Several TPF members attended and Julian was kindly permitted gave a brief introduction to TPF to the wider group.
I will post my notes once I have typed them up, but the ports on show were Quinta de la Rosa White Port served with Fever Tree tonic and lemon, Berry's Crusted bottled 2004, Quinta de la Rosa 1997 colheita, Berry's William Pickering 20 year old tawny, 1997 Quinta de Roeda, 1997 Gould Campbell, 1997 Quarles Harris, 1997 Smith Woodhouse, 1997 Fonseca, 1997 Taylor, 1994 Vesuvio, 1994 Warre, 1994 Dow, 1994 Graham, 1985 Fonseca, 1985 Taylor, 1977 Dow, 1977 Smith Woodhouse (magnum), 1977 Taylor, 1970 Gould Campbell, 1970 Graham, 1963 Dow and 1963 Warre.
Wine of the night for me was the fabulous 1994 Vesuvio; I also really liked the Graham 1970. I was underwhelmed by the 1997s, finding that they were much more mature than I was expecting (apart from the Fonseca). There was also some distinct bottle variation between the three bottles of Taylor 1977 that were poured during the course of the two hours.
At 8:30 prompt, the bottles were cleared away and we were gently ushered out into the rain with our port bonanza over.
After the tasting we disappeared off to Chinatown and negotiated a corkage deal with a willing restaurant before testing whether port goes well with Chinese food - testing out Yarra Yerring No 2 2001, Quevedo Tawny, Fonseca Guimaraens 1996 and Offley 1970.
