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1977s were tasted by a strict subset of the obvious folks, on Tuesday 11^th June 2024, at the Boot & Flogger, as arranged by Martin Coulson.

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• Tasting notes:
  • 1977 Warre;
  • 1977 Dow;
  • 1977 Graham;
  • 1977 Gould Campbell;
  • 1977 Smith Woodhouse;
  • 1977 Berry’s Own Selection ≈ Quarles Harris;
  • 1977 Offley Boa Vista;
  • 1977 Ferreira;
  • 1977 Sandeman;
  • 1977 Fonseca Panascal;
  • 1977 Fonseca;
  • 1977 Taylor;
  • 1977 Croft;
  • 1977 Delaforce;
  • 1977 Morgan;
  • 1977 Ramos Pinto;
  • 1977 Niepoort;
  • 1977 Royal Oporto;
  • 1977 Morano;
  • 1977 Ducal;
• Placemats;
• Food order;
• Planning and arrangements.

Beautiful colour. Nose is a bit whiffy. Palate thin and acrid. Wrong.

No fruit on nose & something not 100% right.
Palate better, but overly dry. The nose "wrongness" coming through in the mouth. Maybe a very slight touch of TCA?

D77, glorious red, 35% opaque. First attempt: soft, sweet, red fruits, mid-palate strong bitterness and heat. Actually soft and lovely. Later: light and bitter.

45% opacity, mature red, brick brown rim.
Classic '77 nose. Dusty black cherries and figs, green peppers.
Full mouthfeel, figs and cooked plum.
Adequate, but not a spectacular bottle.

Nose: cherry and almond on the nose
Palate: luscious black cherries on entry. A touch of spice in the mid palate that takes red cherries into the finish. Good-ish, but I think I need to come back to this later (I don't have any notes suggesting that I did).

Dow 1977: Mature rose red, 60% opaque. Fresh star-fruit nose, lavender around the edges. Very odd palate, youthful and light-weight. Tannins play around with the bright redcurrant. A little hot and acidic. Long chocolate on the redcurrant finish. Impressive length but this is an unusual bottle - perhaps stored in very cold conditions so not as mature as expected. 85/100. Decanted 12 hours.