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Alex invoked an emergency for Tuesday 16th August 2016, at the Boot and Flogger.

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 1967 Cockburn (AHB);
• 1963 Cockburn (IDJ);
• 1970 Dow (CPR);
• 1989 Barão de Vilar white colheita (JDAW);
• 1960 Croft (DRT);
• 1968 Fonseca Guimaraens (THRA);
• 2012 Reserva Duas Quintas Douro (donated by Ramos Pinto);
• Placemats;
• Planning and arrangements.

A lovely polished red colour, glowing and attractive; 30% opaque. Vibrant and focused on the nose, with red cherry and fresh basil. Sour cherry on the palate, but powerful and with a big streak of acidity giving a sharp focus. No shortage of fruit and air releases a little bit of floral perfume. A surprisingly big mouthful. Some heat on the aftertaste from the acidity before a huge finish of aniseed and peppery basil takes over for 2 minutes. Delicious, but a little monolithic. Hopefully more time in the glass will allow this to fill out and develop some more complexity.

2 hours later, this was the tasting note:
Now much sweeter onthe nose with rose hips and redcurrant; a slight tingle of alcohol and perhaps some higher alcohols. Also sweeter on the palate with the acidity being more gentle plus some tannins showing under the dusty cherries. A hint of lavender appears on the late palate and leads into the aftertaste, followed by a long and slightly sticky finish of aniseed and cracked black pepper. 89/100. Decanted 3 hours.

Ck67. Bright red, 40% opaque. Palate soft and light, with something sharp mid-palate. Bright strawberries; slightly acidic; thinner than ideal.