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On Monday 16^th June 2014 a group of us gathered in The Bung Hole to evaluate the maturity of a number of the 1997 vintage.

Links:

• Review of the event as a whole;
• 1997 Cockburn (MPM);
• 1997 Croft Roeda (THRA);
• 1997 Dow (IDJ);
• 1997 Ferreira (IDJ);
• 1997 Fonseca (DaveRL);
• 1997 Gould Campbell (MPM);
• 1997 Graham (CPR);
• 1997 Quinta do Infantado (MPM);
• 1997 Martinez (AHB);
• 1997 Morgan (MPM);
• 1997 Quinta do Noval (CMAG);
• 1997 Offley (JDAW from Stevens Garnier);
• 1997 Quinta do Passadouro ( Kindly donated by VintageWineAndPort.co.uk);
• 1997 Ramos Pinto (IDJ);
• 1997 Sandeman (JDAW from Stevens Garnier);
• 1997 Sandeman Vau, Double Magnum (JDAW);
• 1997 Sandeman Vau, Single (JDAW from Stevens Garnier);
• 1997 Smith Woodhouse (MPM);
• 1997 Taylor (DaveRL);
• 1997 Quinta do Vesuvio (THRA);
• 1997 Warre (MPM);
• Placemats (and parameters by which made);
• Planning and arrangements.

First Flight
—D—
F—G
—N—T
V—W

First Flight
—D—
F—G
—N—T
V—W

First Flight
—D—
F—G
—N—T
V—W

Second Flight
Fr—RP—SV ¾l—SW;
—GC—S—SV 3l

Second Flight
Fr—RP—SV ¾l—SW;
—GC—S—SV 3l

Second Flight
Fr—RP—SV ¾l—SW;
—GC—S—SV 3l

Third Flight
—CR—Mg—Ps
Ck—I—O

Third Flight
—CR—Mg—Ps
Ck—I—O

Third Flight
—CR—Mg—Ps
Ck—I—O

Third Flight
—CR—Mg—Ps
Ck—I—O

We gathered and drank port. 20 bottles of port, although unusually some glasses still contained port as we departed.

We were joined by a number of TPF virgins, and we had a surprise appearance by Mr Doty, who is not a virgin.

We tasted in 3 flights, Wine or the Flight as follows:
Flight 1: Warre, with Dow second
Flight 2: Gould Campbell closely followed by Ramos Pinto
Flight 3: Offley, closely followed by nothing

WOTN was Ramos Pinto. This is somewhat puzzling, as RP was beaten by GC in flight 2. Tied for second place were GC, D and W.

Many thanks to everyone for the wonderful company as ever. And congratulations to Julian and Daniel for making it to the end despite being well progressed at 6.30pm courtesy of Lords.

Lots of dark-red to dark-dark-red, 70% to 90% opaque juice. Some nosed dirty, very unpleasantly so. Some of these were big names with chunky pricing. Some, particularly some names of lesser repute, showed well. My favourites were Dow, Gould Campbell and Ramos Pinto.

Interesting, and a worthwhile experiment, but very few need to be drunk soon, the possible exception being Infantado (drink soon, or, better, never).

Big hand to Flash for arranging everything.

WOTF

WOTN

I've always associated a 'dirty nose' with the '91 vintage, and to find several instances amongst the '97s was very disappointing, especially as one of the worst affected is the one that carries the highest price tag.

This phenomenon is only found in older bottles that are otherwise clearly flawed, which begs the question - is this a transient phase that will pass after a few more years in bottle? - or is it an unintended consequence of some development in vintage port production?

If the latter is the case, the alarm bells should be ringing in Portugal..

Aside from that, I think it is fair to say that there were no big beasts leading the field. In maturation terms this is looking like an average to slightly forward vintage for regular drinking in the 2020s and 2030s.

- Thanks to the team for making the event happen..!

Feel very fortunate to have been summoned to London for the 1997 tasting (errr....work). The highlight was the conversation / new faces, as the wines themselves have not especially encouraged me to add to my fairly meager allocations of this particular vintage.

While certain wines were showing more forward character than expected (e.g,. Warre, Gould, RP, Dow), I wouldn't call any 'lush,' or 'complex.' I suspect the Graham's and then the Taylors will best reward cellaring, but I don't really see this vintage competing long term with 1994 or 2000 (and certainly not the likes of 2011). The Vau, on a value basis, was respectable, though it seems prices for this wine have crept up lately (at least in the States).

It is unfortunate that some of the would-be starts of the night were duffers - notably the Fonseca (corked) and the Noval (hopefully flawed, but unclear how).

So - good to see some old friends as well as meet some new ones.

Can we do 1970 next time?

woo woo
chris

An excellent night. Really enjoyed it. My first, but hopefully not my last. Thanks to all.

May I just note that not one person noticed my Bloomsday get-up? Disappointing.

Thanks to Mike from me (and Pops) also. I'm fairly sure I owe money for bottles..?

May I just note that not one person noticed my Bloomsday get-up? Disappointing.

I've honestly never heard of Bloomsday before.. - Google to the rescue!

A surprising result for this naive port drinker!

Perhaps Alex could update the offline summary for 2014 and we can see where things lie?

Perhaps Alex could update the offline summary for 2014 and we can see where things lie?

Or start one for 2015