decanting puzzle

[Rob C.]

I'm finally hosting my first port tasting on Thursday night.

I have two decanters, but need to decant 7 ports...I obviously also have a number of jugs etc. that could be used as makeshift decanters.

Currently I am proposing to serve the ports in original bottle (i.e. double-decanted) and blind (foil-wrapped, guests invited to guess which port is which based on tasting notes that are provided to them). I will leave for work at 9.00 (absolute latest) in the morning and return at 19.00 (absolute earliest). Port tasting will take place from 22.30. Potentially I could cycle home from work at lunchtime (13.00 to 14.00ish) if that would make a big difference to how the wines will show.

Question for those who are experienced in these matters is, how to stagger decanting/aeration/pouring back into original bottle to make sure all ports show as well as can reasonably be expected.

Depending on a couple of factors, current line-up anticipated to be as follows:

'05 Vesuvio
'01 Quinta do Vale Meao
'97 Niepoort
'92 Delaforce
'87 Fonseca Guimaraens
'83 Warre/Dow (undecided, but probably Warre as I have 2 bottles vs 1 Dow)
['70 Cockburn/Sandeman] [potentiall to be included if numbers swell]

Thanks!!

[EDIT: based on current research, plan would be:

08.30: Niepoort '97 and Vesuvio '05 into decanters. ('97 Smith Woodhouse on standby in case Niepoort is flawed)
13.30: '01 Vale Meao and '83 Warre/Dow into jugs and covered with a plate
19:00: Vesuvio '05 and Niepoort '97 back to original bottles (or cleansed 2l coke bottles to allow better continuing aeration?), '92 Delaforce and '87 Guimaraens into decanters.

22.00: all back into original bottles.]

[Derek T.]

I think all of these wines would stand an 8 hour decant time so I would do this:

1. Prepare all of your glassware (including cleaned Coke bottles) the evening before the tasting.
2. Get up early and decant each of the wines and return them to their original (rinsed) bottles immediately. Re-cork them and place them in the fridge to halt or minimise their development.
3. Cycle home at lunchtime and pour each wine into a suitable vessel to allow it to air until the tasting. Once possible exception is that I would be tempted to leave the Vesuvio 05 in a decanter all day instead of putting it in the fridge. The Meao 01 might benefit from the same treatment but I have never had it so don't know.

Enjoy your tasting!

Derek

PS: I love the idea of handing out tasting notes and asking people to match these to the wines

[Moses Botbol]

I think all of these wines would stand an 8 hour decant time so I would do this:

1. Prepare all of your glassware (including cleaned Coke bottles) the evening before the tasting.
2. Get up early and decant each of the wines and return them to their original (rinsed) bottles immediately. Re-cork them and place them in the fridge to halt or minimise their development.
3. Cycle home at lunchtime and pour each wine into a suitable vessel to allow it to air until the tasting. Once possible exception is that I would be tempted to leave the Vesuvio 05 in a decanter all day instead of putting it in the fridge. The Meao 01 might benefit from the same treatment but I have never had it so don't know.

Enjoy your tasting!

Derek

PS: I love the idea of handing out tasting notes and asking people to match these to the wines

I would do basically the same thing except for just keeping them in the original bottle as you mentioned you did not have enough decanters and I would not be so concerned about putting them in the fridge Wed. night. I would put them in the Fridge Thur. at lunch just to cool them down for the event.

As for the notes, I have been to a few wine events like that. Consider getting a two reviews on each wine and pair them together. You can see from our TN database that the same wine can have varied tasting notes.

One option is to generously pour all the wines in advance of your guests and let them do the serious part first. Let them guess and then bring out the bottles for the casual part of the evening unmasked.

[Rob C.]

This is great advice - many thanks both. Despite the best efforts of the delivery company to scupper the event, I think I am just about all set (though there will be a race around London tomorrow morning to locate a Vargellas '01 unfortunately)

Helpfully I have located pdf info sheets for most of the ports i will be serving (eg: http://www.quintadovesuvio.com/pdf/Vesu ... 005_EN.pdf) and a few other "expert" reviews. I'm sitting down to see if I can precis the defining characteristics of each of the ports I am serving according to any recurring themes that get mentioned in online reviews here/cellartracker/theportforum. I'll also see if I can dig out the generic "house style" descriptions that I have seen before on the web.

Hopefully that info, together with the varying ages of the ports, will give people a crack at identifying which is which!

Many thanks

[Roy Hersh]

Great advice from Derek and Moses. Do make sure to open the youngest ones first. Have a great time and please do share some TNs with us when you are all done.

[Rob C.]

A belated review of the UK “Election Year” port tasting I hosted earlier this year (and which I have been meaning to write up for some time).

This was a rather ill-disciplined "tv dinner" style port tasting, and I know for certain that the cheese and meat accompaniments, background election coverage and general non-port related distractions would not have met everyone’s approval, but it was an evening which we all immensely enjoyed.

A problem with incorrect delivery of one particular port meant a last minute re-jig to the original line-up, and we ended up with the following:

1983 Berry’s own label (Warre)
1987 Croft Quinta da Roeda
1992 Niepoort
1997 Smith Woodhouse
2001 Taylor’s Vargellas
2005 Vesuvio



Decant procedure was as suggested upthread, with the exception of the Vargellas which was unfortunately only acquired on the afternoon of the tasting. I also found some very passable tasting glasses and blind tasting covers through a Clapham-based internet company that I can thoroughly recommend to any London/UK FTLOPers (http://www.winebox.co.uk/)



The blind tasting added an interesting dimension, but I'm not sure that using tasting notes particularly informed anyone’s guesses (and certainly when you see how Suckling's descriptions of the same port differ over a number of years, you can understand why!). The group was able to identify the two eldest, two youngest and the mid-pair by colour/taste, but within the three pairings the guesses were all over place (though a couple of people did particularly well once they had the aid of the corks for a sniff test).



In terms of the ports:

BBR '83 (Warre) - slightly austere port, without particularly prominent fruit or strong flavours. Undeniable class, however, mouthfeel particularly silky, though perhaps too subtle to stand out alongside other ports and food and would have been better appreciated alone. Acquired for £28.50, my score was 89 (after a determined effort to re-base my scores after noticing the gradual creep of grade-inflation), fourth favourite in group

Croft Roeda '87 - picked almost unanimously as the oldest due to its tawny colour. Nicely mature port - very accessible and easy drinker - perhaps no fireworks but can be had on a song for £17.50 and would leave no one disappointed at that price. No bottling date to be found on label or cork, and the label itself a ghastly affair claiming to commemorate the release of the port by the planting of a eucalyptus in the Croft arboretum. My score 88, tied second in the group.

Niepoort '92 - easily the most distinctive of the ports, but in a way that I can’t quite put my finger on. I think I have seen it described somewhere as "earthy", which isn’t quite on the mark (and does nothing to suggest how good this is), but is better than I can manage. Was the first port I went back to on day 2, and I’m disappointed I didn’t pick up the second bottle of this when I made my purchase (£31). My score 90, tied second in the group.

Smith Woodhouse '97 - ticked all boxes for the group and by consensus was WOTN, with no leftovers for following day. Expansive nose, sweetness well balanced and great fruit/ainse and liquorice flavours, prominent tannins and a good long finish. Seemed to be drinking well at current age, which I would still have considered young. Met the non-port drinkers’ conception of what a good after-dinner port should do, and – in my opinion – absolutely fantastic at the price that this can be found. Re-tried at Boisedale's in Victoria more recently with similar success (though at considerably greater expense...). My one criticism is that the label resembles that of the M&S “Blue Harbour” clothing range, which is a slight pity if you're serving at a party (though I note that the perforated postage-stamp design now used seems far more elegant to me). 91 from me.

Vargellas '01 - suffered at the tasting from such a short decant (tasted in the 2 – 4 hr window) and was significantly more approachable the next evening (28 hrs). Tannins kicked a fair but not unpleasant punch, and sure this will be very nice in due course. Still felt too young not to consider it a slight waste to have opened, if I am being honest. My score 88, though having seen the rather more positive reviews for both ports on the TNDB, maybe i will develop more of an appreciation for ports at this stage in their life in due course. (acquired for £31.50).

Vesuvio '05 - universally identified as youngest, and not much enthusiasm for more than a few sips of this one (even that led to some impressive teeth-stain), meaning ample left for me to see development over next few days. I must say found the fruit rather overbearing and somewhat like the experience of drinking Ribena concentrate. I will admit that this is not an experiment I'm keen to repeat in a hurry, particularly given that the Vesuvio was most expensive port in the line-up by some margin. Very sweet, but I was expecting more prominent tannins. I did not think that it improved particularly over the next 24/48 hrs before it developed a faintly sour/vinegar taste, at which point I gave up. NR from me, acquired for £41ish. As before (and having spoken to others who I know see a big future in this port), maybe I will appreciate bottles at a similar stage in their evolution as I gain experience of what to look out for.

[Derek T.]

Rob,

Thanks for the report.

Before Roy or Andy say it: can I ask that you post individual tasting notes for each of the wines in the tasting note section of the forum so that others can find them in months and years to come?

All I will say is that "a rather ill-disciplined "tv dinner" style port tasting" is just the sort of thing we do here

Derek

[Rob C.]

Derek,

I will endeavour to do so - though it took a good 4/5 months to get the evening review up so may take a week or so before I get myself organised.

I actually stepped in as a late replacement for the Dow vertical and met some of the Crusted Pipe regulars for the first time on Tuesday - awfully good for a tv-dinner tasting!

[Derek T.]

I actually stepped in as a late replacement for the Dow vertical and met some of the Crusted Pipe regulars for the first time on Tuesday - awfully good for a tv-dinner tasting!

Welcome aboard the love boat

[Andy Velebil]

Rob,
Great recap, thanks for taking the time to share it.

And no worries, I'll split the tasting notes out for you.