Old, Odd & Great - Portal restaurant, London - 11 Jul 08

What happened?
Post Reply
User avatar
DRT
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15779
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Contact:

Old, Odd & Great - Portal restaurant, London - 11 Jul 08

Post by DRT »

"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
User avatar
DRT
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15779
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Contact:

Post by DRT »

The threads and links are all in place awaiting TNs from those who could contain their excitement sufficiently to take them. I don't have any but have some small samples of some of the wines that I plan to re-taste over the next few days and post comments once the real TNs are here.

Step up Brother AHB, we need you more than ever on this one :wink:

This was a fantastic evening at a great venue and in extremely good company.

The first word of thanks must go to Christopher for his contribution of the 1830 Ferriera. At 178 years of age and still very much alive it was a real honour to be able to taste something so special and it set new records for all of us in one way or another.

As for the youngsters in the line-up, such as the brace of 1890s, the 1927 Croft and the 1936 Massandra it was also a priviledge to be able to share these in such enthusiastic and knowledgable company. The infants of the group, the 1963 Warre and the 1964 Krohn Colheita Branco (courtesy of our good friend ADV) performed very well, as did the new-born 1991 Skeffington that accompanied a very nice meal. This was an extremely impressive line-up of wines and an experience I will never forget.

I will leave others to comment on the Napa Prager 1987 :?

Thanks again to Christopher but also to the others and our hosts at Portal for another great :tpf: experience.

Derek
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23568
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

The Ferreira 1830!

Post by jdaw1 »

The Ferreira 1830! By 21 years the oldest port I have tasted; by 70 years the oldest port in good condition. A great treat for us: thank you Christopher G.
DRT wrote:I will leave others to comment on the Napa Prager 1987
The Prager 1987 was my fault, so I will set the tone.
[url=http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=16482#16482]Here[/url] jdaw1 wrote:Nose: horrible. Palate: horrible. Later it might be that I deluded myself into thinking that it was less horrible than earlier, though still utterly undrinkable.
User avatar
DRT
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15779
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Contact:

Post by DRT »

Things that happened in 1830 (taken from Wikipedia):

King William IV crowned King of Great Britain and Ireland

Image

The worlds first passenger railway is opened between Manchester and Liverpool

Image
  • US Congress passes the Indian Removal Act
  • Port Albert penal settlement is established in Australia
  • Canada is devided into Counties
  • Edwin Beard Budding is granted a patent for the invention of the lawnmower
  • Uncle Tom and Roy Hersh argued about whether or not it would be a good vintage :lol:
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23568
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

I note that Symingtons have removed the 1830 vintage report

Post by jdaw1 »

DRT wrote:Uncle Tom and Roy Hersh argued about whether or not it would be a good vintage
I note, disapprovingly, that Symingtons have removed the 1830 vintage report from their website. ;-)
User avatar
Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
Posts: 14868
Joined: 13:41 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Berkshire, UK

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

It was a tremendous evening and a real privilege to be able to enjoy some fantastically old ports that were drinking beautifully - I will post my notes when I have a few minutes.

The staff at the Portal were wonderful, they looked after us extremely well and rather unexpectedly gave us two tables - one for eating and one for decanting and drinking. The food was also superb and their knowledge of and enthusiasm for port makes this a great venue for offlines, albeit one that is considerably more expensive than the Crusting Pipe.

A quick summary of the wines on show will suffice for the moment before I get back to the labours that allow me to buy my port.

The youngest of the night was billed as a Skeffington 1991 - it wasn't, but was a closely related Skeffington 1989 and was a jolly decent port to go with the steak and crushed new potatoes. Think Morgan '91.

The Napa Prager 1987 was not port. Although it might describe itself as port, it isn't. It is very much a "reciotto" style of flavour with the wine being fermented much longer than is port before being fortified. I didn't find this as bad as JDAW or DRT once I stopped thinking about it as if it was port. It was a bit stinky, though.

The Porto Branco 1964 Colheita was very madeira-like. Julian and I were debating whether it was Sercial-like or Verdelho-like. The others just looked at us with pity.

The Taylor 1963 was a Warre 1963 and was drinking very well. There was a general consensus that this was the best drinking port on the night.

The Massandra 1936 was something of a sugar bomb. Like drinking honey-water. Pleasant enough.

The Croft 1927 was from a badly ullaged bottle and had been leaking badly in the days running up to the offline. This was badly oxidised and showed poorly.

The two 1890 Unknowns were both with unbranded corks. The first was light and elegant and very drinkable. The second was heavier and weightier but slightly less enjoyable for drinking on the night.

But the Wine of the Night has to go to the Ferreira 1830! This was so elegant and so drinkable. It was a real honour to share this wine with Christopher. To be enjoying a wine 178 years after the grapes were growing and to be debating what the flowers were on the nose and what kind of citrus fruit was it in the mouth - just indescribable. Thank you.

So, a great evening, in great company, at a great venue and with irreplaceable wines. Fabulous - what port drinking is all about!
Last edited by Alex Bridgeman on 12:57 Mon 14 Jul 2008, edited 2 times in total.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23568
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

I agree with everything AHB has said

Post by jdaw1 »

I agree with everything AHB has said, save that I still haven’t tasted the Mg91.
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23568
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Filled glasses

Post by jdaw1 »

Filled glasses.
Image
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23568
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Alex B and Derek T

Post by jdaw1 »

Alex is feigning sleep, and, amazingly:
  • Derek is awake;
  • Alex is not in a red check shirt.
Image
Andy Velebil
Quinta do Vesuvio 1994
Posts: 3028
Joined: 22:16 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Los Angeles, Ca USA
Contact:

Re: Alex B and Derek T

Post by Andy Velebil »

jdaw1 wrote:Alex is feigning sleep, and, amazingly:
  • Derek is awake;
  • Alex is not in a red check shirt.
They are twins, separated at birth :P :lol: :lol:
Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
Posts: 4163
Joined: 22:27 Wed 09 Jul 2008
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Post by Glenn E. »

But the real question that no one seems to have answered yet is this:

Which one of you is old, which one is odd, and which one is great? :twisted:
Glenn Elliott
User avatar
DRT
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15779
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Contact:

Post by DRT »

Glenn E. wrote:But the real question that no one seems to have answered yet is this:

Which one of you is old, which one is odd, and which one is great? :twisted:
JDAW is Odd and very soon will be Old

DRT, AHB and Uncle Tom are all officially O&O

Christopher Great because he brought the 1830 88)
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
User avatar
DRT
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15779
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Contact:

Re: Old, Odd & Great - Portal restaurant, London - 11 Jul 08

Post by DRT »

I found out today that, sadly, the venue in which this most memorable of tastings was held closed earlier this year :(
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
User avatar
Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
Posts: 14868
Joined: 13:41 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Berkshire, UK

Re: Old, Odd & Great - Portal restaurant, London - 11 Jul 08

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

That is a shame. This was one of the first and pioneering Portuguese restaurants in London.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23568
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Old, Odd & Great - Portal restaurant, London - 11 Jul 08

Post by jdaw1 »

And I re-doff my hat at Christopher.
Post Reply