UPDATED: FTLOP 1st Annual - Final guest and wine list

[Glenn E.]

Saturday Night
1977 Dow (to compare to the one over the holidays that managed to hide its corkedness)
1977 Fonseca (100 points WS!)
1977 Taylor (one of "Roy's 12")
1985 Fonseca (another of "Roy's 12")
1985 Graham
1994 Fonseca (100 points WS!)
1994 Taylor (100 points WS!)
1994 Vesuvio

Yesterday was also fun, but being a Colheita guy it just wasn't the same for me. Still, the lineup was awesome and I got to experience something very new to me. More on that in a moment.

I was rather surprised to find that I liked the 1994s better than the 1985s and 1977s. The tannins in them are massive and make your tongue feel like it's wearing a wool sock, but their fruits are also massive and hedonistic. If the tannins would recede just a little bit I'd be drinking these every day! But as they currently stand I can't do much more than sip them or my face will implode from the pucker.

Of the two flights of 1977s, my favorites were the Ferreira in the first flight (over the Warre, Dow, and Smith Woodhouse) and the Fonseca in the second flight (over the Gould Campbell, Graham, and Taylor). I liked the Ferreira because it was pleasant and approachable, and (at least for me) had the most identifiable secondary flavors. It had a very slight edge to start with, but that faded instantly into a pleasant warmth. This is the Port you'd drink in front of the fire on a cold winter's night. I liked the Fonseca in the second flight because it was so perfectly integrated and had a fun blend of spices and candy apples (minus the cinammon). There was also a twinkle in the color that made me think it was winking at me. The others in its flight were all very good, but just weren't as ready to drink right now.

The bottle of 1977 Dow's we had for this event was corked just like the one I had at Christmas, which is to say that I couldn't tell it was corked but everyone else seemed to be able to. At Christmas, Roy didn't notice it was corked until the second day. The fruit in this wine is very powerful and able to hide the TCA at least for a while. Several people commented that this bottle of the Graham's wasn't showing well at all, so it's possible it would have rated higher for me if it had been a better bottle.

We also had two flights of 1985s. I liked the Smith Woodhouse in the first flight (over the Offley, Warre, and Dow) and the Burmester in the second flight (over the Martinez, Fonseca, and Graham). We then tasted a "mystery" Port, which was badly corked. After several comments around the table, I realized it has to be a 1983 Cockburn. Sure enough, that it was. I really enjoyed tasting it, though, because it's the only time I've ever been able to detect a corked wine. I must be practically immune to the stuff, because others around the table were physically recoiling when they smelled it.

The Burmester deserves mention because in retrospect it's pretty amazing to me that it beat out the F85 and the G85. Those are two amazing wines that are well known by practically everyone, but on this night the Burmester just had that little something something that put it over the top. I noted it as mustard, but thinking back it was more of a mustard powder than actual bottled/jarred mustard. For me it just gave the wine and additional richness and roundness that the others didn't have. The G85 was my second favorite of the flight, relegating the F85 to third. I'd be happy to share a bottle of any of them, though - it was really pretty close.

After dinner we served the 1994s, and they were huge. HUUUGGGEEE! You should need a license to drink these bad boys.

My notes for the first flight are cryptic because I just couldn't get past the wall of tannins and fruit. Every sip made me pucker and try to suck the tannins back off my tongue. I did manage to note some chocolate in the Dow's, but in the end the Taylor Fladgate won the flight (over the aforementioned Dow, and Smith Woodhouse, and a Ramos Pinto Quinta da Ervamoira). I'm not sure that the Taylor Fladgate actually deserves the 100 points that Wine Spectator gave it, but it's really good. And it's only going to get better, so stock up if you can find it.

The second flight was even more stunning if you can believe that. 1994 Vesuvio. 1994 Fonseca. 1994 Graham's. Move the Taylor Fladgate into this flight and you'd be in Port heaven.

For me the Vesuvio was a disappointment, but that caused people to drop their silverware when I said it. For just about everyone else it was the star of the show. I just didn't think it had the fruit or the fullness of the Fonseca or the Graham. It's all relative, though - the Vesuvio was still an incredible wine and was easily in my top 5 for the entire night.

The Graham was the stunner for me, though. Rich, fruity, full, bold, tannic, well-structured... think of all the words you use to describe an astounding Port and insert them here. It had a mildly sour note similar to the mustard in the Burmester, and that may be what pushed it over the top for me. I also noted dark chocolate and cherries. It was a huge wine, but still drinkable. Well... sippable. Nothing in the 1994 flights was truely "drinkable" because you'd choke on your own tongue as it swelled up due to the tannins.

To rank them, I'd have to go something like this:

1994 Graham
1994 Taylor
1994 Fonseca
1994 Vesuvio
1985 Burmester
1985 Graham
1977 Fonseca

After that things start to get fuzzy.

Gotta run... time to get ready for DAY THREE!!!

[Al B.]

Folks,

The Superbowl being on TV tonight reminded me that you are all together and - from the sound of it - having a wonderful time and enjoying some superb wines.

May the grand finale live up to its expectations. Enjoy, and have at least one toast to absent friends. I shall be sipping on some Ferreira 1970 to keep you all company tonight, whilst watching the superbowl and wondering what it will be like when driving to work tomorrow in what has been forecast to be the heaviest snowfall in a decade.

Alex

[Derek T.]

Folks,
I shall be sipping on some Ferreira 1970 to keep you all company tonight, whilst watching the superbowl and wondering what it will be like when driving to work tomorrow in what has been forecast to be the heaviest snowfall in a decage.

Exactly how much of that Ferreira 70 have you already had Mr B?

[Kris Henderson]

WOW! What a great weekend of tasting. I'm surprised that I feel almost sober at the moment. I'll try to get notes up over the next couple days.

[Glenn E.]

WOW! What a great weekend of tasting. I'm surprised that I feel almost sober at the moment. I'll try to get notes up over the next couple days.

What he said!

Tonight was a revelation for me, but I'll wait until morning to post my "review" of the day's ports. I'm still a Colheita guy, but after tonight I have a lot more respect for mature vintage Port!

BTW Alex - we had a 1970 Ferreira tonight also. Some thought that our bottle might have been very slightly corked, but to me it was perfectly fine. Of course that's not saying much, because I've now had 3 decidedly corked bottles and could only tell on one of them (yesterday's 1983 Cockburn).

[Moses Botbol]

Where's the pictures?

[Andy Velebil]

what a great weekend and it was made even better by all the people that attended. Some great Ports, Madieras and Douro wines for sure. Gotta ru to catch a plane home now. Post more later.

[Glenn E.]

Where's the pictures?

Coming! Patience, Grasshopper.

[Glenn E.]

Sunday Night
1947 Noval
1960 Niepoort
1966 Graham (one of "Roy's 12")
1970 Fonseca (another of "Roy's 12")

Sunday has come and gone. Pittsburgh's Stealers nabbed another Super Bowl trophy. And a lot more Port was consumed!

Sunday was a revelation for me. I have had old Vintage Ports before - in fact significantly older than what we had here - but I've never had good old Vintage Ports. These were my first from top-tier producers, and they were pretty amazing! Not quite enough to bring me over to the dark side - I'm still a Colheita guy - but now I can see what it is that the rest of you like so much.

The first flight was stellar, consisting of a 1935 Sandeman, a 1947 Noval, a 1960 Niepoort, and a 1960 Taylor Fladgate. The Sandeman was beautiful and elegant, showing some honey, some almonds, and a little bit of pear. To me it felt like it had peaked already and might actually be on the down slope, but if that is true it is still very close to its peak. And it only got better from there!

The '47 Noval and '60 Niepoort were my favorites. If the '47 Noval is what every VP aspires to be, then I completely understand everyone's fascination with Vintage Port. It was phenominal, easily besting my previous favorite VP which was a 1963 Fonseca. To me the '60 Niepoort was equally good, but completely different. Others thought it was off, or had too much VA, or various other minor complaints, but I thought it was amazing. I found brown sugar, a variety of spices, honey, something minty like eucalyptus, various floral notes, and even some bay leaf all hiding in the many layers of this complex Port. It had just the right amount of heat and just the right amount of acid for me.

The '60 Taylor Fladgate was just a half step below the Noval and the Niepoort. Some thought it needed more time, but I felt like it was mature and in its prime. This is a fabulous Port that could have won just about any other flight had it not been matched up against the Noval and Niepoort.

Amazingly, that left the 1935 Sandeman in last place for me. Truely a magnificent flight of Port!

From there we had nowhere to go but down, but it was a gentle slope. The next flight was four superb 1963s. I had the Graham's in first, narrowly beating out the Robertson's Rabello Valente, the Dow, and the Warre in that order. The Warre would have been higher, but to me it tasted like wet cardboard. No one else could taste it - or smell it - though, so I don't know what was going on. It was very prominent for me - I could readily identify the taste almost instantly every time I took a sip. The Graham's was just a superb Port - luscious and rich, possibly even needing a few more years to reach its peak. Definitely a Port to buy and savor if you can find it.

We took a break for dinner at that point, and Daniel's Broiler did not disappoint. I believe that several cows gave their lives in support of our banquet, as the serving staff brought plate after plate of juicy red meat into the room. It was the perfect meal to go with fine Vintage Port.

Immediately after dinner came the flight of 1966s. More than one person thought that this might have been the finest flight of the entire weekend. For me the Taylor Fladgate won, beating the Graham, Dow, and Warre. But it was a very even flight, and most people had all four Ports rated within 3-4 points of each other (and also typically had them in the mid to upper 90s). I think that the massive steaks affected my palate, because I really couldn't detect much in this flight. I could tell it was made up of really great Port, but my notes are very simple and limited. The Taylor got 2 words "lightly spicy" and that was sufficient to put it in first for me.

The last flight of the weekend was, yet again, quite a stunner. Five of the best Ports 1970 has to offer: Dow, Ferreira, Fonseca, Graham, and Taylor. I had the Taylor and Graham tied for first, and that seemed to fit with what most everyone else thought, but I broke with concensus for my 3rd place wine which was the Ferreira. Several people thought it was mildly corked, but I couldn't see that at all and thought it was lovely. I had an absolutely fabulous Fonseca in 4th place if you can believe it, mostly because I thought it wasn't ready yet. That Port is going to last another 20 years, and will only get better with more time. The Dow finished last only because I thought it was a little sharp.

At the end of the evening we all said goodbye, and there was a lot of enthusiasm for next year. As great as this year's lineup was, I suspect that next year's will be even more mind blowing. Mark your calendars now because you won't want to miss it!

[Eric Menchen]

Let me start off with the most important thing, giving thanks were it is certainly deserved.

First, thanks to Roy for his incredible efforts putting this together. Under the best of circumstances it was a huge task, and Roy still managed to get it done under trying circumstances. Thanks also for answering my numerous e-mails and all the consultations on the ports and wines. Overall I think they showed well, and certainly helped complete things. If you liked what I brought, thank Roy. If you didn't, blame me :)

Second, thanks to Roy, Andy, and anyone else that helped with all the decanting and serving logistics. I was tired enough as it is. I know you guys put in a lot of late hours to make sure things were properly served. Your efforts showed.

Third, thanks to all! Thank you for sharing your wines, as well as your knowledge, thoughts, and impressions. It made for a wonderful weekend all around. I felt a little bit like someone who jumped into the deep end of the pool to learn how to swim. Before I arrived I felt like I was in over my head, but you all helped keep me afloat.

A few tasting notes and pictures to follow ...

p.s. Sorry we had to cut out early on Sunday. We did manage to sample all of the ports, and even though we had to rush through a few, my wife thought Sunday was worth it just for the first flight. Those were awesome.

[Roy Hersh]

The best part for me, was meeting so many people for the first time. Guys like Eric M., Alan G., Jeff K., Ed B., Andrew T. etc. that I now feel like I have gotten to know them and look forward to many more offlines together over the years! We had 20 people over the course of the 3 days, with about 14 attending all three events and the rest coming for one night apiece as guest visitors which kept things even more fun.

I really loved that the wives who attended, Laura and Marjike ... both had very astute palates and were willing to provide insights into the wines they tasted. I found their commentary every bit as insightful as any of the rest of us from the entire group on each flight. They also added a bit of class to the events, keeping us all on the up and up.

What was also quite intriguing, was seeing the incredible difference of opinions on the wine. As just one example, Glenn mentions above, the 1935 may have been over the hill, while others liked it best in the flight and for the whole tasting. I'm not picking on Glenn, because in every flight and nearly every wine, there was someone who went against the tide of opinions and I really enjoyed that dynamic. Heck, I preferred the 1947 to the 1935, so who am I to talk? No right or wrong, just a bunch of friends sharing their own thoughts on a plethora of wines.

The majority of participants in our tasting yesterday had their oldest VPs ever. I know they'll never forget these "firsts" of which there were many. It was nice to be able to have a few older bottles for people who don't often get a chance to drink the crazy old bottles to see what a truly old (5-8 decades) Vintage Port can turn into.

Watching the group really respond to the oldies and also get excited by the really young 1994s, was rewarding and what could be more fun than having people find a new favorite amongst Ports or great Madeiras they'd never had before ... including me. Those kinds of differences of opinion, kept the entire three days so fascinating and educational. One person's best of flight was the next person's lowest scoring wine. There was only a rare consensus on a winner and very rarely even then was it unanimous. I found that to be great, having folks agree and disagree on every single wine and everyone keeping a totally open mind. Very impressive.

It was also a blast having some of the young wines show so well ... although one gent (a dear friend of well over a decade of Port drinking together) who had a near-perfect record with Cockburn's '83s from his cellar; really wanted to show us how great this wine really can be ... and it was poured blind to the group. It was fine even after several hours of decanting and was poured back in the bottle. Lo and behold, I think he was amazed that his bottle was badly corked (not shocking to regulars here) as soon as it hit the glassware. We all had a good time with that.

So many great bottles, a few stinkers along the way (5 of 90 were corked ) and overall such a great time. Thanks to all of you who participated and shared your views on the Colheitas, Madeira, young VPs and older ones as well. I don't foresee having a better tasting of Port anytime soon, but if someone would like to organize such an event, I am always willing to try. Also, I'd like to thank all of you for your generosity. It was truly appreciated and made for one stellar lineup!

I am sure we are going to have many diverse reports to come, as I don't believe there were any duplications of opinions even within a single flight. That is what made this the most fun for me. A Port/Madeira free-for-all. And I should not leave out those 30 awesome Douro wines (2 back-to-back, which made up part of the 5 corked wines this weekend).

Next year's theme is already planned but will remain under wraps until about November, but you can count on late Jan. 2010, here in Seattle ... and keep it open on your calendars ... however, we'll do our best to avoid having it during the Super Bowl next time!

Please DO put your photos in PORTraits and TNs in the proper Forum area and not in this thread. Again thanks to all of you for a remarkable weekend. I dropped off my liver today and should have it dry cleaned and pressed and ready for insertion by tomorrow so I can start consuming wine again. Today, I think I will give my other organs a break.

[Glenn E.]

Here are links to PDF files for the placemats used this weekend!

Friday night Colheita tasting
Friday night Madeira tasting
Saturday 1977 and 1985 Vintage Port tasting
Saturday 1994 Vintage Port tasting
Sunday older Vintage Port tasting

[Eric Menchen]

Here are the bulk of our photos from the weekend:
http://picasaweb.google.com/foomench/SEAport#
You'll have to ignore a few tourist diversions if you're only interested in the tastings.

[Andy Velebil]

Great pictures!!

[Roy Hersh]

Eric,

Great shots, I really enjoy looking at other's photos. What do I have to bribe you with to get you to upload these on PORTraits with captions?

[Eric Menchen]

Great shots, I really enjoy looking at other's photos. What do I have to bribe you with to get you to upload these on PORTraits with captions?

I was thinking there should be a gallery/subfolder in the PORTraits just for the gathering. Otherwise we'll be doubling (or more) those that are in the current "Offlines & Port Events" gallery. That's just my opinion. What do you think? Other than an answer to that question, no bribe needed.

[Roy Hersh]

Eric,

I don't think it is necessary to create a new folder. As long as you add the date on the picture's description and 2009 FTLOP Gala Port Celebration, we'll always know which are which AND they will be grouped by date for posterity sake. Over the years, as long as the description is precise, it will be very easy to find them. Additionally, coming up with fun captions for each, will be the best part. Get creative!

Thank you

[Heather Hathwell]

Kudos to Roy for organizing such a fun and informative weekend, and thanks to all for your contributions.

Heather

[Roy Hersh]

and thanks to Heather for going so far out of her way to add Sunday night to being with us for a 3rd event and even rescheduling flight/hotel to do so!

Monumental and I really enjoyed having you with us ... very pleased indeed!