ACPT Port Tasting, NYC, 2/19/2010

[Glenn E.]

As many of you know, my wife does crossword puzzles. Lots of them. And she's good at it. So every year she goes to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament which is now being held at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott in NYC. I get to tag along for a couple of days of fun in NYC, which presents one of those rare opportunities for me to join the NYC tasters for a tasting.

For 2010, the tournament is Friday, February 19 through Sunday, February 21st. We'll probably be in town on Wednesday or Thursday, but I'm assuming that Friday the 19th would be the best night for a tasting.

The 2010 edition is the 33rd annual ACPT, which conveniently means that the first one was held in 1977. I detect a theme!

I realize that I'm starting this early, but I wanted to get people thinking about it and making arrangements.

Edit: DATE CHANGE from 2/26 to 2/19.

[g-man]

we have suggested themes and no takers in the ny thread =)

[Glenn E.]

Yes, but that thread is for this year isn't it?

[g-man]

Yes, but that thread is for this year isn't it?

we also in possession of a sandeman's 60s-70s tasting that can be inserted at anytime.

[Glenn E.]

Ah, well I did the math wrong anyway (if 2010 is the 33rd tournament, the first one was 32 years ago, so 1978) so any of the above would be fine.

I can't contribute to a Sandeman tasting, though, because I have none. But I could adopt, which is probably wisest for this type of trip anyway because any bottle shipped in an airliner's luggage bay would need at least a week (and probably two) to settle down again.

[g-man]

Done,

Let's set this date for teh sandeman's tasting

I believe, but will have to verify the cellar, that I have

60, 63, 66, 70, 77

[Glenn E.]

Sounds like an excellent starting point!

I'll do some research and see what, if anything, I can procure for a reasonable price. If I can find something, it will probably make the most sense to have it shipped to you in NYC so that it doesn't have to spend time in an airplane hold shortly before being opened.

[Glenn E.]

There are a lot of options for 60s and 70s Sandeman Vintage Ports, even in the US. Wine-Searcher.com lists:

Code: Select all

NV    (Avg: $18)     1940  (Avg: $175)    1962  (Avg: $420)   1979  (Avg: $186)   1999  (Avg: $44)  
1908  (Avg: $1946)   1943  (Avg: $1054)   1963  (Avg: $176)   1982  (Avg: $78)    2000  (Avg: $42)  
1927  (Avg: $636)    1945  (Avg: $1116)   1966  (Avg: $157)   1985  (Avg: $83)    2002  (Avg: $43)  
1930                 1947  (Avg: $537)    1967  (Avg: $111)   1987  (Avg: $99)    2003  (Avg: $58)  
1931  (Avg: $1425)   1950  (Avg: $335)    1968  (Avg: $135)   1989                2004  (Avg: $37)  
1934  (Avg: $474)    1957  (Avg: $358)    1970  (Avg: $116)   1994  (Avg: $64)    2007  (Avg: $22)  
1935  (Avg: $631)    1958  (Avg: $472)    1972  (Avg: $116)   1995  (Avg: $33)    
1937  (Avg: $1391)   1960  (Avg: $159)    1977  (Avg: $103)   1997  (Avg: $59)   

The hole at 1930 is a mysterious "Very Choice Old" bottle in France, and the hole at 1989 is a Sandeman 10-yr old bottled in 1989. Which is interesting in its own right, but not really appropriate for this tasting.

I would suggest the 1972 just for its rarity, but according to the website (winerz.com) "This bottle is a special order item and may take up to six weeks to ship. (most likely three weeks) Please feel free to call to confirm availability and ship date." I can check on it if you'd like. Other than that I'm open to just about anything including simply adopting one of your already present bottles.

[g-man]

72 soudns interesting,

shoot me a pm if you're going to call.
otherwise I'll give it a ring.

wha'ts the 1940?

[Glenn E.]

72 soudns interesting,

shoot me a pm if you're going to call.
otherwise I'll give it a ring.

You go ahead and call. I'd probably want to have it shipped directly to you anyway even if I bought it, so you might as well do the ordering to make things easier. I'll happily split costs for all bottles, it will just be easier that way so that I don't have to carry them on the airplane or re-ship them to you.

wha'ts the 1940?

I'm not completely sure. Vintage Wine Gifts is in London, so it's probably not something we can aquire easily for this tasting.

9.Sandeman 1940-50's £109.97

This port was bottled by Appointment to King George VI ('36-'52) and is deep and rich with nice weight and a dry liquorice finish. Drink now - 2013. A super anniversary gift. This vintage port is shipped in a deluxe silk lined hinged presentation box with four wine accessories (corkscrew, wine pourer, drip stopper & wine stopper) [worth £14.99] at no extra cost.

[g-man]

okay called and left a message..

let's see what they say.

[g-man]

okay called and left a message..

let's see what they say.

mmm they never called back...

maybe they no have?

[Glenn E.]

okay called and left a message..

let's see what they say.

mmm they never called back...

maybe they no have?

My guess would be that they're simply posting everything on their distributor's list, which is a frustratingly common tactic on the east coast. Any time you see something like "takes 1 week to procure" or "call to confirm availability" you're most likely looking at a listing that isn't actually at the store. Personally, I think the practice should be banned because all it does is create numerous listings at multiple stores for the exact same bottle.

[g-man]

I'm missing the sandeman 63.

But I'm going to look out for other vintages too.

Anything you think we should add to this line up Glenn?

We have
Sandeman, 60, 66, 70, 77

[Glenn E.]

I'm not that familiar with Sandeman, but just at first glance it seems like we should have a '63, too. I'll do some TN reading and see what's available at reasonable prices.

[Glenn E.]

Well it seems that our best bet is to go with what we have, plus a 1963. Adding a 1955 would be nice if one can be located in the US, but going younger than 1977 doesn't seem to be advisable based on the TNs that I've read. Even 1977 seems to be pushing it, but since you already have one we might as well include it.

At this point I think we need to be concerned about group size as well. Being a lightweight, I see no need to procure more than 5 bottles unless we're going to have more than 6-7 people. But at this point I'm not sure what to add beyond the "core 5" anyway, so I think we need to figure out exactly how many people we're expecting before we put too much effort into finding more bottles.

What say ye?

[g-man]

Well it seems that our best bet is to go with what we have, plus a 1963. Adding a 1955 would be nice if one can be located in the US, but going younger than 1977 doesn't seem to be advisable based on the TNs that I've read. Even 1977 seems to be pushing it, but since you already have one we might as well include it.

At this point I think we need to be concerned about group size as well. Being a lightweight, I see no need to procure more than 5 bottles unless we're going to have more than 6-7 people. But at this point I'm not sure what to add beyond the "core 5" anyway, so I think we need to figure out exactly how many people we're expecting before we put too much effort into finding more bottles.

What say ye?

A fellow drinker has offered a very suitable location if we're a small group, I can ask him if his offer still stands.

[Glenn E.]

I'm fine with one of our prior locations as well - Nick & Stef's or Uncle Jack's. Those were both great as far as I'm concerned... I was more worried about getting the right number of bottles for the number of people (or vice versa) than the actual where part of the equation.

[g-man]

72 sandeman was a hoax ..

we still need a 63 sandeman

I spy a 50 sandeman for 299$

[Glenn E.]

Bah, that sucks.

I still haven't found a '63 Sandeman for a good price. There seem to be a few floating around, but I'm not sure I want to pay $250 for one. There's a cheap one at Wine Consigners, but I'm not sure I trust bottles from them so I'll keep looking!

[Glenn E.]

I now have a +1 for the tasting. A friend of ours is going to come with us to NYC. He's one of my converts that I've been working on, and I think he'll enjoy a real tasting.

[g-man]

Sandeman 63 picked up.

[Glenn E.]

Sandeman 63 picked up.

Excellent!

Can one of you PM me the total cost/number of attendees so that I can clue in my +1 and also start saving myself?

*** ALERT ***

PLEASE NOTE THAT I HAVE CHANGED THE DATE. I don't know what happened, but thankfully we checked the date yet again while we were purchasing our airline tickets today and the tournament is a week earlier than I originally thought. The correct dates are February 19-21, so this tasting will need to be Friday, February 19th. We will be arriving on Wednesday, February 17th and staying through Sunday, February 21st.

It's possible that the dates hadn't been posted when I first started this thread and so I just assumed it would be the last weekend of the month like it was this year, but the website now lists the dates as February 19-21 so that's when we'll be there.

[g-man]

Have port will travel =)

[g-man]

I'm bumping this as we head into the new year with Glenn to be visiting in 2 1/2 months.

Correct me if i'm wrong.

Theme: Sandeman lineup
Vintages: 60, 63, 66, 70, 77
Date: 2/19/2010
Attendees: Glenn, Glenn + 1, G-man, SushiNorth
Cost: ~$100-~$130/person (if we have 5 people, range is because I'm not sure of the price we paid) + whatever you eat.
Location: We can try Palm west side.
Time: Dinner time.