What a fantastic array of 1970s. There I was, ‘fresh’ off the flight, at 9:30 in the New York morning (2:30 or 3:30 in the afternoon for the others), looking at seventeen glasses of port. I don’t usually have that many ports so early in the morning indeed, on a typical day, not even by 11am have I had as few as half-a-dozen ports.
Several of the big names had poor showings; compensated by some great discoveries. Alas I failed to record my votes on the evening for top three, so risking inconsistency, I now give special mention to
Smith Woodhouse,
Gould Campbell,
Ramos-Pinto, and
Cálem Quinta da Foz. Great ‘discoveries’.
Half way through the second session Derek and I agreed that our palates were tired, and took a fifteen minute break. A walk through the cold air, a pint of a light English bitter (Pride, I think, but certainty is no longer possible), and a walk back. Cleared my palate, left me feeling far more sober, and improved the tasting of the last few ports. A precedent for future tastings has been set: beer every nine ports.