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Emergency Drinking, The Crusting Pipe, Friday 19 August 2011. Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• Unknown Madeira;
• 1945 Graham;
• 1963 Royal Oporto colheita, bottled 1983;
• 1966 Cockburn;
• 1967 Cockburn;
• 1980 Borges & Irmão;
• 1980 Graham;
• 1980 Warre;
• 1985 Dalva colheita bottled 2010;
• 1986 Taylor Terra Feita;
• NV The Port Society Finest Reserve Lote 08;
• Placemats.

WOTN!

The weakest of a case of 12 bottles which had been stored in a Yorkshire country house cellar for many years. Deep red, 90% opaque. Muted nose while chilled, but opened very attractively with time in the glass. Sweet and intense entry, very thick texture and a heavyweight on the palate - masses of fruit and astonishing levels of tannin given its age. Modest level of aftertaste but a finish of amazing length. One to leave in the glass and keep coming back to. An amazing wine, which clearly has decades of life ahead of it. 95/100.

This was a stunning, perfectly mature, port - easily the greatest i have tasted this year, and perhaps ever.

As Alex notes, the fruit and tannin levels were deeply impressive but this was quite obviously an "old and great" from the flavour profile and the highlight was a finish that just went on and on for (quite literally) minutes.

RAYC wrote:This was a stunning, perfectly mature, port - easily the greatest i have tasted this year, and perhaps ever.

Not too shabby for "emergency drinking" then!

PhilW wrote:

RAYC wrote:This was a stunning, perfectly mature, port - easily the greatest i have tasted this year, and perhaps ever.

Not too shabby for "emergency drinking" then!

The emergency was the short notice required. The choice of wine was one intended to help one of the attendees recover from the cause of the short notice.

Perhaps better described as "comfort port". I have a feeling that it will be a while before G45 is seen at another offline