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A horizontal of 1991s, some Vintage, some Single-Quinta, on Monday 9^th December 2019, at The Boot & Flogger, as arranged by GEAG.

Links:

• Review of the event as a whole;
• Tasting notes:
  • Dow;
  • Graham;
  • Warre;
  • Quinta do Vesuvio;
  • Smith Woodhouse;
  • Gould Campbell;
  • Cockburn;
  • Cockburn Quinta dos Canais;
  • Taylor Quinta de Vargellas;
  • Fonseca Guimaraens;
  • Croft;
  • Morgan;
  • Quinta do Noval;
  • Quinta do Noval Nacional;
  • Quinta de la Rosa;
  • Niepoort;
• Placemats (and in the list of placemats);
• Planning and arrangements.

Opened 1630 on 08/12/19, decanted 1930. The wine very clean, only the last tablespoon needing to be set aside with a thick sediment that otherwise stayed in the bottle. The last tablespoon promising violets.

D91. Glorious red, 50% opaque. Lovely red cherry, mid weight, heat. Also a dry spice behind. Liked, but lighter and overdeveloped for its twenty-eight years.

Red rather than dark, pale at rim. The violets from decanting are gone, now quite spirity on the nose. Red fruits on the palate. I am not wholly convinced it will age gracefully, but it is quite pleasant. Equal #4 WOTN on the night of the horizontal - with the Noval Nacional, which tells you a bit about both.

Fairly light in colour, nice sweetness and plenty of fruit on the nose. Liked it less in the mouth with acid out of balance and little tannin left.

A mature red colour, 40% opaque. Rather odd on the somewhat muted nose of gentle red fruit. A lovely smooth satin texture accompanied by lovely perfumed fruit. Nice acidity keeps the fruit alive and elegant. The fruit is deliciously concentrated on the late palate, full of mulberry and tayberry. Some heat and acidity on the aftertaste before a delicious chewy finish with a twist of bark or quinine of great length. Elegant, but not the powerhouse expected of Dow. A delicious drink today – bright and lively. 89/100.