30th September offline @ TCP

[benread]

Attending were: Christopher, Jacob, Tom & myself.

We drank:

Noval 1955
Borges & Irmao 1970
Warres 1975
British Association Oporto 1983 (A very unusual bottle provided by Christopher, the story of which I will leave him to tell!)

As ever from me, limited tasting notes taken, which will be posted in the apropriate place. As usual, an excellent evening, made all the more amusing by Uncle Tom's choice of desert - steak!

In terms of pure enjoyment, I find it difficult to choose between the Noval and the Borges. I am not unhappy at having 1 of the latter in my 'cellar'. However, in terms of interest the British Association Oporto wins!

One last comment: we are well and truly expected on 8th October! The staff definitely know we are coming - not just the manager!

[JacobH]

An excellent evening with a good selection of Ports. The Noval 55 was probably the wine of the night for me but trying a Port which few people can know existed was a rare treat! Once Ben takes the plunge with some TNs (), I’ll see if I can decipher the scrawl I mostly took for personal use.

[uncle tom]

A very pleasant evening with Jacob, Ben & Christopher

Jacob produced a Warre '75, a rather better bottle than the last one I opened, but it is such a fiery wine..!

Ben produced a Borges & Irmao '70, complete with lead neck tag! Fully mature and a good colour, if slightly soupy.. From a producer of little reputation on the VP front, this was a very respectable player.

Christopher promised something I would had not have had before - and delivered!

A British Association (factory house) blend from 1983, the bottle had no IVDP seal. How it found its way into a City off-licence (and modestly priced) is a bit of a mystery. I knew that such a blend had been bottled in 1977 for the Queen's Jubilee, but had no idea that they had repeated the exercise.

The wine itself had a very clear meniscus, and had the air of a much older wine that had been well extracted. A very interesting bottle.

My own offering was a Noval '55, the runt of a small litter acquired earlier this summer, this was the one bottle with a poor level.

A very pale wine, but also bereft of fire or bottle stink. The nose was light but very pleasant - is this what Broadbent means by 'high-toned'? I've never been quite sure.. Though one of the less acclaimed '55's, this seems well placed to last another decade or two.

My thanks to Jacob for providing a couch for the night after I missed the last train by one minute..

..I'm getting good at doing that..

Tom

[DRT]

This sounds like it was a fun night and I am sorry I missed it.

Interesting to read about the lead neck tag on the B&I70 - I have a 63 with the same tag - something I haven't seen on any other bottle of VP.

I am also intrigued in and gutted about Christopher's contrution. He told me he had something unusual and this is something I would very much liked to have tasted. My fault. Double bummer.

For the record, I had planned to bring a Nacional 63. Bummer

Derek

PS: Tom, I think it would be sensible for you to buy a flat in Covent Garden

[JacobH]

Interesting to read about the lead neck tag on the B&I70 - I have a 63 with the same tag - something I haven't seen on any other bottle of VP.

I wonder how many other Borges have those lead tags? What’s quite odd about the one on Ben’s bottle was that it had no indication that it was a Borges and Irmão; it seems strange to go for the expense of having them produced and then halve their usefulness in identifying san-label bottles. (Or perhaps we are just supposed to assume that because it has a tag it is a Borges!).

The British Association Bottle was one of the more unusual bottles I’ve seen: a wax seal (unusual for 1983); no selo; and its details printed on the bottle (the writing appeared too fine, and the ink seemed the wrong style, to be produced with a hand template). The printing suggests a not-insubstantial level of production but how much is hidden away in cellars is for anyone to guess!

[DRT]

I will be sure to bring that tag along for comparison at some point in the future.

Perhaps at a B&I Vertical? No. Perhaps not

[JacobH]

I forgot to mention, but some placemats were produced for this event, which might be preserved here for posterity!

I will be sure to bring that tag along for comparison at some point in the future.

Perhaps at a B&I Vertical? No. Perhaps not

Considering the recent spate of bank crashes and nationalisations, a vertical of the only shipper to be owned by a nationalised bank might be quite apt! :p

BTW, Suckling described the 1970 in 1990 as

Rustic, tired and stinky. This is over the hill…Best to avoid.

as none of that seems true, it either shows what another 18 years has done to this or that he had a dodgy bottle!

[uncle tom]

BTW, Suckling described the 1970 in 1990 as

Rustic, tired and stinky. This is over the hill…Best to avoid.

as none of that seems true, it either shows what another 18 years has done to this or that he had a dodgy bottle!

Few of Suckling's notes and predictions are well supported by current notes.

Tom

[jdaw1]

Metal neck tag eh?

The Niepoort 1977’s little metal badge:

[DRT]

Interesting to read about the lead neck tag on the B&I70 - I have a 63 with the same tag - something I haven't seen on any other bottle of VP.

This wasn't true.

Jdaw's post above reminds me that only a few days before I made this statement I seen the Niepoort 77 tags in the Niepoort cellar in VNG.

Derek