25 July 2012, Olympic Years ’48 to ’08, Portuguese Embassy

[jdaw1]

On the Wednesday before the 2012 Olympics we were guests of His Excellency Dr João de Vallera, the Portuguese Ambassador to the Court of St James, at his official residence, wherein we had two bottles of Port from each summer-Olympic year, 1948 to 2008.

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 1948 Martinez;
• 1952 Niepoort Colheita;
• 1956 Niepoort Experimental;
• 1960 Croft;
• 1964 Graham Malvedos;
• 1968 Fonseca Guimaraens;
• 1972 Offley Boa Vista;
• 1976 Taylor Quinta de Vargellas;
• 1980 Dow;
• 1984 Warre Quinta da Cavadinha;
• 1988 Quinta de la Rosa;
• 1992 Burmester;
• 1996 Quinta do Vesuvio;
• 2000 Delaforce;
• 2004 Cockburn Quinta dos Canais;
• 2008 Quevedo Quevedo Quinta Vale D’Agodinho;
• Placemats (and parameters);
• Planning and arrangements.

[jdaw1]

So what happened? And who took on the role of official scribe? I'm looking forward to reading the review and tasting notes.

It went very well, despite being an extremely hot day. The dining table looked absolutely fantastic, and the embassy staff were most professional.

One of the Dow 80's was corked, which was annoying, as I had brought a spare bottle, but the problem wasn't clocked when we decanted..

Surprise of the night was the Warre Cavadinha '84, which was a very peppery and spicy wine - and perfectly mature. The Niepoort experimental '56 acquitted itself very well, and appeared to be an intermediate between ruby and tawny in style - and the Martinez '48 made for a classic ending.

The Ambassador's guests were excellent company, as was the Bishop of Norwich who was most gregarious..

When I suggested that we would have to repeat the exercise in two years time to celebrate the World Cup, the Ambassador immediately stood up and offered his hand to seal the deal - which I accepted..

[KillerB]

Sorry everybody, hadn't realised that the photos hadn't been posted, thanks Phil for letting me know:

Embassy Photos

If you can't see them then let me know and I'll get the right link,

Alex

[AHB]

Fun pictures to look through, thanks for posting them.

[JacobH]

I see that Uncle Tom was in prime spot to the right of the Bishop of Norwich. Did he ask The Question? Indeed, what is the right question in that situation? I think we ought to be told.

[DRT]

I see that Uncle Tom was in prime spot to the right of the Bishop of Norwich. Did he ask The Question? Indeed, what is the right question in that situation? I think we ought to be told.

Replace "Do you know" with "Are you".

[JacobH]

I see that Uncle Tom was in prime spot to the right of the Bishop of Norwich. Did he ask The Question? Indeed, what is the right question in that situation? I think we ought to be told.

Replace "Do you know" with "Are you".

I’m not convinced the traditional response to the answer would work or be polite in that situation!

[g-man]

surely you could comment that he is indeed a terribly good chap