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Uncle Tom and I enjoyed the company of Roy Hersh and Nicos Neocleous for a steak, some great wines and ports last night. I have to confess I can't remember the names of the 2 wines supplied by Nicos but I can remember that they went down very well with a medium rare Rib Eye

I didn't take tasting notes but my memory of the ports we had is as follows:

Graham's 1991 - decanted 12 hours
A lovely port for drinking now but with enough substance to last a good few years yet. Excellent colour and weight, full of typical Graham's fruit - "liquid Christmas Pudding" is a quote from Tom. This was the second last bottle from a case I bought about 18 months to 2 years ago for about £18 per bottle. A very very good QPR port and I need to find more.

Taylor's 1955 - decanted 7 hours
This was presented to Roy and Nicos blind. I knew what it was from previous discussions with Tom so wasn't allowed to play It was great fun watching them trying to work out what it was. Nicos jumped to Taylor straight away then convinced himself it was a Dow. Roy had it in the 1927 to 1945 range, which was understandable as it was a fairly evolved bottle. After Tom revealed that it was evolved for it's age and from a great vintage 1955 was favourite. It was a beautiful glass of port with that signature warmth that always says Taylor to me. Not agressive heat, just enough to make you glow inside on a cold night.

Niepoort's 1957 Colhieta - believed bottled in 1973 - decanted 12 hours
I bought this on Ebay some time ago and had promised to share it with Roy at some point during the 50th anniversary of his Vintage. This was a very composed wine, no heat, no hash edges, just very smooth and viscous. Declared wine of the night by Nicos with no disagreement form the rest of us.

Niepoort's 1937 Colhieta - decanted 1 hour
Roy brought this with him from Seattle via San Francisco, Hamburg, Oporto and the Douro. Unfortunately, I don't think it enjoyed the trip as much as Roy did - The wine was slightly cloudy (most likely from bottle shock) and had quite a lot of heat initially which may have benefited from a longer decant time. A very nice wine which I was most greatful to be able to taste but on this occassion it didn't really have the chance to show itself in the best light. I'll just have to find a reason to go to Seattle and taste another one to see how it does over there

A very enjoyable night with some good company and great wines.

Derek

Derek's G91 was a pleasant surprise - a much more grown-up wine than the G85, and not too young to drink.

My T55 was showing very old (I have no information relating to it's history) - but nevertheless a very pleasant wine. It was a bit of a beast when it first hit the palate, but the sophistication of the finish brought satisfied smiles to the faces of all. Derek thought he could identify the Taylor signature, but I missed the notes I associate with Taylor, so I don't blame the company for missing the target.

The '57 Colheita was a very nice drop - Niepoort doing what Niepoort does best, but the '37 was indeed a rather troubled bottle - cloudy, sharp and a hint of VA. Whether this was travel shock or a duff bottle I'm not sure - but I suspect the latter. Pity though, as this was my first encounter with the fabled '37 Colheitas.

Tom

I can then offer you a sneak peak at my tasting note report I should finish one day ...

Niepoort Colheita 1937 , bottled 1992 :
A bottle opened at the end of a great meal with the distribution team of Dirk. A clear tawny color with caramel and orange tones. The nose is primarily dominated with sugary dates flavours and tobacco, the palate is so fresh, viscous and balanced, with dried fruits, roasted nuts, dried figs and candied fruits flavours, the finish is so long with great acidity and nutmeg, caramel retro. 18,5/20

I would venture a guess there is some bottle variation in the Niepoort '37. I've had it once and it was a good but not great bottle. IIRC, some slight VA was present in that bottle as well and not up to par for a typical Niepoort Colheita.

Derek T. wrote: Graham's 1991 - decanted 12 hours
A lovely port for drinking now but with enough substance to last a good few years yet. Excellent colour and weight, full of typical Graham's fruit - "liquid Christmas Pudding" is a quote from Tom. This was the second last bottle from a case I bought about 18 months to 2 years ago for about £18 per bottle. A very very good QPR port and I need to find more.

I know where there is at least one more of these - you may remember a couple of years ago that you swapped me 6 Grahams 63s but one broke so you gave me a Grahams 91 instead. Interesting to see from your note what it will be like when it gets opened.

Alex

I can't wait for you to read that back when you're not full of port

I blame the predictive text on the BlackBerry and not my rumoured inebriation.

Alex

It was much more entertaining to read before you edited it to fix all the typos

I think his blackberry was a bit fortified

So I'm the only one brave enough to leave my mistakes intact, to show what everyone else was refering to???

Tsk,tsk. Bonfire of the Vanities!