrigerated bottle
half into a decanter for oxidation

I like the split decanting. And we could split the cost of a T70.

Where? My wife is away, suggesting chez moi.

Tua casa é bom
(I'm practicing )

I will be out of town for the holidays so, regretfully, will not be able to join you. But as you seem to be planning infanticide, perhaps it is for the best.

I don't think I'll be able to make this one either, unfortunately.

Target date for this tasting: Saturday, January 3rd.
I could do the 2nd, btw, if you guys would prefer, but otherwise let's put a stake in the ground (and a glass in our hand) for the 3rd.

What do we want to do about the "Taylor" -- I have a QdVargellas from 91, do we want to match that with TF70 (to parallel the Fonseca) or perhaps try that 65 that gman saw? similarly, for 2003, i only found one "vargellas" and it was $110. Way too much, makes me suspect they didn't release the SQ that year.

We could use 1-2 more people at this tasting, btw.

OK, lots of changes. So most of the wine for this tasting overlaps with the 26th tasting (which is F70, F77, F97 or F00, F03). I chatted with g-man and we're going to switch this up. On Jan 3 we're going to do a dinner gathering with a bottle or two. nice and light, though. I'll find us a place and get back to everyone w/ a few details.

SushiNorth wrote:OK, lots of changes. So most of the wine for this tasting overlaps with the 26th tasting (which is F70, F77, F97 or F00, F03). I chatted with g-man and we're going to switch this up. On Jan 3 we're going to do a dinner gathering with a bottle or two. nice and light, though. I'll find us a place and get back to everyone w/ a few details.

question is, what bottle

After all the faffing, it seems that chez moi is available for 3rd January.

jdaw1 wrote:After all the faffing, it seems that chez moi is available for 3rd January.

Do you think the french roast near you would accommodate us?

Not sufficiently well.

I believe Sushi did mention he would either find a place or we could order in some food from the local grounds?

Or would this be a sake tasting round in which case I recommend

http://menupages.com/restaurantdetails. ... uisineid=0

it's got a great sake bar next door and the prices are pretty reasonable

Well so here's the issue. I've got a lot of sake sitting at my place, ideal for a tasting. I came down with a little cold in DC but I am hopeful that by saturday I'll be in fine enough shape. I'll try to get us a reserve at a place downtown, and will call them up today (or tomorrow if necessary) to arrange.

I must bow out, I too caught a bad cold and can't smell or taste anything.

You didn't go for the polar bear challenge i take it?
Given the vagueness of this tasting (and our primary objectives achieved on the 26th) we should just pass on Jan 3. The sake isn't going anywhere, and we have more port tastings coming up.

I did!

What about a random bring-a-bottle tasting on the 3rd?

jdaw1 wrote:I did!
What about a random bring-a-bottle tasting on the 3rd?

actually i meant the under-the-weather g-man. shoulda quoted. I figured you went

I'd prefer to skip this saturday; it'll leave me in better shape for upcoming weeks if I can kick this quickly.

OK, so, at the whisky tasting we have agreed that there is a bring-something tasting, chez moi, Saturday, 4:30pm.

Dow 1985 decanted; first draft of placemats created.

Jeff, Josh: are you coming to this mixed-bottle tasting on Saturday? We have plenty of port, though a shortage of glasses.

jdaw1 wrote:Jeff, Josh: are you coming to this mixed-bottle tasting on Saturday? We have plenty of port, though a shortage of glasses.

alas I really am suffering from a nasty cold. Cant smell nor taste anything

and since i'm leaving for my honey moon in a week, i''m going to get as much rest as i can =)

enjoy guys!

Get well, see you after the honeymoon.

Meanwhile, I have just decanted the Fonseca 1985 (what a brutal monster) and the Cálem 1994 (forgot to prime the decanter, so no decanter-priming sample).