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Consider these bottles and their offences carefully - then pass sentence..

Tom

On the grounds my Offley 63 was corked, I could at least have a vicarious tasting through yours.

Alan

Another Offley '63 could be a candidate for the Xmas bash...

Tom

uncle tom wrote:Another Offley '63 could be a candidate for the Xmas bash...

Tom

That sounds good. If I'd known I wouldn't have voted that way. I presume it cant be changed. If I could, I'd now pick the Taylor 77. The reason for that is very simple. If it's not spoilt, I suspect it's the one you would enjoy the most.

Let me do that for you then. I have a small stack of Taylor's 1977, and a couple of those were not in the best condition. I've tried those and they were all very enjoyable. Perhaps not at the heights that Taylor 77 is capable of, but still a great port. I expect that it will give you a good portion of joy.

Tom I'll go for the leaker because when I find one it worries me the other bottles near will catch it.So drink up and enjoy

Tom I'll go for the leaker because when I find one it worries me the other bottles near will catch it.So drink up and enjoy

Earlier this year I went through my entire cellar, giving every bottle a necktag with a unique i.d. number. At the same time, I recorded levels and those that had evidence of seepage, and put them on the 'puter.

This has prompted me to target seepers and poor levels when selecting bottles. Only 1.1% of my cellar now shows signs of seepage, and most of them are non-critical - The N70 on death row still has a good level, but is a little sticky on top.

While 43% of my cellar are still hidden in their original cases (none older than '83 now) and 7% have glass that is too dark to check only 3.5% have a level that is below base of neck, and a quarter of those are Dalva 70's.

By this time next year, I hope to have drunk through or re-corked all the seepers, and reduced the numbers with poorer levels.

Tom

Tom,

Maybe one day, you may feel inclined to give us your thoughts on re-corking, the reasons, the risks, the practicalities of how to,etc.

I'm in the dark, so it would be an interesting read for me.

Alan

One of the big issues with re-corking is getting the old cork out without leaving half of it in the bottle.

I am still (in idle moments) assembling my ultimate cork remover, which will use a long hypodermic to inject Nitrogen into the bottle to lift the cork in a controlled manner, while keeping the body of the bottle in a pressure vessel to prevent explosion.

- I'll finish it eventually!

~~~

Most of the bottles I have with seepage signs acquired them before they entered my cellar, and I was usually aware of it when I bought the bottle. However, the number developing problems after they have been rested chez moi is much lower than I expected.

From time to time, new arrivals that appear to be OK turn out not to be after a month or two downstairs, but the number showing signs of cork failure after they have been with me for six months or more is extremely small.

When I expanded my cellar, I was concerned that the pace of cork failure might be a little too rapid for me too drink through them all as they arose, without that factor driving my choice of bottle too often, and that I might therefore want to re-cork a half dozen or so each year - hence the great machine.

Although my cellar is not perfect, with some seasonal temperature variation, and a little warmer overall than I would like, I now think that figure will be closer to one or two a year - possibly less.

Some corks are doomed to fail from the outset, and you occasionally find a seepage stained bottle when opening a case. Others seem destined to give out after 30 years or so - but these bottles tend to be isolated instances, with the remaining bottles in the case staying sound.

Some corks reduce to pulp and start to seep after 50-60 years, but as others are reasonably sound after this period, I wonder if this is down to quality of cork or storage conditions..?

I would venture to guess that if bottles are laid in a reasonable cellar and not disturbed too much, most will get to 100 years without the need for re-corking.

By operating a strict Darwinian 'survival of the fittest' regime when choosing a bottle from a case to consume, and keeping your bottles reasonably well cellared, the issue of re-corking seems to be fairly marginal.

Tom

Well it's a tie between the N70 and T77 (barring any late voting)

So I'll call Conky's second preference and decant the Taylor tomorrow.

(none of the others are likely to see Xmas.. )

Tom

The '75 Dow sounds quite interesting. An odd ball vintage.

Some people think that the D75 is one of the winners from this vintage, but my previous encounters don't particularly shine; Graham and Taylor are both very respectable, as is Croft, but my one encounter with Delaforce was very poor. Others, from memory, do not stand out.

This would be an interesting year to use for a wide ranging horizontal (tasted blind)

Tom

uncle tom wrote: This [1975] would be an interesting year to use for a wide ranging horizontal (tasted blind)

I have the following 1975's which I have been collecting for just that very purpose:

• Croft
• Fonseca
• Graham
• Martinez
• Taylor
• Warre

I plan to do this on an occassion when Stevie and Ronnie can attend as they are both of the same Vintage

I do hope you have more Dow's, Tom, so that you can add to the line-up

Derek

I have had all those 75's bar the Fonseca and had the Dow's quite recently which was a poor showing or a poor bottle I found Grahams the best and still good value but rising in the past year.I have found a few bottles from cases I have bought which have started get sticky after a month in my cellar.

In addition to the eBay bottle, I have one more Dow '75 of reasonably good provenance - I won't rush to drink it!

Cockburn, Noval and Sandeman would be good to complete the lineup, although they are rarely seen in the market.

Tom