Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

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WS1
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

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AHB wrote:I can confirm my attendance.
noted :D

regards

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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by DRT »

jdaw1 wrote:my proposal is that all bottles are treated identically, all being decanted at 13:00.
I agree wholeheartedly with this suggestion, but it means we need a large decanting team.
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

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jdaw1 wrote:As others have commented, we can’t do everything. So we start at the beginning. In order to design experiments, we need to know more about the within-case variability. So my proposal is that all bottles are treated identically, all being decanted at 13:00. We then drink (and doubtless enjoy) multiple bottles of T85, seeking some measure of the within-case variability.

Later we can design subsequent experiments using that established fact (Starz W. et al, Journal of Port Consumption, 2014).
6bts of Taylor 1985 are standing up in an Offley 2007 LBV carton in the cool cellar at the Bunhole. :)
Of the other remaining 12bts only 11bts are left meaning RAYC and me had a sneaky preview (quick decanting with paper filter provided by the Bunghole after arrival). I am afraid to say or forecast that I fear all bts will be very similar. Still quite backyard and tasting very young reflecting perfect provenance. The bt was not closed, chocolaty, meaty, sweet and real fun to drink. So we will have fun with the lot. :lol:
Cork came out in one piece and looked fantastic.
Hence long decanting seems a good idea since feeling the bts of our stash are more restrained than the bt we had last week. Bts came likely into the country in the late 80s (early Deinhard label). Stored in underground cellar near Northhampton.
Leave the decision to the other attendees if we do different decanting methods or just test the variation of the 6 bts.

Looking fwd to the tasting

regards

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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by jdaw1 »

DRT wrote:
jdaw1 wrote:my proposal is that all bottles are treated identically, all being decanted at 13:00.
I agree wholeheartedly with this suggestion, but it means we need a large decanting team.
No. Remove six capsules. Then remove six corks, which can be done in under a minute each. Six funnels, six decanters, all on the go at once. There would be no problems with labelling as all are T85. All bottles done within ±5 minutes of each other.
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

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jdaw1 wrote:each other.
"each other" or "one an other", I never have been sure.
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by PhilW »

DRT wrote:
jdaw1 wrote:each other.
"each other" or "one an other", I never have been sure.
I think you meant "one another". I admit to mostly using "each other" for preference when referring to any pair or small group; I would only use "one another" for the non-specific personified case. Am not sure what the formal rules are though.
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

jdaw1 wrote:
DRT wrote:
jdaw1 wrote:my proposal is that all bottles are treated identically, all being decanted at 13:00.
I agree wholeheartedly with this suggestion, but it means we need a large decanting team.
No. Remove six capsules. Then remove six corks, which can be done in under a minute each. Six funnels, six decanters, all on the go at once. There would be no problems with labelling as all are T85. All bottles done within ±5 minutes of each other.
To a certain extent, I disagree. Are we sure the Bunghole has 6 funnels? 6 identical decanters? if the decanters are not identical, how can we be sure we are tasting bottle variation and not differences in the efficacy of the decanter shape? Perhaps we should double decant everything? Decanters / bottles will have to be labelled or distinguishable in some way so we can conclude whether there is consistent variability between their contents.

And then there is the relevant question of who will decant. I can't; I'll be in Ipswich until about 5pm. Very likely, with 6 bottles to decant, we will need to ask the Bunghole staff to do this for us.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

By the way, the Bunghole have said that they will welcome us to our T85 tasting with a glass each of the house Champagne as a thank you for our loyal and regular custom - a nice touch and a good illustration of why we moved from the Crusting Pipe.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by PhilW »

AHB wrote:By the way, the Bunghole have said that they will welcome us to our T85 tasting with a glass each of the house Champagne as a thank you for our loyal and regular custom - a nice touch and a good illustration of why we moved from the Crusting Pipe.
How very decent of them :FFCC66:
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

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AHB wrote:Are we sure the Bunghole has 6 funnels?
We have.
AHB wrote:6 identical decanters?
I could provide some identical empty wine bottles, acquired from the recycling bin of my local boozer, and thoroughly washed.
AHB wrote:And then there is the relevant question of who will decant.
Me?


Separately, The Wine Society is currently selling T85 at £75 per bottle. That is FYI: my preference is not to add that to the experiment.
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

jdaw1 wrote:
AHB wrote:Are we sure the Bunghole has 6 funnels?
We have.
True
jdaw1 wrote:
AHB wrote:6 identical decanters?
I could provide some identical empty wine bottles, acquired from the recycling bin of my local boozer, and thoroughly washed.
An excellent suggestion
jdaw1 wrote:
AHB wrote:And then there is the relevant question of who will decant.
Me?
Another excellent suggestion; thank you for volunteering.

jdaw1 wrote:Separately, The Wine Society is currently selling T85 at £75 per bottle. That is FYI: my preference is not to add that to the experiment.
Agreed. I would prefer not to detract from the original experiment to look at bottle variation from a single case. We won't get many opportunities to do this.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by jdaw1 »

Wolfgang: this is, in some sense, your tasting. Are you happy with all the bottles being treated identically?
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by CPR 1 »

Hope you guys have fun, unfortunately I can't make this, but I will be very interested to see the results....
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Chris Doty
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by Chris Doty »

Wolfgang! You are a genius.

I have had T85 5 or 6 times that I can recall and never thought very highly of it. To my taste it is consistent with the T80 and T83, which I view as less complete examples from actually pretty solid vintages. That being said, the last bottle of T85 I had was certainly the best, and those who have consumed it more often and more recently are heaping praise.

I am hoping to get a trip to London in sometime late jan / early feb anyway, so please list me as a reserve/tentative. Would be great to catch up and take part in so worthy an experiment.

Hope everyone is enjoying a great start to 2014 - it promises to be an awesome year!

cheers
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

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PhilW wrote:I have a very slim chance to attend, but would have to confirm closer to the date; best to assume I will not be available for now.
Upgraded to sufficiently hopefully that I have sought and obtained permission; will not be able to be definitive until Thu/Fri (work-related).
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

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jdaw1 wrote:Wolfgang: this is, in some sense, your tasting. Are you happy with all the bottles being treated identically?
Apologies for my late reply as I was in Munic attending a Burgundy tasting of 1er Crus from Vosne Romanee ( all different ones at least included once) :)

As said before I am fine with both versions of the tasting. Currently I favour the pure version (all treated identically) you suggested in order to test for the bottle variation of a case of Taylor 1985. This is much easier, does do the trick answering the question of the tasting and being really a cool tasting since it is such a simple and boring idea. 88) :lol:

I will help you with the decanting since my work place is 10 minutes away from the Bunghole. You will be amazed how quick the decanting will go since I guess there is only very little sediment in there as it was on the sneaky preview bt. As said before this is proper, proper, proper stock!

We should record the decanting time and set a record very difficult to be broken by others! :lol:

regards

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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by WS1 »

Chris Doty wrote:Wolfgang! You are a genius.

I have had T85 5 or 6 times that I can recall and never thought very highly of it. To my taste it is consistent with the T80 and T83, which I view as less complete examples from actually pretty solid vintages. That being said, the last bottle of T85 I had was certainly the best, and those who have consumed it more often and more recently are heaping praise.

I am hoping to get a trip to London in sometime late jan / early feb anyway, so please list me as a reserve/tentative. Would be great to catch up and take part in so worthy an experiment.

Hope everyone is enjoying a great start to 2014 - it promises to be an awesome year!

cheers
Ebullient
Hi Chris,

you are added to the reserves; we hope you can make it!

With regards to Taylor 1985 I must say I only had it twice (once from halve and once part of a tasting) before tasting it twice in the last two weeks and was unimpressed until the two occasions very recently. However all 80s Taylor (80, 83, 85, 86 and 87) seem to come round now. The Taylor 80 (also closed for a long time and often associated with the taste of coriander which is unusual and hence therefore often was left aside by port drinkers) is superb if from good stock!
The storage is the problem for all these ports from the 80s if they are good. And VA especially in some 83s and 85s! So identifying a good stash is key! Hence our tasting.
So far I think of all 80s Taylor the weakest seems 83 and the strongest 87 Vargellas. Based on our recent taste of the Taylor 85 I think this will be very much up there with the strongest.
But the drinking window will be key as well! I think of all 80s Taylor the 87s and 80 will outrun the 83 and 85 versions which start to become lovely. Hence DRT was right, we will drink this fairly regularily over the next few years.


regards

WS1
Last edited by WS1 on 16:00 Sun 19 Jan 2014, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

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PhilW wrote:
PhilW wrote:I have a very slim chance to attend, but would have to confirm closer to the date; best to assume I will not be available for now.
Upgraded to sufficiently hopefully that I have sought and obtained permission; will not be able to be definitive until Thu/Fri (work-related).
updated :D
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by DRT »

Sorry, Chaps, I now have to attend a work event on 27th Jan so will not be able to join you.

In case there is a tie-break situation please note that my WOTN would have been T85.
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by WS1 »

noted :(
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by djewesbury »

Gentlemen,
In order to mitigate for myself the terrible effects of the bad news which I must now impart to you, I am having dinner (and after-dinner) at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society on Queen St, in Edinburgh. But, as wonderful as the food, the wine and the drams have been, the unavoidable truth is that I will not be with you on Monday. It was more than I could manage.
I'm drowning my sorrows with a glass of 4.182 (Slippery Shape Shifter - try saying that later in the evening).
Have fun.
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WS1
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

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djewesbury wrote:Gentlemen,
In order to mitigate for myself the terrible effects of the bad news which I must now impart to you, I am having dinner (and after-dinner) at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society on Queen St, in Edinburgh. But, as wonderful as the food, the wine and the drams have been, the unavoidable truth is that I will not be with you on Monday. It was more than I could manage.
I'm drowning my sorrows with a glass of 4.182 (Slippery Shape Shifter - try saying that later in the evening).
Have fun.
noted
"Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough"
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by PhilW »

PhilW wrote:
PhilW wrote:I have a very slim chance to attend, but would have to confirm closer to the date; best to assume I will not be available for now.
Upgraded to sufficiently hopefully that I have sought and obtained permission; will not be able to be definitive until Thu/Fri (work-related).
Confirming I will be attending.
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by jdaw1 »

jdaw1 wrote:
AHB wrote:6 identical decanters?
I could provide some identical empty wine bottles, acquired from the recycling bin of my local boozer, and thoroughly washed.
Recycling bin of my local boozer is empty. Wolfgang, or anybody else: have you six identical empty wine bottles? Or please could you rummage in your pub’s rubbish?

jdaw1 wrote:Current draft of the placemats.
Image Image
Please confirm that the placemats are satisfactory.
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Re: Taylor 1985 case testing 27th of January 2014

Post by DRT »

jdaw1 wrote:Recycling bin of my local boozer is empty. Wolfgang, or anybody else: have you six identical empty wine bottles? Or please could you rummage in your pub’s rubbish?
A call to TBH now asking them to keep 6 empties of their house white would probably be fruitful.
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