Links:
- Review of the event as a whole;
- Tasting notes, grouped by tasting-note pages in the placemats:
- The placemats;
- Planning and arrangements.
Tue 13th June 2023, Celebration of 1955
Tue 13th June 2023, Celebration of 1955
Cliff decided that we needed a Celebration of 1955, and volunteered many many bottles. Harry organised. Others were grateful. It started at lunchtime, on Tuesday 13th June 2023, at the Boot & Flogger.
Links:
Links:
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winesecretary
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Re: Tue 13th June 2023, Celebration of 1955
Well that was proper fun. Thank you for your friendly welcome to the two of us and thank you for the wines. The best of 1955 is in excelsis.
Re: Tue 13th June 2023, Celebration of 1955
Many thanks to Cliff for his wonderful generosity in sharing many of the bottles we tasted, and to Harry, Charles, Neil, Phil and Julian for also sharing bottles (hope I didn't miss anyone?). Top job by Harry as COO (Chief Organising Officer).
What an outstandingly enjoyable day/evening, made possible by great company and great wines. Perhaps not unexpectedly, the 1955 Pol Roger in double magnum was dead-on-arrival. The '55 reds were very interesting - many lasting longer in the glass than perhaps we thought might be the case. I particularly enjoyed the Lafite and the Cheval Blanc.
The first flight of '55 ports showed remarkable consistency (doff Cap to Harry for sorting the ports into the two flights), almost all having mature, soft, mellow mouthfeel with hints of orange.
The sweets also very enjoyable - the Kopke Colheita being lovely, and a great contrast between the d'Yquem (rich, full, deep complexity) and the Climens (wonderfully fresh, great citrus length).
Port flight two were as anticipated, much less evolved, and took quite some time to open up in the glasses. A few stood out for me - Taylor, Dow, and Warre and then many very close on the tails of these three. Overall, the 1955s are standing tall and will be with us for some time to come.
Many things conspired to make this a fine affair - some notes for future: good balance of still and fortified; the sweets were a great interlude to slow the pace; plenty of water on hand.
And finally a note to self. After one and a half steak and kidney pies for lunch, a 250g rib eye steak is not required for dinner ~4 hours later. The vascular system was having to attend to quite a number of things simultaneously for a 60 minute period early evening!
What an outstandingly enjoyable day/evening, made possible by great company and great wines. Perhaps not unexpectedly, the 1955 Pol Roger in double magnum was dead-on-arrival. The '55 reds were very interesting - many lasting longer in the glass than perhaps we thought might be the case. I particularly enjoyed the Lafite and the Cheval Blanc.
The first flight of '55 ports showed remarkable consistency (doff Cap to Harry for sorting the ports into the two flights), almost all having mature, soft, mellow mouthfeel with hints of orange.
The sweets also very enjoyable - the Kopke Colheita being lovely, and a great contrast between the d'Yquem (rich, full, deep complexity) and the Climens (wonderfully fresh, great citrus length).
Port flight two were as anticipated, much less evolved, and took quite some time to open up in the glasses. A few stood out for me - Taylor, Dow, and Warre and then many very close on the tails of these three. Overall, the 1955s are standing tall and will be with us for some time to come.
Many things conspired to make this a fine affair - some notes for future: good balance of still and fortified; the sweets were a great interlude to slow the pace; plenty of water on hand.
And finally a note to self. After one and a half steak and kidney pies for lunch, a 250g rib eye steak is not required for dinner ~4 hours later. The vascular system was having to attend to quite a number of things simultaneously for a 60 minute period early evening!
Re: Tue 13th June 2023, Celebration of 1955
It is about time that I write a review so here my first one ever!
This was the final lunch/dinner of the most extraordinary month of wines for me. this was a wonderful finish to the month!
This was quite some line up with 1 double magnum of champagne, 6 reds, 26 vintage ports, 2 Colheita’s and 2 sweets for 11 of us, what could go wrong?!
Sadly, the champagne was completely shot, it had travelled a bit of distance to join us. It was looking a little corroded around the foil and when pulling the cork, the cork was completely black, looked a little like peat block. dark yellow, completely oxidised, and undrinkable.
Where to start with the reds, this was complete joy for me, I do love very old wines. I was very worried about this flight for several reasons but not to have a single faulty bottle in the lineup was a great start. There was a little worry when pulling the cork on the Beychevelle, there was quite some stink, which lucky blew off very quickly. There were 3 outstanding stars, I have to start with (by a whisker) the best, the gorgeous and truly wonderful with the finest of balance and elegance, the Cheval Blanc, this was followed by the delicious elegance of old pinot noir, with very fine balance and so delicate, the Romanée St. Vivant Louis Latour Les Quatre Journaux. I have to finish which what was a bit of a brut compared to the others, the Ducru-Beaucaillou, this still had power in the fruit and a touch of tannins, with delightful finish and real staying power. The other 3 wines where a real joy to drink, what a starting flight.
The second flight, the minor houses lineup as per UK market in 1955. What a pleasure these were, I enjoyed drinking all of them, they were soft and silky, with little heat across the board. I would happily serve any of these ports to anyone. There were 2 standouts in the Niepoort and Mackenzie, which had more power with lovely balance than the others. One faulty port, TCA on the Theinpoint
The third flight, Sweets and Colheita’s, the break and table move around. The Kopke was a delight and very classic Kopke just can’t go wrong this one. The two stars, how to judge these, well you can’t! they were so different and both truly wonderful. So, we had a vote, and it was a bit like when you are pushed into and must pick a favourite dog or child, so by a whisker it was the Climens for me, I just couldn’t get past that amazing freshness with a classic tropical fruit finish that went on for years. d’Yquem was rich and powerful with this lovely supple balance just nothing overpowering the each of flavours. Vote was 7 to 4 to the d’Yquem (in Julian’s words 7 of you are just wrong but not really as it was that close!) What a break to have.
The four flight, Major houses lineup as per UK market in 1955. These were extraordinary, they took their time to open up. What power! Deep, dark, and brooding across the board. This was a very different flight from the previous port flight. All of these have time to give, I would be no rush to drink these up. Standouts this was a real challenge for me, I voted 1 point to 6 wines because of the high standard of these wines, it was too difficult to split them and just give points only to the following Dow, Warre, Cockburn, Noval, Ferreira, and Taylor. I felt the Fonseca need more time but should be mentioned but I have to stop somewhere with this flight, as before I would be very happy to serve any of these. Two faulty ports, TCA on Grahams, and Gould Campbell. Weakest was the Smith Woodhouse.
On review all of the ports, would have the Ni and Mk got points if they had been in the second flight, not from me, should they have been there on quality then yes, they should have been as better than bottom 2 but middle of the second pack.
Overall, this was a truly wonderful celebration of wines from 1955 with some joyful surprises along the way which will live long in the memory.
Finally thank you to everyone for helping with this event in all your different ways.
This was the final lunch/dinner of the most extraordinary month of wines for me. this was a wonderful finish to the month!
This was quite some line up with 1 double magnum of champagne, 6 reds, 26 vintage ports, 2 Colheita’s and 2 sweets for 11 of us, what could go wrong?!
Sadly, the champagne was completely shot, it had travelled a bit of distance to join us. It was looking a little corroded around the foil and when pulling the cork, the cork was completely black, looked a little like peat block. dark yellow, completely oxidised, and undrinkable.
Where to start with the reds, this was complete joy for me, I do love very old wines. I was very worried about this flight for several reasons but not to have a single faulty bottle in the lineup was a great start. There was a little worry when pulling the cork on the Beychevelle, there was quite some stink, which lucky blew off very quickly. There were 3 outstanding stars, I have to start with (by a whisker) the best, the gorgeous and truly wonderful with the finest of balance and elegance, the Cheval Blanc, this was followed by the delicious elegance of old pinot noir, with very fine balance and so delicate, the Romanée St. Vivant Louis Latour Les Quatre Journaux. I have to finish which what was a bit of a brut compared to the others, the Ducru-Beaucaillou, this still had power in the fruit and a touch of tannins, with delightful finish and real staying power. The other 3 wines where a real joy to drink, what a starting flight.
The second flight, the minor houses lineup as per UK market in 1955. What a pleasure these were, I enjoyed drinking all of them, they were soft and silky, with little heat across the board. I would happily serve any of these ports to anyone. There were 2 standouts in the Niepoort and Mackenzie, which had more power with lovely balance than the others. One faulty port, TCA on the Theinpoint
The third flight, Sweets and Colheita’s, the break and table move around. The Kopke was a delight and very classic Kopke just can’t go wrong this one. The two stars, how to judge these, well you can’t! they were so different and both truly wonderful. So, we had a vote, and it was a bit like when you are pushed into and must pick a favourite dog or child, so by a whisker it was the Climens for me, I just couldn’t get past that amazing freshness with a classic tropical fruit finish that went on for years. d’Yquem was rich and powerful with this lovely supple balance just nothing overpowering the each of flavours. Vote was 7 to 4 to the d’Yquem (in Julian’s words 7 of you are just wrong but not really as it was that close!) What a break to have.
The four flight, Major houses lineup as per UK market in 1955. These were extraordinary, they took their time to open up. What power! Deep, dark, and brooding across the board. This was a very different flight from the previous port flight. All of these have time to give, I would be no rush to drink these up. Standouts this was a real challenge for me, I voted 1 point to 6 wines because of the high standard of these wines, it was too difficult to split them and just give points only to the following Dow, Warre, Cockburn, Noval, Ferreira, and Taylor. I felt the Fonseca need more time but should be mentioned but I have to stop somewhere with this flight, as before I would be very happy to serve any of these. Two faulty ports, TCA on Grahams, and Gould Campbell. Weakest was the Smith Woodhouse.
On review all of the ports, would have the Ni and Mk got points if they had been in the second flight, not from me, should they have been there on quality then yes, they should have been as better than bottom 2 but middle of the second pack.
Overall, this was a truly wonderful celebration of wines from 1955 with some joyful surprises along the way which will live long in the memory.
Finally thank you to everyone for helping with this event in all your different ways.
Re: Tue 13th June 2023, Celebration of 1955
1955 Château Cheval Blanc is utterly delicious. One of the top-few non-fortified reds of my life. Alas, it cannot be my house red (Woody Allen: “Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons”). Lafite started smelly, then that cleared, and it nearly equalled its cousin.
My first ever Château Climens (following my first ever Château Cheval Blanc) equalled, exceeded?, its near-neighbour. Fantastic.
Of the Ports, I want to mention Fonseca (structure, cherries, balance); Taylor bottled by Harvey’s (soft, rich, sweet, black pepper); Niepoort (big and spicy); Noval (soft and rich, then dry); Mackenzie (dark fruit — we need a Mackenzie vertical); and the Spratley (new name to me, part of Royal Oporto). And many of the others: serious vintage consistency.
There is no justice in the world. On arrival home I measured my blood sugar: perfect. In the morning, as usual, I measured again: perfect. Medical professionals are now investigating the merits of treating type-1 diabetes with 1955 Ports (alas, 1955 Château Cheval Blanc would be beyond the budget of the NHS).
Thank you to all who brought bottles, especially Cliff.
My first ever Château Climens (following my first ever Château Cheval Blanc) equalled, exceeded?, its near-neighbour. Fantastic.
Of the Ports, I want to mention Fonseca (structure, cherries, balance); Taylor bottled by Harvey’s (soft, rich, sweet, black pepper); Niepoort (big and spicy); Noval (soft and rich, then dry); Mackenzie (dark fruit — we need a Mackenzie vertical); and the Spratley (new name to me, part of Royal Oporto). And many of the others: serious vintage consistency.
There is no justice in the world. On arrival home I measured my blood sugar: perfect. In the morning, as usual, I measured again: perfect. Medical professionals are now investigating the merits of treating type-1 diabetes with 1955 Ports (alas, 1955 Château Cheval Blanc would be beyond the budget of the NHS).
Thank you to all who brought bottles, especially Cliff.