The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

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jdaw1
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The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by jdaw1 »

On Thursday 19th December 2013 a subset of the obvious suspects gathered at The Bell in Wendens Ambo to taste old, peculiar and unknown bottles.

Links: (Please could somebody check the above list and report back by PM, after which it will be copied into the TN threads (which currently do not distinguish between the Unknowns).)
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Another splendid Christmas offline, with large lumps of extremely flavoursome cow arranged by Tom. There were some very fine ports, but the majority that was drunk at the offline was cask matured - as one of the attendees put it "Too much brown sticky stuff!" Next year I promise not to bring a colheita.

Wine of the night for me was the Fonseca 1920 with honorable mentions going to the Sandeman 1920, the Warre 1960 and the Whitwham's 1880.

Thank you especially to Axel and Wolfgang who volunteered to walk to the station to collect a couple of taxis to get us safely back to the hotel.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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DRT
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by DRT »

AHB wrote:Fonseca 1920
Was that the collective WOTN? If so, it would be the second bottle of F20 to achieve that honour at this annual event, this being the other one.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
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RAYC
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by RAYC »

A very enjoyable evening and a nice escape from what has otherwise been a rather busy Christmas period!

Some very nice ports on show, albeit perhaps a slight over-emphasis on wood-aged or "additional" bottles at the expense of proper old unknown VP! That said, impressions may have been coloured by the slight under performance of the two 35s.

For me, the Sandeman 20 was in a league of its own, and it was fantastic to be able to try the storied 1927 Ramos Pinto LBV.

Thanks again to Tom for organising, and glad to see that the Bell is now going strong again after the hiccups earlier this year...
Rob C.
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Axel P
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by Axel P »

Thanks a lot Tom and Alex for the organisation. Lovely Ports, pleasant talks and a "not too shabby" peace of meat.

From a foreigners point of view this atmosphere can only be seen on TV elsewhere.

Have a pleasant christmas time

Axel
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djewesbury
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by djewesbury »

This was a wonderful evening. I found it apart impossible to score as my bit of the table was extremely crowded with glasses, multiple pieces of paper containing various scribbles, and my dinner (thanks Tom, the best steak I've had in a very long time). Does someone have the photos of the score sheets (etc)?
Thanks to all, it was a privilege to attend.
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PhilW
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by PhilW »

An excellent evening; Thank you to all for their contributions and organisation, including the excellent steaks which were (or at least mine was) cooked perfectly.

My favourite ports of the night were the F20 and S20, the former slightly more structured and the latter slightly softer, but both delicious with honourable mention to the W60, and the 1968 Andresen was the best brown sticky by a margin (very good - buy some!). Also much appreciated was the opportunity to experience both the 1880 Whitwhams and the 1858 Hatch Mansfield, the latter of which was sipped while musing that when harvested Darwin was writing his Origin of the species! Very generous contributions, thank you gentlemen.
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jdaw1
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by jdaw1 »

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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

The obvious conclusion from the scoring sheet being that we like ports from the 1920s.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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jdaw1
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by jdaw1 »

My low-quality TNs entered.

On the back of one of my TN sheets are two quotations:
  • “From a historical point of view we really should have squashed the Belgians.”
And, allowing quotation here:
  • “I’m sorry, you can quote me on that.”
But I don’t recall who was the speaker.
PhilW
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by PhilW »

AHB wrote:The obvious conclusion from the scoring sheet being that we like ports from the 1920s.
The other conclusion I would draw from both this and the previous year's result is that while we appreciate and have enjoyed some very interesting and old tawnies, we seem to have a clear strong group preference for mature ruby over tawny.
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djewesbury
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by djewesbury »

Last year was my first but I got the distinct impression that some felt there to be a tawny glut. Fair?
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: The Bell, Thursday 19th December 2013

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Very fair. One or two in the line-up seems to be our collective preference.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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