I had a great time. Thanks everyone for humoring me during my trip to support my wife's crossword puzzle endeavors.
Uncle Jack's was a fine restaurant. They weren't packed, but they were busy enough. I thought the service was quite good, and as Jeff said they only charged us corkage x2 instead of the originally agreed upon 1/2 corkage x6. The steaks were good, but not great. I'm fairly tolerant regarding steaks, but I do have a clear preference for well aged Nebraska corn-fed beef. These steaks were 21-28 day dry aged, which just isn't quite enough for me but is still respectably good. Nick & Stef's at MSG clearly serves better steaks (at least to me), but it's also more expensive. I guess it's a case of "you get what you pay for."
In looking back at my notes (to be posted soon), I don't really have a clear winner. The Fonseca '80 was probably the best all-around Port for the evening, but I didn't like the way it paired with the food. During tasting, the Graham's 20-yr was the clear winner, but once paired with food the Cockburn's 20-yr really stood out. The Costa de Baixo was good, but never tops. It seemed a tad weak - diffuse, as opposed to concentrated, was the word suggested by Dominic - but was still quite pleasant to drink.
I'm sitting here with leftover Cockburn's 20-yr, and it's showing better to me now than it did last night. I suspect that's a side effect not of the air time, but of the Calvados with which I started the evening last night. All of the 20-yr olds were weaker than I expected last night, and the apple brandy is probably the culprit. Tonight the Cockburn's seems to have a more classic profile than it did last night, though it still seems thin compared to my normal drinkers (Ramos Pinto and an occasional Taylor's).
I can't actually post my TNs until I return to Seattle because they're stored on my phone... which is currently providing me with an internet connection. I'll get them up on Monday, hopefully.
