PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

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PhilW
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PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by PhilW »

Hi,

As a newcomer, I've posted a thread here in the port conversations forum, discussing my search for a new 'default favourite' house VP to replace my current staple, Warres77, as supplies reduce.

After some discussion, I've been encourage to post here to try and sort an informal tasting along these lines, so here goes:

Confirmed Plan:
- Venue : The Crusting Pipe, London (booked).
- Date : Thu 23rd June
- Time : 18:30
- Port : Any bottle of House VP from the 80s (single quintas also allowed, and possibly 90/91...)

Please bring a bottle, pre-decanted and bottle wrapped in foil.
Please PM jdaw prior to event with intended bottle, so he can ensure we don't get duplicates.
Please state (by 14th June) whether you would like a rib-eye steak pre-ordering.

Participants:

1. PhilW (Phil)
2. AHB (Alex)
3. RAYC (Rob)
4. JacobH (Jacob)
5. Cookie (Ray)
6. CF (RAYC's Guest)

Steaks:
- YES = PhilW, AHB, RAYC
Request for rib-eye pre-order now placed for the 3 people above.

PhilW.
Last edited by PhilW on 14:26 Mon 13 Jun 2011, edited 10 times in total.
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jdaw1
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by jdaw1 »

I probably won’t attend. People could PM me with such candidate VPs as they have, and I will select in a manner beneficial to the team.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by DRT »

Sorry, I am unlikely to be able to attend on a Friday or Saturday as I tend to be in Scotland on those days of the week.

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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

I can generally do Fridays, but not the weekend, in Central London - family commitments tend to keep me out of London at the weekend.

10 and 24 are both possibles for me. Earlier in those weeks would be better - the 9th, perhaps?

Happy to either bring a bottle wrapped in foil or to declare in advance. If we end up with duplicate bottles, it's not a huge issue since it allows you to assess how much bottle variability there is in a wine.

Alex
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2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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RAYC
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by RAYC »

I'd certainly be interested, and am sure I can be available.

In general, I prefer these events on weeknights rather than Fridays or Saturdays, with Thursdays being my preferred option for obvious reasons! but am flexible.

I would marginally be in favour of emailing jdaw1 rather than risking duplicates.

Or we could each post our available ports and agree on a good 80's line-up in advance - then do the type of semi-blind tasting discussed here:
AHB wrote:Tom came up with a great idea for a future offline - a single blind offline where everyone participating knows which wines are being tasted but not which wine is in which glass. The challenge is then to match glass to wine and see how good we really are!

What a great idea!
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by JacobH »

I think I am free on any of those days or, if we move to a Thursday, the 23rd but not the 9th. I am happy, for simplicity’s sake just to bring a bottle wrapped in foil, without worrying about pre-declaring. It is always quite fun when a duplicate randomly turns up because bottle variation* usually makes it indistinguishable! But otherwise, I am happy to do something different, as required. 88)

[* at least that what I claim it is...not my appalling palate...]
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PhilW
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by PhilW »

given people's replies I've added the Thursdays as an option too.

Phil.
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RAYC
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by RAYC »

JacobH wrote: I am happy, for simplicity’s sake just to bring a bottle wrapped in foil, without worrying about pre-declaring.
I don't think it would involve too much complication to agree a line-up on this thread and then use foil/bottle-bags to introduce an element of intrigue on the night along the lines of the tasting suggested by Tom.

The reasoning for suggesting some prior declaration/organisation is twofold:

- the purpose of the tasting is to come up with a good staple drinker. Therefore we presumably want a line-up of ports that are readily available. This increases the chances of duplication when compared to a tasting where someone might bring along a port from the more exotic end of their collection - eg: a Churchill '82 or Malvedos '86.

- I would have thought that we might want at least one or two of the generally-acclaimed "classic" 80s ports to be in attendance and not left to chance. F85 and D80, for instance, spring to mind, and I'd argue strongly that G85 should be in the mix as well (though i do note that each of these three ports is currently more expensive than Warre '77 (based on winesearcher per case price), so perhaps might not suit Phil's criteria).

I am currently free on all suggested dates.

Cheers

Rob
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JacobH
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by JacobH »

RAYC wrote:the purpose of the tasting is to come up with a good staple drinker. Therefore we presumably want a line-up of ports that are readily available. This increases the chances of duplication when compared to a tasting where someone might bring along a port from the more exotic end of their collection - eg: a Churchill '82 or Malvedos '86.
Ah, but not doing it fully blind means someone can’t as easily throw in, say, a Warre LBV to see how that upsets things ;-)

In any case, I have no strong views and what RAYC says makes perfect sense so am happy to go along with the consensus.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by jdaw1 »

PhilW: if you have an upper price limit, please do specify it. The rules might then require that each port be available in the UK cheaper than PhilW’s stated maximum.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

I would prefer the Thursdays suggested and can make either 9 or 23. At a push, I could make either of the Fridays.

I wouldn't be able to make the Saturdays.

Wine searcher currently shows Warre 1977 retailing for £50 a bottle, including VAT. Current auction price around £40 a bottle.

Perhaps the aim should be to bring along a bottle of port, from the 1980-89 vintage range, that is readily available and costs £40 or less at retail? Should we expand this to include 1990 and 1991 vintages?

I would prefer not to say what is being brought before the night since that allows a little flexibility and the unexpected surprise (like Cruz '89) that can be revealed only when everyone has agreed what a wonderful wine we are drinking.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by PhilW »

jdaw1 wrote:PhilW: if you have an upper price limit, please do specify it. The rules might then require that each port be available in the UK cheaper than PhilW’s stated maximum.
Price: I'm happy for there to be no limit price-wise, since (i) specifying 80's restricts this fairly well, (ii) other people will have their own limits. Purely for info, if I were to set a price limit, I'd have gone for 70-75 max incl vat/duty, but if it turned out the best was £82, I'd be sad to have missed it :) plus everyone wil have different value points; happy to leav this open.

Availability: Agree, should be something that is available to purchase in the UK.

Phil.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by PhilW »

Looks like 23rd would be the best for all, so suggest we fix on that date.
Overall preference sounds like it would be to go blind so will amend for that, but suggest we take jdaw up on his suggestion of messaging him with our intended bottle prior to the event to check for duplicates.
AHB wrote: Should we expand this to include 1990 and 1991 vintages?
Could do; I've been open to it in my search, but think it's on the borderline for ideally being 'old enough'....

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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search

Post by jdaw1 »

PhilW wrote:suggest we take jdaw up on his suggestion of messaging him with our intended bottle prior to the event to check for duplicates.
If you PM me only one VP, and I say ‟find another”, you have gained the clue that somebody else is bringing it. But if you send me two or more, and I say X rather than Y, you cannot be sure why I chose X.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by Deleted_User_1 »

Why have we never done this before?...sounds great fun...count me in please.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by RAYC »

I have sent off my list of potential selections to jdaw1 - could i encourage others to do the same over the next week or so? I am temporarily living out in Berkshire so arranging to collect the correct bottle from one of my several London-based stashes will take a bit of admin on my part!

I will also be bringing along a guest - C[??]F (t.b.c.), right handed, born in 1980.

I have plenty of time to do placemats, but alas currently no facilities for printing.

Cheers

Rob
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by jdaw1 »

RAYC wrote:I have plenty of time to do placemats
Excellent: please do placemats. But who is to print?
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by griff »

I would have liked to attend but it is end of academic year festivities that night. I look forward to the notes.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by PhilW »

TCP booking confirmed, in the Board Room since there is 6 of us including Ray's guest; confirmed they will supply glasses etc. They also asked me if I wanted to pre-order rib-eye steaks for everyone as has been done previously - while that sounds wonderful to me, I didn't know if people would want that?

Phil.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by jdaw1 »

I have lists of bottles from RAYC (+guest), from AHB, and from PhilW. Others: please send me a list of what you can bring.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

PhilW wrote:They also asked me if I wanted to pre-order rib-eye steaks for everyone as has been done previously - while that sounds wonderful to me, I didn't know if people would want that?
Yes please for me; they are delicious steaks. Jacob will be a no-no. The others will most likely say yes, but I should leave it to them to decide. I think that you need to give about 3 working days notice at a minimum.
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2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by JacobH »

Yes, unfortunately the only steaks I eat are seitan ones...
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PhilW
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by PhilW »

AHB wrote:
PhilW wrote:They also asked me if I wanted to pre-order rib-eye steaks for everyone as has been done previously - while that sounds wonderful to me, I didn't know if people would want that?
Yes please for me; they are delicious steaks. Jacob will be a no-no. The others will most likely say yes, but I should leave it to them to decide. I think that you need to give about 3 working days notice at a minimum.
yes, they wanted to know at least a week ahead if we wanted the steaks, so I will let them know on Mon (14th) for those who have said yes before then; Adding steak yes/no to primary post.

Phil.
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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by PhilW »

Have placed pre-order request for 3x rib-eye this afternoon, pending confirmation.

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Re: PhilW new 80's House VP search - Thu 23rd June TCP

Post by RAYC »

I need time to admin my port...can the recalcitrants be named and shamed?!
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