Derek,
Thanks for posting your notes and it was great to see you and Uncle Tom. I think Roy and I did a half decent job of blind tasting, as a team.
Here are my notes, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Nicos
With my good friend Roy “Portmeister” Hersh in town as my guest, it was time to have even more fun. We arranged a modest get together with two other friends, namely Derek “Hardman” Turnbull and the notorious Port collector known as Uncle Tom. The venue was The Crusting Pipe in the heart of London’s Covent Garden, a well known haunt for Port drinkers. The seasonally warm weather made Roy smile even broader as we enjoy the various sights and sounds of London. My thanks to the guys for bringing some special Ports, and for their stimulating company.
What I ate
- Chicken liver pate (yes, I know, how 1970’s)
- Rib eye Steak sourced from Scotland (medium rare)
- Generous cheese plate (I ate most of the blue cheese)
- Apple tart (I do enjoy a good tart)
Dinner reds
1) 1995 Clos Des Papes rouge (Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France)
Firstly, I owe you an apology. I had promised I would do my utmost to keep my hands off my remaining bottles of this delicious wine. I had been good to my word for several months, but I could not take it anymore. Poured from bottle, no decanting. Deep ruby with a red spice laden nose. The moderately powerful palate is tight at first, with tannins that sill need bottle age. With air, opens up and provides masculine drinking pleasure with some feminity around the edges. Repeat after me, I will leave for another 5 years, I will leave for another 5 years, I will... 91/100.
2) 2000 Monte Bernardi – Tsingana – (Tuscany IGT, Italy)
Ah yes, another bottle of this legendary and notorious juice. The Greek Cypriot winemaker and owner Stak Avaliotis made wine in Tuscany for several years until certain personal issues forced him to sell. This is his top wine. In the Greek language, “Tzingana” means gypsy woman. Imagine drinking the black haired, wild but utterly entrancing Carmen from the opera of the same title and you will start to realise what affect this wine has had on some who have drunk it. A blend of Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon, poured straight from bottle. Very dark red, with a nose of sweet red fruit and a hint of herbs. Bags of focused balanced merlot fruit, excellent balance, clean acidity and some staying power. My 6th bottle so far and a pleasure to drink now but with a few more years of drinking/improvement in it. 92/100.
The Port flight
Please note that all of the Ports were initially served blind.
3) 1991 Grahams Vintage Port
Double decanted for 13 hours prior to drinking. Deep red, a soft Christmas pudding nose. Classic Grahams sweet, rich fruit, hints of spice, still youthful and rounded. This has the concentration to improve over 10-15 years, but will certainly drink now. 92/100.
4) 1955 Taylors Vintage Port
An Army and Navy bottling, briefly double decanted 8 hours earlier. Almost bright orange/amber. A nose of marzipan, soft dates, hints of marmalade, herbs. Lighter than other 1955’s I had drunk. Powerful on the palate, with bracing acidity, a very long and slightly nutty finish that dries off into the distance. High quality, a hint of alcohol, and tasted blind I guessed Taylors from the 1930’s. The lighter colour tricked me here. 94/100.
5) 1957 Niepoort Colheita Port
No bottling date, perhaps bottled in 1973. My thanks to Derek for bringing this gem along. Medium brown with a terracotta rim, leading to a nose of soft herbs and a hint of caramel. The rounded palate is pure velvet, a soft seamless nuttiness flowing the texture across my grateful tongue. WOTN. 95/100.
6) 1937 Niepoort Colheita Port
Thank you to Roy for raiding his cellar for this rarity. When we opened and tasted it at my place prior to setting off for the dinner, we were impressed by its sheer raw power and energy, like Pascal Chabal of the current French National Rugby side (who lost to England last Saturday). Roy decanted this into a bottle decanter at the venue and this adversely affected this older statesman of a Port. The optic became cloudy brown, hints of VA and caramel appeared by sniffing it. There were lots of alcohol and some rich dates on the palate. With time this improved marginally but this should have been a lot better. At best, 90/100 but should have shown a lot better.
It was great fun watching them trying to work out what it was. Nicos jumped to Taylor straight away then convinced himself it was a Dow. Roy had it in the 1927 to 1945 range, which was understandable as it was a fairly evolved bottle. After Tom revealed that it was evolved for it's age and from a great vintage 1955 was favourite. It was a beautiful glass of port with that signature warmth that always says Taylor to me. Not agressive heat, just enough to make you glow inside on a cold night.
- The wine was slightly cloudy (most likely from bottle shock) and had quite a lot of heat initially which may have benefited from a longer decant time. A very nice wine which I was most greatful to be able to taste but on this occassion it didn't really have the chance to show itself in the best light. I'll just have to find a reason to go to Seattle and taste another one to see how it does over there 
