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Review of the evening as a whole

The Deeper Underground 1966 Horizontal, held at the Crusting Pipe, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RD, on Monday 28 January 2008.

Links:

• Planning and arrangements: pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15;
• Review of the evening as a whole;
• TN: Adam 1966;
• TN: Avery 1966;
• TN: Croft 1966;
• TN: Delaforce 1966;
• TN: Dow 1966;
• TN: Fonseca 1966;
• TN: Graham 1966;
• TN: Morgan 1966;
• TN: Noval 1966;
• TN: Noval Nacional 1966;
• TN: Offley Boa Vista 1966;
• TN: Robertson’s Rebello Valente 1966;
• TN: Taylor 1966;
• TN: Warre 1966;
• TN: Berry Brothers & Rudd 1966;
• Placemats and ‘holding bay’ which was later implemented as PrePour.

Quite simply the best offline of my career.

Oh my God.

clearly didn't drink enough if you're onlinen so soon afterwards =)

pictures guys!

What a fabulous evening - great company, great port and some folks I've only ever met online before. I only wish I'd read h,G and I's bottled water post before last night so I could have ordered bottled water for the table instead of big jugs of tap water.

Great ports - my port of the night was the Nacional, followed by the Fonseca and then the Graham.

What a superb vintage 1966 is - and what a privilege to have been part of what is likely to be one of the most comprehensive 1966 horizontal tastings ever.

Thanks to Derek for organising everything and thanks to the Crusting Pipe for looking after us as well as ever.

Alex

My favourite was Fonseca followed by Nacional and Graham's. The top two were simply spectacular and the vast majority in the line-up were great ports with many years of enjoyment left in them.

What surprised me the most was that across the board these wines have retained their dark colour and backbone much more consistently than any other horizontal tasting I have seen. Even some of the 2nd and 3rd Division brands that one might have expected to have begun to fade were still holding up strong.

It was also pleasing that we had no corked bottles, although the Warre was thought to be suffering from bottle stink or something worse. AHB has retained a sample which may save its blushes.

No thanks necessary, Alex, as I couldn't have done it without my lovely assistants AHB and Jdaw - the finest placemat producing, photographing, decanting and pouring team in the land

Does anyone fancy a 1963?

Derek

Excellent night and great to meet Simon Lisle and Overtired and Emotional for the first time, sadly not close enough to get to know them but next time.

Top three:

1 Nacional
2 Fonseca
3 Graham

Here are some pictures of the pre-match activities.

Lambs to the slaughter...




Jdaw in the Decanting Room...




AHB lines them up with military precision...




Derek's victims in their final hour...

From left to right...

Top Row: Noval, Croft, Avery
2nd Row: Nacional, Dow, Taylor, Fonseca
3rd Row: Graham, Warre, BBR
Bottom Row: Delaforce, Morgan, Offley, Rebello Valente

Jdaw has the pictures of the people.

Derek

KillerB wrote:2 Fonseca

No need to rub it in.

Some Photo's. Sorry that some are a little out of focus.

The table just before we sat down.

Every ones Tasting mat.

Let the fun begin...


Some of the preparation



I thoroughly enjoyed the tasting. I couldn't split the Nacional and the Fonseca. Both different, NN66 was silky smooth, a velvet finish and remarkably structured. F66 was powerful but integrated. Fruity with a very long aftertaste.
I couldn't name my third choice. The group including Grahams, Dows, Taylors, Berry Brothers Warres and Offleys were all very good.
I was disappointed in Averys, Delaforce, Morgans and the Noval. I suspect I would like all of those bottles on their own, but they were being compared to some exceptional Ports, and didn't thrive in that contrast.
I think 66 is a top, top year. I would say that 63 and 85 are slightly better. But remember it's all subjective opinion.

I enjoyed Johns company (Overtired & Emotional) and also enjoyed listening to Simon Lisles opinions. More often than not he noticed things or flavours I was struggling to describe.

That'll do for starters...

Alan

Note: Pictures re-sized by Derek T. with agreement of Conky

Whilst probably too tired to wax lyrical, my line up is Nacional, Dow then Fonseca.

Thanks to those whose Herculean efforts made it work.

Also, someone stuffed a funnel and some coffee papers in my raincoat pocket. I don't know why. Does the real owner want them back, and, if so, whither I shall send them?

John,

It was mine! Julian gave it to me and I was wondering where it had gone. No problems, you use it if it's of any use. I'll take it off you if we manage to share some Port in the near future, but no problems if we cant.

Alan.

Conky wrote:I think 66 is a top, top year. I would say that 63 and 85 are slightly better.

I'm just guessing here but I don't think you will have tasted 14 bottles of 1963 or 1985 side by side. Your statement therefore becomes a challenge that we must all take up. Now then, the big question is, do we do the 1963 or the 1985 horizontal first?

As for subjective opinion. As an entire vintage, 1985 couldn't tie 1966 or 1963's shoe laces. No way, no how. - Around half the wines from the 1985 vintage are riddled with VA

Back on track, I wasn't disappointed in any of these wines. None were tired and over the hill, none were horribly hot or weak (despite what Jdaw will tell you about his Noval in a dodgy glass) and all of them if served alone would provide an extremely good port experience. Some were stunning, others were excellent and the rest were very good.

At the risk of repeating myself, attempting to pick a bad wine out of this lot is like asking who is the ugliest girl in a Miss World contest

Derek

I am pleased you had an epiphanic Port tasting. Mine was rather outstanding as well.
85's sound affordable. 63's are probably out of my League, unless it's at my house.
I suspect engaging you in the merits of 63,66 and 85 is similar to you telling me Martinez 85 is ordinary. .
So I will , but hopefully after others have chipped in with general thoughts on the marvelous tasting.

wow that nacional was incredibly dark

I'm about to paste my tasting notes on what was quite an occasion. After that I'll write up a Guest's Corner Article for Roy to include in his newsletter. If anyone wants to remain unnamed or use an alias in the article then please let me know, otherwise I'll use first names and initials (eg. Simon L). Anyone who has pictures that I can use (credited to the photographer) in the article, please upload them to Flickr or similar and send me a link.

But boy, what a tasting! One of my memories will be that tiny sip of Nacional that we got out of the dregs after we had finished decanting. We shared about 1cl between 5 of us and the aftertaste that you got from such a tiny sip was just so out of proportion to the amount of port that you got as your share.

Alex

So, I posted some initial thoughts in the previous chain and have been checking to see what you all thought, only to be disappointed noone else had said anything. Eventually I realised you must have said something, so went looking elsewhere, and here you all are, hiding from me, you little tikes.

At the risk of repeating myself (I have no idea what I wrote last night), that was a brilliant occasion, and I am so pleased the necessary mountains were moved to allow me to attend. Thank-you to everyone who contributed.

1966 would seem to be the King of the Vintages. We had a spectacular set of ports, with only the Warre disappointing. I await with interest AHB's little test on that one. I don't believe the 1963s could be as good (though I humbly push myself forward as a person very ready and willing to be proved wrong), and I suspect that the 1955s (I'm guessing that is the next serious previous vintage) are tiring a little, and perhaps not nearly so well represented from the lesser houses.

The Nacional was easily the best of that house that I have ever tasted, but, for all the hype, is not IMHO worth its premium over the others. I feel privileged to have tasted it, am glad I did, but would still swap one bottle of Nacional for the equivalent value (did we say five bottles?) of Fonsecas. Or Taylors. Or Grahams. Or Dows. Blimey, they were all so nice - wasn't the BBR port fantastic? You might get a crate of that, if you could find it.

The best port of the night was, you'll not be surprised to hear (if you know me), the Fonseca. At the F-Plan, I had F66 for the first time, and it is quite simply the best port I have ever had. I had my rosey glasses on when I tasted it (as perhaps some of you did with the Nacional?), and I wasn't disappointed. It was closely followed by my previous pet favourite, the Taylor (outrageously sporting tannins and telling us 'not yet, you naughty people!') and then the Nacional.

1. Fonseca
2. Taylor
3. Nacional

The worst was the Warre, which was wrong somehow, and then the Rebello Valente. As has been mentioned by a few, however, poorness in this event was largely a relative thing.

1966 rocks! Let's hope England can win the next World Cup in 2010 - it seems to do wonders for the port harvest.


Ghandih

Here

Ghandih wrote:Just to say - fab evening, what a great line up of port we drunk (don't mention the Warre!! I said it once, but...). Thanks to all those who made it easy for me to turn up and enjoy a lovely evening. I would like to particularly like to mention Simon L, who not only has a triffic name, but also helped me to bring along a great port. Fonseca 66 was again the Daddy, followed by the Taylors and then the Nacional...

Ghandih

Copied here so it doesn't feel lonely

Derek

Just in case they don't read the TN threads can I just repeat here my thanks to those who very generously supplied the bottle for this tasting. Whilst all of us stumped up cash, these guys made it possible to have such a stellar line-up.

Thanks to...

• Uncle Tom for the Graham, Noval, Offley and Rebello Valente;
• AHB for the Avery, Fonseca and Noval Nacional;
• Simon Lisle for the Croft, Dow and Delaforce;
• Christopher for the Taylor and Morgan; and,
• Jdaw for the Warre and BBR

Derek

i have to say, that pic of alex looks like he put on 50 pounds from all the port

g-man wrote:i have to say, that pic of alex looks like he put on 50 pounds from all the port

I hope it's only 45 pounds plus a slightly larger and, I'm told, a different port drinking shirt to the one I've previously been seen wearing. (I have a total of 3 different port shirts with a variety of stains down the front.)

g-man wrote:i have to say, that pic of alex looks like he put on 50 pounds from all the port

Alex only looks fat because Jdaw and I are so slim

Derek T. wrote:

g-man wrote:i have to say, that pic of alex looks like he put on 50 pounds from all the port

Alex only looks fat because Jdaw and I are so slim

Glad to hear it was such a great time...and very glad the ugly cork moster didn't rear his head. Pictures are like TV, they add 20 pounds...Alex is still a lean mean fighting machine. Of course so is Derek and Conky after their little diets....Jdaw, well he's next on the diet (just kidding of course)

AHB wrote:

g-man wrote:i have to say, that pic of alex looks like he put on 50 pounds from all the port

I hope it's only 45 pounds plus a slightly larger and, I'm told, a different port drinking shirt to the one I've previously been seen wearing. (I have a total of 3 different port shirts with a variety of stains down the front.)

they all look surprisingly the same plaid

What a great evening and what a selection thanks to Derek,Julian and Alex plus Conky as official photomatic man and all the rest for a tasting spectacular.If I had noticed the date for the toon army tasting I could have stayed another night.I'm sure I saw a tear in John's eye as he got overly emotional.I'ts a pity I didd'nt get time to mingle with the bottom end of the table but I would think on this showing there will be other times.

Simon Lisle wrote:What a great evening and what a selection thanks to Derek,Julian and Alex plus Conky as official photomatic man and all the rest for a tasting spectacular.If I had noticed the date for the toon army tasting I could have stayed another night.I'm sure I saw a tear in John's eye as he got overly emotional.I'ts a pity I didd'nt get time to mingle with the bottom end of the table but I would think on this showing there will be other times.

Simon's 100th post - welcome to Fonseca LBV!