Thu 17th January - The Dow Magnumonicon

[Alex Bridgeman]

This tasting will be at the Davy Bar & Grill, High Holborn, WC1V 6DT starting as close to 18:30 as we are able to manage. The large private room has been booked for the tasting with discussions continuing whether we will also eat in the room or whether there will be space in the main part of the restaurant for us to move to a seperate table for our dinner.

A rather wonderful opportunity has arisen, where Symington Family Estates have offered us the opportunity to have an ex-cellars magnum vertical of Dow vintage ports - a case of magnums of Dow port from the vintages of 1994, 1985, 1980, 1977, 1970 and 1963 - a "tasting in a box".

The cost of these ports is a shade under £1,000. I have purchased the case will use it as the theme for this tasting. We'll split the cost of the port between the people who attend.


Attending
1/ AHB (confirmed)
2/ CMAG (confirmed)
3/ JDAW (confirmed)
4/ Cynthia Jenson (confirmed)
5/ Nicola Thomson (confirmed)
6/ WS1 (confirmed)
7/ ADV (confirmed)
8/ Nicos Neocleus (confirmed)
9/ Magnus (confirmed)
10/ DRT (confirmed)
11/ BMHR (confirmed)
12/
13/
14/

Waiting List
1/ RAYC (attendance subject to work commitments)

[RAYC]

Very exciting.

When were these shipped?

For something like this, i would suggest we play it very safe and get these to the location that they will be decanted and allow at least a good 3 months of rest before opening.

Which suggests to me that beginning of 2013 is the earliest date...

12 bottle equivalent = 12 person limit? (including a Symington rep?) Or full 14?

[Alex Bridgeman]

CMAG has indicated that he would like to attend.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Very exciting.

When were these shipped?

For something like this, i would suggest we play it very safe and get these to the location that they will be decanted and allow at least a good 3 months of rest before opening.

Which suggests to me that beginning of 2013 is the earliest date...

12 bottle equivalent = 12 person limit? (including a Symington rep?)

These have not yet been shipped, but expect to be shipped in a month or so.

I quite like the idea of having something to look forward to in the cold winter months. Maybe a February date would be a good one.

I'm always happy to accommodate 14 people at a tasting. With 14 people you get a reasonable pour and when it's 14 people sharing a magnum then you get a generous pour. If we fear a port shortage then we can always do what we have done in the past - have the main event and then have port dessert.

Good suggestion to consider a Symington rep. I'll give that some thought...

[RAYC]

I'm always happy to accommodate 14 people at a tasting. With 14 people you get a reasonable pour and when it's 14 people sharing a magnum then you get a generous pour. If we fear a port shortage then we can always do what we have done in the past - have the main event and then have port dessert.

Very good points - agree completely.

[jdaw1]

Yes please.

I have W85 and T85 in magnum. Would it be worthwhile to compare them to the D85?

[WS1]

would also be interested. Please put me down.

regards

WS1

[Andy Velebil]

Don't know travel and work issues quite yet but save me a seat.

[griff]

Yes please! All dates possible at this stage.

[Andy Velebil]

I neglected to add available date preferences, my apologies. February works best, but late January would also generally work. The closer to a weekend the better due to flying, time change, and work schedule issues.

[PopulusTremula]

Sounds really interesting, please count me in.

/Magnus

[DRT]

Yes please!

[benread]

I would love to attend if dates work out. Mondays are generally easiest but with enough notice another date is possible. As some of you know, Dow was the port I was gifted at borth, so of great interest!

[RAYC]

Might be a controversial suggestion (particularly when other mags are being offered), but one potentially interesting option (if we are looking to add a few bottles) is to do a mini Senhora de Ribeira vertical to the end.

I have always been rather impressed when i have tasted Ribeira - i have a feeling that it is rather overlooked in terms of its future potential...

[RonnieRoots]

Very much interested! But I can't possibly say when I will make it over to the UK at this stage, so don't hold a seat for me, but if you are going to make a waiting list, please put me on it.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Very much interested! But I can't possibly say when I will make it over to the UK at this stage, so don't hold a seat for me, but if you are going to make a waiting list, please put me on it.

Noted.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Might be a controversial suggestion (particularly when other mags are being offered), but one potentially interesting option (if we are looking to add a few bottles) is to do a mini Senhora de Ribeira vertical to the end.

I have always been rather impressed when i have tasted Ribeira - i have a feeling that it is rather overlooked in terms of its future potential...

I'm not hugely keen on the idea of a Senhora da Ribeira vertical. In my experience, too many of the vintages are currently going through their awkward phase. I'd prefer just to have a "bring and drink" course after the Dow magnums of part ready to drink.

Happy to have a Senhora da Ribeira tasting at another time though.

[DRT]

At this point we have 12 x 75cl of Port and 11 people.

If I wasn't me I might be tempted to ask why we need a second tasting. Luckily, I am me, and wouldn't dream of asking such a ridiculously stupid question.

Obvious candidates to add would be single bottles (or magnums if we have to ) of Dow 1955, 1960, 1966, 1983 and 1991.

[Cynthia J]

If I can possibly get there, I would love to sit in on this one... and you know how little I drink, so I won't upset your calculations at all! At this stage, any date is do-able.

[Alex Bridgeman]

At this point we have 12 x 75cl of Port and 11 people.

If I wasn't me I might be tempted to ask why we need a second tasting. Luckily, I am me, and wouldn't dream of asking such a ridiculously stupid question.

Obvious candidates to add would be single bottles (or magnums if we have to ) of Dow 1955, 1960, 1966, 1983 and 1991.

Happy to add to the line-up - but only if the wines are from Dow and in magnum.

[DRT]

Dow 1955, 1960, 1966, 1983 and 1991.

Happy to add to the line-up - but only if the wines are from Dow

I can confirm that Dow 1955, 1960, 1966, 1983 and 1991 are all "from Dow".

[Alex Bridgeman]

Dow 1955, 1960, 1966, 1983 and 1991.

Happy to add to the line-up - but only if the wines are from Dow

I can confirm that Dow 1955, 1960, 1966, 1983 and 1991 are all "from Dow".

So now you just have to have the shoe elves deliver them to you in magnum!

[DRT]

Dow 1955, 1960, 1966, 1983 and 1991.

Happy to add to the line-up - but only if the wines are from Dow

I can confirm that Dow 1955, 1960, 1966, 1983 and 1991 are all "from Dow".

So now you just have to have the shoe elves deliver them to you in magnum!

Does anyone have the phone number of Magelvium?

[Axel P]

Alex,

please put me down if the date works for me. When do you think you will finally decide to put down a date? Shall I book the club for this? Shall we invite people to bring regular bottles along for comparison reasons? I guess this would make most of the fun.

Axel

[Alex Bridgeman]

A date of Thursday 17th January is now proposed for this tasting.

Please could those who have previously indicated that they would be interested in attending now confirm that they are still interested given the date has now been fixed.

The plan is still to have only the 6 magnums at the tasting, splitting their £1,000 cost between the people attending. I also intend to have the tasting at The Bung Hole (aka Davy's Holborn Bar and Grill) and eat off the standard menu which will cost around £35 per head. As a guide, please budget £135 for your costs if you plan to attend. I will probably collect the cost of the port from people who confirm their attendance before the end of October as I will need to pay for these bottles shortly.