A small 1994 horizontal

[Alex Bridgeman]

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.

[jdaw1]

Nick is left-handed

‟NCG” added to the software’s list of known lefties.

Code: Select all

0 1 Names length 1 sub {/i exch def [(RAW) (SRG) (HEG) (NCG) (Marc Jackson)] {Names i get eq {WaterCountPositions i /LowerLeft put exit} if} forall} for

Edit on 13 Jan 2020 by jdaw1: G94; K94; M&S94; Mz94; N94; Ts94; Placemats; Planning and arrangements.

[DRT]

This was a very enjoyable evening. It was great to meet Nick - a man who knows his port - and also nice to experience a tasting at NCC for the first time. As AHB said above, the food was excellent and the relaxed atmosphere was ideal for this sort of event.

There was a 3rd "first" for a tasting. After AHB had toddled off for his train Nick and I were treated to the site of a lady of unknown age showering whilst standing behind a not-very-frosted glass window that was a overlooking the terrace and no more than 20 yards from where we were sitting. A new standard seems to have been set that other venues may find difficult to equal

Thank you to AHB and Nick for their company and some fine ports.