A small 1994 horizontal
Posted: 10:22 Wed 09 Sep 2009
On Tuesday, Nick, Derek and I met at the New Cavendish Club for dinner and a few glasses of port.
We sipped our way through the 1994 offerings from Noval, Graham, Kopke, Martinez, Tesco (believed to be Quarles Harris) and Marks & Spencers (believed to be Morgan Brothers). There was also a small sample of 1988 Fonseca Guimaraens that was slipped in mischeviously.
The food was excellent and the venue very relaxed and pleasant. It was such a warm day that we ended the evening by sitting outside on the roof terrace to try and stay cool. The lighting could have been better - and probably would have been had Derek not decided to put his jacket and bag over the nearest lamp.
Interestingly, this is the first time that I have come to the conclusion that the 1994 vintage has shut down. I've tasted many of the wines on previous occasions, and was quite taken by the difference between now and 1-2 years ago. In most cases, these wines have suddenly lost their youthful puppy-fat fruit and have gone into an awkward and angular phase where the fruit, acidity and tannins are out of balance and leaving a port where you can taste the potential, but not really enjoy what they are offering today. Personally, I will leave mine alone for then next 5-6 years in the hope that they transform themselves into beautiful swans.
Overall, the wine of the night was unanimously Graham's, but we were split with one vote each on what to vote as the wine to drink now - with the Tesco, Kopke and Graham all getting a vote.
Pity that more people couldn't attend, but a nice way to ease the New Cavendish Club into acting as a venue for us and good not to overwhelm Nick with our strange little habits. (Julian - please note Nick is left-handed.) Next event is likely to be the Warre vertical on October 2.
We sipped our way through the 1994 offerings from Noval, Graham, Kopke, Martinez, Tesco (believed to be Quarles Harris) and Marks & Spencers (believed to be Morgan Brothers). There was also a small sample of 1988 Fonseca Guimaraens that was slipped in mischeviously.
The food was excellent and the venue very relaxed and pleasant. It was such a warm day that we ended the evening by sitting outside on the roof terrace to try and stay cool. The lighting could have been better - and probably would have been had Derek not decided to put his jacket and bag over the nearest lamp.
Interestingly, this is the first time that I have come to the conclusion that the 1994 vintage has shut down. I've tasted many of the wines on previous occasions, and was quite taken by the difference between now and 1-2 years ago. In most cases, these wines have suddenly lost their youthful puppy-fat fruit and have gone into an awkward and angular phase where the fruit, acidity and tannins are out of balance and leaving a port where you can taste the potential, but not really enjoy what they are offering today. Personally, I will leave mine alone for then next 5-6 years in the hope that they transform themselves into beautiful swans.
Overall, the wine of the night was unanimously Graham's, but we were split with one vote each on what to vote as the wine to drink now - with the Tesco, Kopke and Graham all getting a vote.
Pity that more people couldn't attend, but a nice way to ease the New Cavendish Club into acting as a venue for us and good not to overwhelm Nick with our strange little habits. (Julian - please note Nick is left-handed.) Next event is likely to be the Warre vertical on October 2.