1896 Elviro Garcia ‘Refreshed’ tawny

[jdaw1]

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• Planning and arrangements;
• Placemats;
• Tasting notes:
  • 1873 Schofield;
  • 1896 Elviro Garcia ‘Refreshed’ tawny;
  • 1932 Butler Nephew;
  • 1938 Hooper;
  • 1942 Hooper;
  • 1944 Hooper colheita;
  • 1947 Barros colheita;
  • 1952 Barros colheita;
  • Infantado Vintage Character, bottled October 1996.

[jdaw1]

[jdaw1]

[jdaw1]

[Glenn E.]

Look: Dark and cloudy, almost brown but with a faint deep purple or reddish hue. Ignoring consistency, it almost looked like BBQ sauce.

Nose: VERY madeira-like. Strong and powerful.

Taste: Not madeira-like at all, which was surprising considering the nose. Very smooth. Lots of red fruit, mostly strawberry and some very ripe (sweet) raspberry. Processed sugar, but well integrated.

On the first pass, this was my WOTN. It dropped to 3rd as the night wore on because I think it tailed off while the two Barros Colheitas opened up nicely.

[jdaw1]

1896 Elviro Garcia ‘Refreshed’ tawny: what is this treasure of AHB’s? Refreshed meaning refreshed in wood and hence solera? Or refreshed as in recorked and topped-off with more of the same? Where would they have found more of the same? We will never know.

Anyway, a cloudy red, with a strong nose of bottle stink. Revolting. Then somebody insisted that it doesn’t taste too bad if one doesn’t smell it.

This so upset the gravity of the Infanta that she kept on laughing long after the little Dwarf had run out of the arena, and expressed a desire to her uncle that the dance should be immediately repeated. The Camerera, however, … having given orders that the little dwarf was to dance again for her after the hour of siesta, …

Now when the little Dwarf heard that he was to dance a second time before the Infanta, and by her own express command, he was so proud that he ran out into the garden, kissing the white rose in an absurd ecstasy of pleasure, and making the most uncouth and clumsy gestures of delight.

The Flowers were quite indignant at his daring to intrude into their beautiful home, and when they saw him capering up and down the walks, and waving his arms above his head in such a ridiculous manner, they could not restrain their feelings any longer.

“He is really far too ugly to be allowed to play in any place where we are,” cried the Tulips.
…
“He is a perfect horror!” screamed the Cactus. “Why, he is twisted and stumpy, and his head is completely out of proportion with his legs. Really he makes me feel prickly all over, and if he comes near me I will sting him with my thorns.”
…
Even the red Geraniums, who did not usually give themselves airs, and were known to have a great many poor relations themselves, curled up in disgust when they saw him, and when the Violets meekly remarked that though he was certainly extremely plain, still he could not help it, they retorted with a good deal of justice that that was his chief defect, and that there was no reason why one should admire a person because he was incurable; and, indeed, some of the Violets themselves felt that the ugliness of the little Dwarf was almost ostentatious, and that he would have shown much better taste if he had looked sad, or at least pensive, instead of jumping about merrily, and throwing himself into such grotesque and silly attitudes.
…
The Lizards … took an immense fancy to him, and when he grew tired of running about and flung himself down on the grass to rest, they played and romped all over him, and tried to amuse him in the best way they could. “Every one cannot be as beautiful as a lizard,” they cried; “that would be too much to expect. And, though it sounds absurd to say so, he is really not so ugly after all, provided, of course, that one shuts one’s eyes, and does not look at him.”

And if one shut one’s nose, and did not smell it, there was indeed red fruit and a lot of sugar, though it was very short. Still alive, but barely.

[jdaw1]

Some more of the likely history of this bottle has been unearthed. From the Harrods Wine Catalogue, December 1930, and reproduced with the permission of the Company Archives, Harrods Limited.


This reference is 1890 rather than 1896, but it still the closest we have.

[JacobH]

Assuming that the date is not a typo, this would rule out one possible explanation: that the date was part of the brand name of Elviro Garcia (e.g. Kronenbourg 1664 or even Warre’s branding of 1670 on most of its bottles).

[AHB]

Described on the label as "Refreshed Tawny" from 1896 - and from a shipper that none of the people attending had heard of. Dark brown in colour, darkest of the old wines, cloudy and with a green rim. Full of stink, perhaps maderized. Thick texture in the mouth; full of deep and dark flavours, muscvado sugar and molasses with sweet dates mixed in. Very pleasant in the mouth but the aftertaste is quite short. Old, flavoursome and a nice wine - but very smelly! 88/100.