1927 Croft

[jdaw1]

Alex, Axel, Enrico, Julian, Phil, Tom, and two Wolfgangs met for luncheon on Wednesday 20^th December 2017 at Otto’s Restaurant (182 Gray’s Inn Road WC1X 8EW).

Links:

• Review of the event as a whole.
• 1927 Ports:
  • Cockburn 1927;
  • Constantino 1927;
  • Croft 1927;
  • Dow 1927;
  • Fonseca 1927;
  • Martinez 1927;
  • Taylor 1927;
  • Warre 1927.
• Non-Ports:
  • 1999 Pol Roger magnum;
  • 1982 Château Gruaud Larose (first bottle);
  • 1982 Château Gruaud Larose (second bottle);
  • 1983 Château Gruaud Larose;
  • 2012 Markus Molitor Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese***;
  • 2015 Keller Pinard Trockenbeerenauslese.

[jdaw1]

Cr27: pink-red, 20% opaque. Nose of maraschino cherries. Palate slightly sour, red cherries, and, unusually, lemon. Smaller than the largest ’27s of the evening (T, F, Mz), but lovely.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Recorked by Tom Archer, upper shoulder fill. Light ochre-brown colour, looking pale and tired. Gentle nose, smelling slightly sour, reminding the nose of gentle sweet lemon oil, grown fat on Douro sunshine; hints of smoke mixed in with the lemon. Warm biscuit and masses of orange show on the palate. The orange grows and blossoms on the mid-palate; lots of orange oil, lots of caramelised orange reduction and great levels of acidity. The smokiness picked up on the nose shows pleasantly on the palate, but there is also a dryness to the core around which the fruit is wrapped. Heat shows on the aftertaste from the acidity, but this settles gently. A lovely orange before a dry and woody core and a lingering bruised orange. A lovely port, but not a great port. 88/100. 20-Dec-17. Decanted 2½ hours.

[PhilW]

Slight toffee on noise; medium body on taste with toffee edge; still very enjoyable, though not as good as previously when this has been a superstar.
Rating: ex