But the main reason for the Offline were the ports. As has become traditional, the theme for the offline was "The Unknown Shipper and His Peculiar Friends" - an excuse to open one or two of the odd bottles lying around in the cellar whose labels have fallen off. This year, the line up was superb, and was:
- Clipper White Port, believed to have been in the bottle for about 30 years
- No 1 Fine Port, from a bottle with a neck label reading Calem 1933 but appearing to be a white colheita
- Quinta da Roeda 1987, to wash down the steak
- Fonseca Guimaraens 1972
- Martinez 196?, believed to be 1967
- Quinta do Noval 1966 - a leftover from Tom's decanting activities
- Warre 1963
- Croft 1960
- Dow 1955
- Taylor 1955
- Smith Woodhouse 1947
- Ferriera 1945
- 1908 from an unknown shipper, bottled by Schofield
- Croft 1904 from half bottle
- and a believed Warre 1900, although the branding on the cork is very faint
Many thanks to Tom for organising the offline and to all our absent friends - all of whom are invited to the next Christmas Offline.
Merry Christmas to all.
Alex