For The Love Of Port

Sorry to miss this one.

My lovely wife and I will be on a flight back from Mexico, celebrating our 4th Anniversary.

Looks like Glenn has already freed my spot up on the roster, but just wanted to say that I'll miss seeing everyone, and thank you all for your ongoing support, enthusiasm and support for FTLOP. It's been an amazing 10 years, and look forward to many, many more.

Well I talked to the Holiday Inn and they've raised their prices. After reviewing other options in the area, we've decided to just hold the tasting at my house. I can fit 10 easily in my dining room, and up to 16 if we do some re-arranging of furniture in the living room, so we'll be fine.

I can also arrange transportation for people who have booked rooms at the Holiday Inn. If I put the 3rd row in my truck it will seat 7, so we can transport 6 at a time to and from the house.

If you'll be doing your own driving, PM me and I'll send you my address. We're about 4 miles from the hotel so it's pretty close.

I am sorry for keeping so quiet here on this topic. Glenn has been keeping me in the loop, while things in my life are spinning wildly towards my FAIR project and trying to wrap so many projects up before that starts, including one more newsletter before the FAIR break. I hope to see you folks at the anniversary party and bring some worthy bottles with me too. See you soon!

We have a mini-horizontal of 1955s forming...

Glenn E. wrote:Well I talked to the Holiday Inn and they've raised their prices. After reviewing other options in the area, we've decided to just hold the tasting at my house. I can fit 10 easily in my dining room, and up to 16 if we do some re-arranging of furniture in the living room, so we'll be fine.

I can also arrange transportation for people who have booked rooms at the Holiday Inn. If I put the 3rd row in my truck it will seat 7, so we can transport 6 at a time to and from the house.

If you'll be doing your own driving, PM me and I'll send you my address. We're about 4 miles from the hotel so it's pretty close.

Glenn, thanks for generously hosting and offering transportation. Can't wait! Is the Holiday Inn the closest hotel, or should we consider booking elswhere?

Steve Pollack wrote:Is the Holiday Inn the closest hotel, or should we consider booking elswhere?

I think it's the closest hotel to my house. If not, it's certainly one of the closest. It's also really convenient to both the freeway and my house, so it's probably the best option even if it isn't actually the closest. It's about 4.5 miles.

There is at least one other hotel in that area on the other side of the freeway. The next closest are in Redmond and Eastgate (technically Bellevue). Redmond is about 8 miles and Eastgate is about 10.

About to start my journey up to Seattle this evening. So excited to meet those I met last time up and just as excited to meet those I didn't, and of course excited for the port!

Have a safe trip!

Getting ready to board my flight in a few minutes!

Eric Ifune wrote:Getting ready to board my flight in a few minutes!

May your luggage be treated well and your row companions be quiet, recently bathed, and over the age of 15.

It was great to see all that attended and what a fabulous showing of wines without a single corked bottle. I love when that happens!

Thanks for all the extremely generous shares and a major shout out to Glenn for all of his efforts and organization!

What an evening!

As Roy said, every single bottle showed well and a couple of them showed extremely well. Here's the list... I'll post TNs as I find time.

1875 Isias W. Hellman Angelica
1974 Heitz Angelica
1952 Dalva Golden White Colheita
1963 Dalva Golden White Colheita
1941 Porto Rocha Colheita
1950 Kopke Colheita
1950 Porto Rocha Colheita
1955 Graham Vintage Port
1955 Adam Vintage Port
1955 Mackenzie Vintage Port
1963 Croft Vintage Port
1963 Ferreira Vintage Port
1970 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port

We didn't take a formal vote, but by general consensus the wine of the night was easily the 1875 Angelica. An absolutely amazing wine! The 1955 Graham and 1955 Mackenzie fought it out for Port of the night and I didn't get a clear picture as to which was more in favor at the end of the night. Both Ports evolved over time so the general opinion kept swaying back and forth. I preferred the Graham for drinking now, but - amazingly - the Mackenzie was still tannic and will likely continue to improve for another 10 years. You would not have noticed it as a ringer in a lineup of 1977 VPs.

A big thank you to everyone who attended - the people make the party!

Great night. Thanks again Glenn, and happy anniversary, Roy!

Fantastic evening. Great to meet/see again everyone there and share some special and delicious wines. Bravo especially to Glenn and Roy for hosting and creating the reason for an anniversary. Can't wait for the next edition already.

Sounds like a great time. I was very bummed to have missed this but circumstances prevented me. I hope to see everyone sometime soon.

Andy,

"Soon" as in, before they make you Sergeant Velebil?

Roy Hersh wrote:Andy,

"Soon" as in, before they make you Sergeant Velebil?

I hope. Lol

Decanting schedule question...and possible future tasting idea.

First off, I want to thank Glenn for hosting such and Amazing anniversary tasting. I also want to thank Roy and Glenn for my invitation. As I polish off the last of the '63 Croft, I'm noticing again how much more enjoyable an individual VP like this can be when consumed in isolation. While this wasn't in my top 3 of the night for overall interest and balance, I definitely liked both '63 VP more than most of the other tasters at the gathering. As I drink the Croft tonight, it feel more expansive and electric. I remember having a similar experience drinking the remainder of the '83 Offley and Fonseca after the '83 tasting. I realize that drinking a VP on its own will highlight the enjoyment factor, but I can't help wondering if all of the VPs would have benefited from more air time? Have you ever conducted a tasting where the group met over two days to evaluate and then reevaluate each port after 24 hours? I realize that such a tasting would require smaller pours on day 1 or the inclusion of magnums.

-Lindsay

Lindsay E. wrote: I can't help wondering if all of the VPs would have benefited from more air time? Have you ever conducted a tasting where the group met over two days to evaluate and then reevaluate each port after 24 hours?

Decant time is always difficult to get just right. I generally try to be conservative, because you can always let the glass sit for a couple of hours in order to let it continue to open up. If you over decant... well as the saying goes, you can't take the salt back out of the food.

I have tasted VPs with Roy over the course of 4 days before, though those were very young Ports and they needed the time in order to get a reasonable evaluation. And pretty much any time I open a bottle on my own it gets tasted over at least 3-4 days. I just don't drink a bottle all that quickly by myself.

I had about a half glass of the 1875 Angelica after 24 hours, and it was still going strong. It wasn't as nice as the first night at about the 2-3 hour point, but it was still pretty amazing. I also tasted the 1963 Ferreira after 24 hours and it was also still in great shape, though again I didn't think it was as nice as the first night. Maybe just a tiny bit flat. I finished the 1963 Ferreira on Monday night (after 48 hours) and while it was still very enjoyable, it was clear that it was getting flat and had been open too long.

Of course, the fact that we're even talking about 1963 VPs after 48 hours is pretty amazing...

Anyway, in my experience a Vintage Port will hit its sweet spot before the 24-hour mark unless it is very young. The just-released 2011s would probably be best on the 3rd day (between 48 and 72 hours after opening), and a strong 2009 might need 36-48 hours, but pretty much anything else will probably peak within that first day. It's then a question of how long will they hold at the peak, and I don't have a good feel for that yet. Most seem to me to start downhill shortly after peaking, but in a lot of cases it's a pretty gentle hill and they'll still be great for a day or two.

Just to add, the last ounce of the Adams had lost the funk it showed by day 2, but had also lost some of the great mouthfeel. Fruit was still good though, definitely still enjoyable.