1970 Horizontal, Friday 30th January 2009, RAF Club, London

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jdaw1
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1970 Horizontal, Friday 30th January 2009, RAF Club, London

Post by jdaw1 »

The 1970 Horizontal (the definite article being most appropriate all hail organiser Axel P), in The RAF Club, 128 Piccadilly, London W1J 7PY, on Friday 30th January 2009.

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DRT
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Re: 1970 Horizontal, Friday 30th January 2009, RAF Club, London

Post by DRT »

This was a fantastic event with a stunning number of shippers represented. I have to admit that 35 wines in one day is too many for my palate to cope with but it was extremely interesting to have a chance to taste such a wide range side by side. Dominic Symington was our guest of honour and provided us with excellent company and extremely interesting insights into the people and places that contributed to the production of each of the wines we tasted.

Unfortunately the expected star performers all had flaws and did not show to their full potential. The Graham's was "off" but no-one seemed to be able to nail what the problem was. The Fonseca and Dow were both corked and the Taylor and Nacional not up to their usual standard. However, this provided an opportunity for some of the lesser wines to be given a bit more attention. The Gould Campbell was my WOTN followed by Calem (yes, I said Calem :shock: ). Many others showed extremely well: Smith Woodhouse, Quarles Harris, Croft, Andresen, Quinta da Foz and Noval to name a few.

A big thanks to Axel and Wolfgang for organising the event and to Dominic for his input to the tasting.

Derek
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RonnieRoots
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Re: 1970 Horizontal, Friday 30th January 2009, RAF Club, London

Post by RonnieRoots »

Derek, thanks for posting your TN's. It seems it was quite a tasting! 88)
And, apparently, the Symington's second tiers (Gould Campbell, Smith Woodhouse, Quarles Harris) were winners again. These ports seem like a solid buy year after year.

What's the story on the QH 1970? Why is it so incredibly difficult to find?
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Re: 1970 Horizontal, Friday 30th January 2009, RAF Club, London

Post by DRT »

RonnieRoots wrote:What's the story on the QH 1970? Why is it so incredibly difficult to find?
I can't remember the numbers but I think Dominic told us there was only a very low volume production. There is virtually none left at the lodge and we couldn't find any bottles available on the market. It is likely that it has been almost drunk out of existence. However, anyone who attends a future 1970 offline of this magnitude may be able to taste it :wink:

The Symms 2nd tier wines certainly showed very well. In my experience these rarely disappoint and are excellent value in their price range.

Derek
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Re: 1970 Horizontal, Friday 30th January 2009, RAF Club, London

Post by jdaw1 »

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.
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Re: 1970 Horizontal, Friday 30th January 2009, RAF Club, London

Post by DRT »

Yes, it was London Pride. A very effective palate cleanser. Perhaps when next feeling palate fatigue at a port tasting one should ask "anyone for a quick Sorbet?" - I am unsure about the 9 port barrier. We had tasted 25 before we had our Sorbet :roll:
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Axel P
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Re: 1970 Horizontal, Friday 30th January 2009, RAF Club, London

Post by Axel P »

I guess standards are set and anyone having less than 35 VPs may not call it Horizontal. :)

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Re: 1970 Horizontal, Friday 30th January 2009, RAF Club, London

Post by jdaw1 »

Fewer than 35, though at least a dozen, would surely be acceptable for pre-1950 ports.
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Re: 1970 Horizontal, Friday 30th January 2009, RAF Club, London

Post by Axel P »

I was just kidding. A big thank to all of the tpf-guys who were involved in this tasting. It really was organising on its own as everybody contributed what he could, meaning time- and portwise.

But we learned a lot of things as well, such as:

- if possible: bring the ports a couple of days in advance and have them stood upright for some time. This is quite natural if you are having Port at home, but might get complicated if doing a tasting elsewhere

- make up your mind about the bottlers. There are some out on the market which have a "not-so-good" reputation for some certain vintages. I totally left this aspect aside beforehand

- if finances are involved, try to thing everything through as there are some aspects you may not consider beforehand, such as: tip for the waiters etc.

- for a perfect tasting: have a backup bottle ready, but who has?

Axel
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Re: 1970 Horizontal, Friday 30th January 2009, RAF Club, London

Post by jdaw1 »

Axel P wrote:- for a perfect tasting: have a backup bottle ready, but who has?
A backup bottle is easy; thirty-five backup bottles is not.
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