The Port of Belfast, Tuesday 25th June, 6pm, The Galley Café
Posted: 14:07 Wed 26 Jun 2013
Images of the preparation and the tasting itself are available here and here. You will find exciting action shots like this:
Mouthwatering product like this:
And heartlifting scenery like this:
Decanting of those that required it was at midnight on Tuesday / Wednesday. Decanted were:
We had a full complement of 14 guests, and began pouring at 5pm. Only one bottle, the Graham's Crusted, poured short: there must have been less than 70cl in this bottle.
Guests were greeted with a white port and tonic (Cockburn, which seems designed to be watered down; it fulfilled only one of Ernest's 'duties').
djewesbury gave a short account of the making of port as he toured through the styles on the table, including a brief description of his conversion and the spiritual counsel received at
. The talk touched on the need to serve port in proper glasses (licensed establishments in Belfast generally using daft little thimbles), the problems of availability and storage, and his desire to initiate the Belfast Port Revival. We worked through a description of the ports in the tasting fairly quickly, so that people could spend time lingering on their favourites with the buffet that The Galley had provided.
The menu:
As we poured the final glass, a chilled Marks & Spencer 20Y Tawny, we were joined by Deirdre McCanny of CoCouture, one of Ireland's leading chocolatiers and, fortuitously, a near neighbour of The Galley. Deirdre introduced a full tasting, taking us through various Valrhona couvertures, as well as the produce of the Grenada Chocolate Company. We were told how to release the aroma of chocolate, how to test its snap, and, at last, how to eat it. (The last was quite easy, but Deirdre was very generous and there was some excellent chocolate left over at the end of the night, which might end up here.)
djewesbury having spoken for quite a while, made no tasting notes of his own, but did register in passing that:
The crowd were sippers, and there was a lot left. We did our duty.
The Wine & Spirits Institute might be interested in co-hosting a tasting later this year / early next year. We are also going to pursue some ideas already hatched: an invitation to Sogevinus to put together a tasting of Kopke colheitas, currently unavailable anywhere in Ireland; a Sandeman tasting, perhaps; as well as confirming the details for Nick Delaforce's visit later this year.
Belfast is back on the purple map!
Mouthwatering product like this:
And heartlifting scenery like this:
Decanting of those that required it was at midnight on Tuesday / Wednesday. Decanted were:
- 2004 Croft LBV
- 2004 Graham's Crusted
- 2000 Fonseca
- 1990 Graham's Malvedos Centenary
We had a full complement of 14 guests, and began pouring at 5pm. Only one bottle, the Graham's Crusted, poured short: there must have been less than 70cl in this bottle.
Guests were greeted with a white port and tonic (Cockburn, which seems designed to be watered down; it fulfilled only one of Ernest's 'duties').
djewesbury gave a short account of the making of port as he toured through the styles on the table, including a brief description of his conversion and the spiritual counsel received at
. The talk touched on the need to serve port in proper glasses (licensed establishments in Belfast generally using daft little thimbles), the problems of availability and storage, and his desire to initiate the Belfast Port Revival. We worked through a description of the ports in the tasting fairly quickly, so that people could spend time lingering on their favourites with the buffet that The Galley had provided. The menu:
- Dried apricots and other dried fruits with nuts, as guests arrived;
- Rare roast fillet of beef, served cold, sliced thinly, with pickled apple matchsticks;
- Coarse crab and almond pâté on soda bread crisps;
- A cheese board - Cashel Blue, Ballybrie, Ossau Iraty, served with damson chutney, honey, walnuts, gherkins, and
- a fruit bowl of grapes, pears, strawberries and apricots.
As we poured the final glass, a chilled Marks & Spencer 20Y Tawny, we were joined by Deirdre McCanny of CoCouture, one of Ireland's leading chocolatiers and, fortuitously, a near neighbour of The Galley. Deirdre introduced a full tasting, taking us through various Valrhona couvertures, as well as the produce of the Grenada Chocolate Company. We were told how to release the aroma of chocolate, how to test its snap, and, at last, how to eat it. (The last was quite easy, but Deirdre was very generous and there was some excellent chocolate left over at the end of the night, which might end up here.)
djewesbury having spoken for quite a while, made no tasting notes of his own, but did register in passing that:
- Two people did not like the Crusted at all, despite this being a tasty, sophisticated wine;
- The Croft felt rough and chunky alongside the more subtle flavours of some of the other ports;
- Neither of the vintages had much in the way of strong tannins, the Fonseca being quite dumb still, and the Malvedos, only about 50% opaque, very soft and subtle;
- The 20Y Tawny was the clear winner as the crowd's WOTN.
The crowd were sippers, and there was a lot left. We did our duty.
The Wine & Spirits Institute might be interested in co-hosting a tasting later this year / early next year. We are also going to pursue some ideas already hatched: an invitation to Sogevinus to put together a tasting of Kopke colheitas, currently unavailable anywhere in Ireland; a Sandeman tasting, perhaps; as well as confirming the details for Nick Delaforce's visit later this year.
Belfast is back on the purple map!