Tuesday 12th October, London - 55 @ 55 Tasting

[Al B.]

Timed to try and match the potential return travel plans of those US folks travelling on Roy and Mario's Harvest Tour this year, we are organising a tasting in London of as many shippers of the 1955 vintage as we can get hold of - hence the theme of "55 @ 55" since they will be celebrating the 55th anniversary of their vintage.

Arrangements are still being finalised, but the date is confirmed as Tuesday 12th October. Cost is likely to be in the region of GBP £50-60 plus a contribution of 1-2 bottles from the 1955 vintage either in the form of port or funds towards the costs of the port. (The cost of the port is likely to work out to be around £120 per bottle or £180 per person but will obviously depend on the ports we are able to source.)

Anyone who is able and would like to attend, please post a reply here so as to help me with the planning of the event. Please also let me know by PM whether you have any 1955 port you would be willing and able to offer for the tasting.

Places will be limited and will be offered on a first response, first secured basis (with some exceptions for folks who are helping me with the organisation of the tasting). This thread replaces any and all previous threads talking about this tasting - if you want a place then let me know; having a place from a previous thread does NOT give you a place at the table unless your initials are listed below. To start with, places will be limited to 14 to ensure we have decent tasting samples but if enough extra people are interested then I will look at the practicality of using two bottles of each port so that we will be able to accommodate up to 28 people.

Confirmed Attendees
1) AHB (Buckingham Palace Blend)
2) THRA (Taylor)
3) AP (Offley)
4) Industry Guest
5) RAH (Adopting)
6) NN (Adopting)
7) DRT (Martinez)
8) BMHR (McKenzie)
9) GEE
10) CMAG
11) CSD
12) JDAW (Warre)
13) RLC (Sandeman)
14) Markus D - tentative

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Alex

[Roy Hersh]

Alex,

A great theme and a nice tribute for the birthday of Uncle Tom who turns 50. I have some '55 VIntage Port, but think it would be bad to shlep it overseas and then around Portugal for a week and then on a plane to the UK. Last time I flew there with a 1906 Brunheda Colheita and it showed really poorly when it was first opened and subsequently it was great several days later when it settled down.

If anybody is heading over to London, prior to October, please let me know if you would be willing to mule a bottle of my Port over to Alex. I'd make it worth your while.

Alex, thanks for arranging this, I am sure it is going to be a great horizontal.

[Al B.]

Roy,

I've sent wine via courier and via Seabrooks from the US to the UK so if you can't find anyone who is travelling over to the UK, you can always send things that way. Or perhaps Bartholemew is travelling over for the London Wine Fair?

Alex

[Roy Hersh]

Jeepers, I thought that wine fair was in May, no?

Shipping wine (unless Madeira) during hot summer months, overseas seems like it is fraught with peril. Do you really think this would be safe?

[Glenn E.]

Alex,

Just in case I'm not already on the list (I think I'm on the waiting list), please include me.

[Al B.]

Glenn

There was a lot of confusion earlier this year with people jumping ahead of the organisation of this tasting, and an attendance list was created for two tastings, both of which were tentatively being planned for early October. Neither tasting had a date set, nor any organisation other than the attendance list.

To get round the complete confusion, I am now starting the organisation from zero, with no-one on the 55 @ 55 attendance list other than the organisers. You are therefore now on the attendance list as the second non-organising placeholder.

Once a couple more people put their names forward, I'll create an attendance list and edit it into my first post on this thread.

Alex

[Al B.]

Jeepers, I thought that wine fair was in May, no?

Shipping wine (unless Madeira) during hot summer months, overseas seems like it is fraught with peril. Do you really think this would be safe?

I think you're right about the date of the wine fair, my mistake.

Seabrooks ship wines in temperature controlled containers so, in theory, your wines should be OK but there is always the chance for something to go wrong.

By the way, Tom was 50 this year and we celebrated his birthday with a 1960 themed offline that was quite educational.

Alex

[Andy Velebil]

I wish I could make this, but due to other commitments later this year, I will be precluded from jetting off to the UK after the Harvest Trip. Instead I'll be back in L.A. on this date and very unhappy that I couldn't attend what I know will be a fantastic tasting.

[Al B.]

I wish I could make this, but due to other commitments later this year, I will be precluded from jetting off to the UK after the Harvest Trip. Instead I'll be back in L.A. on this date and very unhappy that I couldn't attend what I know will be a fantastic tasting.

That is slightly ironic, given that you were asking for the post-harvest tour to be the 55 @ 55 theme so that you could increase the number of 1955 ports you had tried. Never mind, you'll just have to do it the slow way - 55 @ 65 perhaps?

[Andy Velebil]

I wish I could make this, but due to other commitments later this year, I will be precluded from jetting off to the UK after the Harvest Trip. Instead I'll be back in L.A. on this date and very unhappy that I couldn't attend what I know will be a fantastic tasting.

That is slightly ironic, given that you were asking for the post-harvest tour to be the 55 @ 55 theme so that you could increase the number of 1955 ports you had tried. Never mind, you'll just have to do it the slow way - 55 @ 65 perhaps?

Yes I had really wanted to attend this tasting when the original talk of it started a year ago or so. However, I have to be back at work soon after the harvest trip and can't take anymore time off after we finish in Portugal...how about 55 @ 56

[Markus D.]

Alex,

I didn't want to commit at first because I'm only 75% sure I'd be able to make it, however, I see the last two spots haven't been claimed during the last 3 weeks - would it be possible to tentatively accept and confirm in a month?

This sounds like an amazing tasting and not something I want to miss!

Markus

[Roy Hersh]

Markus,

You should have joined the other handful of Canadians coming on the Port Harvest Tour and THEN headed over to the UK with us!

[Al B.]

Alex,

I didn't want to commit at first because I'm only 75% sure I'd be able to make it, however, I see the last two spots haven't been claimed during the last 3 weeks - would it be possible to tentatively accept and confirm in a month?

This sounds like an amazing tasting and not something I want to miss!

Markus

Markus,

You're in for now. If someone else can commit 100% and asks for the last spot (which is the one you got!) I'll get back to you and ask whether you are able to 100% commit or not. Can you let me know your initials and whether you are left or right handed (it affects where you sit at the table).

Incidentally, the theme for 2011 has already been decided so if any of you are thinking of going on Roy and Mario's 2011 Harvest Tour we will be organising a London based tasting a couple of days after the tour so those of you travelling back to North America can do so via London and join us for the tasting. The theme for next year will be a comparative tasting of the ports from Fonseca, Taylor, Graham and Dow from the years 1963, 1966, 1970 and 1977. Places will be limited to 14 (or 28 if we get enough interest) but I won't start taking bookings until about this time next year.

Alex

[Roy Hersh]

The 2011 theme sounds like a fun one!

I purchased my flights for this year's 55@55 last night and I am looking forward to seeing my good friends in the UK and enjoying some fine bottles of Port together. It seems like it has been a long time.

[Al B.]

Has anyone heard from Markus recently? I've been trying to find out if he has been able to confirm his attendance as I have someone on the waiting list who is able to confirm that they will be attending.

Alex

[Roy Hersh]

No word as of yet, but then again, I haven't been on here once in the past 10 days or so. I hope Markus can visit London too, but if not I am sure it will still be a great event. I am looking forward to the the tasting and hope that some of the lesser names surprise us. Are any of the flights being done blind?

[Al B.]

Markus wasn't able to confirm 100% so graciously gave up his place to someone who could.

I hadn't planned any of the flights to be blind - but do you want that to be done? I plan to taste either as 3 flights of 5 or as 7 before dinner and 8 after. We are still debating which would be best. If we taste blind, we'll do it semi-blind and know which wines are in the flight but not the identity of any particular bottle within the flight.

[Roy Hersh]

Personally, semi-blind serves no purpose. So I prefer one way or the other over semi-blind. Either way works.

Just a thought: How about going through all 15 prior to dinner and then revisiting them again after dinner. That way the purists who believe their palates are at their best prior to introducing food which changes the way Port shows, will be able to have zero interference from the food. I guess it boils down to timing of the event, but I love doing the Port prior to dinner whenever possible. I find the structure and other components is compromised by the food.

[Roy Hersh]

Thanks Alex for putting together a very compelling and educational tasting. I will write up my notes and include photos in the upcoming newsletter.

It was great to see Derek, Tom, Ben, Julian, meet Rob, Chris and others ... and of course Christian Seely was a very nice surprise.

[Al B.]

This was a great tasting and I had a whole pile of ports that I had never tasted before. We worked through Adams, a Factory House blend, Cockburn, Dow, Ferreira, Fonseca, Gonzalez Byass, Graham, Mackenzie, Niepoort, Noval, Offley, Taylor, Sandeman, Warre and an absolutely splendid Pichon Baron 1955.