1977 Sandeman

[jdaw1]

In honour of the presence in London of Dr Dirk Bruns, people gathered at the The Crusting Pipe on Tuesday 3rd January 2012 to taste some 1977s. Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 1977 Sandeman;
• 1977 Fonseca;
• 1977 Taylor;
• 1977 Gould Campbell;
• 1977 Niepoort;
• 1977 Morgan;
• 1977 Cálem;
• 1977 Delaforce;
• Placemats;
• Planning and arrangements.

[jdaw1]

[jdaw1]

[jdaw1]

[jdaw1]

[jdaw1]

Cork, original colouring.

[jdaw1]

Cork, digitally whitened.

[jdaw1]

S77: decanted 17:45. Red, 40% opaque. Great unctuous texture. Big heat in the mid-palate, lovely. Soft fruit, pale cherries throughout, and also strawberries. Mid-weight, perhaps on the light side of that.

This bottle had about one hour of decant, at which time it showed beautifully. It did not improve during the evening: indeed, post-Fonseca, RAYC claimed that it had lessened. S77 should be decanted late.

[RAYC]

Elegant nose, great texture which was sweet and thick, in terms of flavour i could not detect a huge amount of fruit but there was a very attractive and unusual earthiness to it. Alas, became simpler with extended air-time, which i maintain was nothing to do with tasting Fonseca 77 in the interim! At its best: **** (91)

[AHB]

Modest red colour, looking mature; slightly cloudy, 80% opaque. Redcurrant and juniper on the nose, slightly hot. Neutral impact, still dominated by some lively tannins. Black cherry eventually shows through. Light bodied, tart and a touch dry. Delicious aftertaste and a finish of great length. This put on weight and developed a better set of flavours with another couple of hours in the glass. 86/100. 3 hour decant.

[jdaw1]

S77 … 40% opaque.

80% opaque.

That is a massive discrepancy.

Other discrepancies in F77, Ni77, Mg77, Cá77.

[DRT]

A discussion on the above discrepancy has been moved to here by DRT.

[AHB]

S77 … 40% opaque.

80% opaque.

That is a massive discrepancy.

Other discrepancies in F77, Ni77, Mg77, Cá77.

Normally JDAW and I are within 5-10% of each other so these discrepancies are odd. I can only assume that we had different lighting conditions, different fill levels or my eyes were tired.