Multi: Offline at the Crusting Pipe, London - 12th October 2007
Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 3:42 am
My heartfelt thanks to Roy, Nicos, Christopher, Paul and Ian for such a fun evening on Friday night. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to have some very special ports in the company of people who really appreciate them.
My tasting notes follow, and I hope the other folks will post their impressions of the wines or at least of the evening.
I'd like to thank Roy for putting himself to the inconvenience of returning home from Portugal via London; to Paul for making the considerable effort to travel down from Scotland for the evening; to Nicos for providing the wines we drank with our food; to Ian for his constant hospitality at the Crusting Pipe and to Christopher for keeping his promise to take part in the offline when it would have been very easy for him to have gone straight home to his family given how late he had to work on Friday night.
We tasted all but one of these wines blind and had some tremendous fun trying (and failing) to guess producer and vintage. The scores are mine alone and are based in the way the wines showed on their initial pour as many of them (the Fonseca '80 and the Taylor '63 in particular) changed significantly and would have scored several points higher if I had had the sobriety to score them later in the evening.
Delaforce 1985 - double decanted for 24 hours
Paling colour, thin on the rim and showing signs of maturity. Alcohol dominates the nose, underneath I can pick up stewed rhubarb and cooked tomato. A slightly sharp entry, a little unbalanced but the fruit develops in the mid-palate with the wine blossoming beautifully into a full mouthfeel with a lovely balance. A long redcurrant syrup aftertaste that starts immediately after swallowing and lasts a long time. This port is close to the average of what I would hope to drink this year, let down only by the unbalanced initial entry, but is not likely to change significantly over the next 10 years so I rate it 5/10 for current drinking and 5/10 for drinking in 10 years time (5/5) or 88/100.
Port A with 9 hours double decanting.
Deep red but transparent center, colour holding into the rim. Sweet, ripe fruit nose. A touch of mustiness, brambles and obvious alcohol. Full bodied entry, sweet but with a fierce mid-palate pepperiness from the inintegrated alcohol. The tannins in the mouth are well integrated but the alcohol is fierce. The typical mintiness that a Taylor sometimes shows.
The aftertaste starts with a lot of red licorice and a very hot finish but has good length and development. The heat in the mid-palate spoiled this for me and made a good port poor, certainly below the average of what I would expect to drink this year. Very difficult to predict how this port will develop with the extremely obvious alcohol. I rated this a score (out of 10) of 3 for current drinking and 2 for drinking in 10 years time or 85/100
[Footnote: On Roy's suggestion we poured the remainder of this wine back into the decanter and came back to it at the end of the evening. With the additional 3 hours of time in the decanter, this wine had changed substantially with the alcohol having integrated beautifully. To me, this was the wine of the night (just) and I thank Paul for letting me have the last glass as a birthday present, but I admit to a bias for this particular port as it was the one I was given as a 21'st birthday gift. Scoring after having put this back in the decanter for three hours would have been 9/9 or 95/100 - this will have been one of the 15 best bottles I will taste this year, although probably not one of the best 5.]
Port B - 3 hours decanter time
A solid, deep ruby core thinning into the rim and paling to an orange meniscus. A nose of sweet mandarins and marmalade with some lovely clover honey tones. A balanced entry, sweet but with acidity to offset the sweetness. Dried fruits like prunes and figs come through. A little heat in the midpalate around huge depth and thick texture. Mature flavours, well into secondary life but still with lots of fruit and christmas cake. An aftertaste that is not huge, but just goes on and on with sweet black licorice dominating the flavours. Well above average and into the top quartile for drinking today. This wine is showing wonderfully and is not likely to fall apart anytime soon - 8/8 or 95/100 (and my very close runner-up as wine of the night).
Port C - 12 hours double decant time
A deep red colour, holding right into the rim, the colour expected of a vintage port around 15 years of age. The nose is slightly hot, but brings sweet mulberries out of the glass. A sweet entry, full of fruit, perhaps a touch drying from the tannins. The acidic structure is light, balanced and surrounded by fruit. The tannins are soft and hidden away. Midpalate development is lovely, bringing lots of layers of fruit, all-spice and a touch of pepperiness. A soft aftertaste starts quickly, holds for a while and then fades quickly away. This is a very pleasant drink today and one which is likely to be just as good in 10 years time. 6/6 or 91/100.
Port D - 17½ hours double decant time
Orange centre, deeply evolved colour, distinct orange rim - a wine which looks elderly. A nose of quince, honey, a touch of burnt rubber and some eucalyptus notes. In the mouth the initial impact is sweet but balanced with an acidic structure. Lots of tertiary caramel and burnt sugar flavours, a nice "brown sugar" complexity and an occasional bitterness like is found in walnut skins. The aftertaste is very quiet, lingers a while but then goes sooner than I would have hoped. A little above the average for drinking today and a port that I would anticipate will decline with grace over the next 10 years. 6/5 or 90/100.
Port E - 12 hours double decant time
Deep colour, holding right into the rim, Nose with an alcoholic overtone but with a lovely sweet menthol and licorice essence. Floods of sweet blackberries come into the mouth, with a light and creamy mid-palate. Lots of complexity in the development of the wine in the mouth. The aftertaste takes a while to kick in and is not massive or long lasting. Overall this is a youthful wine that is likely to develop a considerable elegance over time. Bottom of the top quartile and will improve over the next 10 years. 6/7 or 90/100.
Port F - 1 hour
A clear colour, light and transparent; rosey hue with some bricking on the rim. A lovely, uplifting nose of herbs and lavender over a strawberry syrup. A sweet, neutral entry with lots of redcurrants and some raisins; a nice and spicey mid-palate. A sweet, gentle aftertaste dominated by Seville orange marmalade that slowly morphs into a slightly bitter coffee. Drinking very nicely today but with lots of life ahead of it yet and probably still room for improvement. 6/7 or 90/100.
[This was another of the wines that changed dramatically in the glass over the course of the evening. When returning to this wine 3 hours later it was considerably more elegant and integrated than it had been when first tasted. On the later showing this port would probably have been rated as 7/7 or 91/100.]
Port G - 4 hours
A very dark brown colour, almost opaque at the centre. A maderised nose, very strong VA with a distinct appley core. A smooth impact with a lively sparkle from the VA. A lovely appley complexity and a stewed fruit mid-palate. The aftertaste brings a wallop of black molasses and creme brulee.
I did not rate this wine as it was so different from anything that I am used to tasting. As we discussed what we had tasted in this wine, we came to the conclusion that what we might be tasting was an extreme example of Douro bake. This was a very, very interesting wine. As a blending wine into an aged tawny, this would bring some considerable depth and complexity even if used in very small quantities.
The Wines Revealed
So what were the wines? They were:
Port A - Taylors 1963; a Berry Brothers bottling that had lain in their cellars since being bottled. In lovely condition and a great wine. Thanks to Paul for this contribution.
Port B - Cockburn 1955; an excellent bottle and one that showed very well indeed. My first 1955 port, for which I will be very grateful to Nicos.
Port C - Morgan 1991; I decided that we had to show Roy for himself what the fuss was all about. Now he has seen the Morgan 1991 and can understand why we keep drinking so much of it.
Port D - Grahams 1948; sold to me as a Croft 1945 but with no label on the bottle. The seal had all but fallen off the bottle and all I could make out from the seal was the letters INT across the middle. When the cork was pulled, it came out in one piece and was very clearly branded Grahams 1948. A bit of a surprise but one I decided I could cope with.
Port E - Warre 1970; Christopher's contribution and one that sparked off an interesting conversation about whether this port is starting to really come round after a very long time of being disappointing.
Port F - a Fonseca 1980 from Ian. Light and elegant, I really love this particular vintage of Fonseca. It is so different from the normal burliness I associate with the "great" vintages. To me, this is a Fonseca that gently carresses the senses as you sniff, sip and swallow.
Port G - a one off. Roy had this bottled a week ago when he was in the Douro especially for this tasting. Quinta da Brunheda (I hope I have the spelling right) 1906 colheita. Many thanks Roy!
And finally, we were thrown out at midnight and I only just made the last fast train home. It was a great evening, terrific company and some fabulous and interesting wines. I had so many firsts - my first '48, my first '55, my first experience of a real concentrated Douro bake blending wine - and learnt a very interesting lesson on the differences in the wine after double decanting compared to decanting into an open decanter.
I look forward to the next Crusting Pipe offline! Paul has requested a 1977 horizontal...
Alex
My tasting notes follow, and I hope the other folks will post their impressions of the wines or at least of the evening.
I'd like to thank Roy for putting himself to the inconvenience of returning home from Portugal via London; to Paul for making the considerable effort to travel down from Scotland for the evening; to Nicos for providing the wines we drank with our food; to Ian for his constant hospitality at the Crusting Pipe and to Christopher for keeping his promise to take part in the offline when it would have been very easy for him to have gone straight home to his family given how late he had to work on Friday night.
We tasted all but one of these wines blind and had some tremendous fun trying (and failing) to guess producer and vintage. The scores are mine alone and are based in the way the wines showed on their initial pour as many of them (the Fonseca '80 and the Taylor '63 in particular) changed significantly and would have scored several points higher if I had had the sobriety to score them later in the evening.
Delaforce 1985 - double decanted for 24 hours
Paling colour, thin on the rim and showing signs of maturity. Alcohol dominates the nose, underneath I can pick up stewed rhubarb and cooked tomato. A slightly sharp entry, a little unbalanced but the fruit develops in the mid-palate with the wine blossoming beautifully into a full mouthfeel with a lovely balance. A long redcurrant syrup aftertaste that starts immediately after swallowing and lasts a long time. This port is close to the average of what I would hope to drink this year, let down only by the unbalanced initial entry, but is not likely to change significantly over the next 10 years so I rate it 5/10 for current drinking and 5/10 for drinking in 10 years time (5/5) or 88/100.
Port A with 9 hours double decanting.
Deep red but transparent center, colour holding into the rim. Sweet, ripe fruit nose. A touch of mustiness, brambles and obvious alcohol. Full bodied entry, sweet but with a fierce mid-palate pepperiness from the inintegrated alcohol. The tannins in the mouth are well integrated but the alcohol is fierce. The typical mintiness that a Taylor sometimes shows.
The aftertaste starts with a lot of red licorice and a very hot finish but has good length and development. The heat in the mid-palate spoiled this for me and made a good port poor, certainly below the average of what I would expect to drink this year. Very difficult to predict how this port will develop with the extremely obvious alcohol. I rated this a score (out of 10) of 3 for current drinking and 2 for drinking in 10 years time or 85/100
[Footnote: On Roy's suggestion we poured the remainder of this wine back into the decanter and came back to it at the end of the evening. With the additional 3 hours of time in the decanter, this wine had changed substantially with the alcohol having integrated beautifully. To me, this was the wine of the night (just) and I thank Paul for letting me have the last glass as a birthday present, but I admit to a bias for this particular port as it was the one I was given as a 21'st birthday gift. Scoring after having put this back in the decanter for three hours would have been 9/9 or 95/100 - this will have been one of the 15 best bottles I will taste this year, although probably not one of the best 5.]
Port B - 3 hours decanter time
A solid, deep ruby core thinning into the rim and paling to an orange meniscus. A nose of sweet mandarins and marmalade with some lovely clover honey tones. A balanced entry, sweet but with acidity to offset the sweetness. Dried fruits like prunes and figs come through. A little heat in the midpalate around huge depth and thick texture. Mature flavours, well into secondary life but still with lots of fruit and christmas cake. An aftertaste that is not huge, but just goes on and on with sweet black licorice dominating the flavours. Well above average and into the top quartile for drinking today. This wine is showing wonderfully and is not likely to fall apart anytime soon - 8/8 or 95/100 (and my very close runner-up as wine of the night).
Port C - 12 hours double decant time
A deep red colour, holding right into the rim, the colour expected of a vintage port around 15 years of age. The nose is slightly hot, but brings sweet mulberries out of the glass. A sweet entry, full of fruit, perhaps a touch drying from the tannins. The acidic structure is light, balanced and surrounded by fruit. The tannins are soft and hidden away. Midpalate development is lovely, bringing lots of layers of fruit, all-spice and a touch of pepperiness. A soft aftertaste starts quickly, holds for a while and then fades quickly away. This is a very pleasant drink today and one which is likely to be just as good in 10 years time. 6/6 or 91/100.
Port D - 17½ hours double decant time
Orange centre, deeply evolved colour, distinct orange rim - a wine which looks elderly. A nose of quince, honey, a touch of burnt rubber and some eucalyptus notes. In the mouth the initial impact is sweet but balanced with an acidic structure. Lots of tertiary caramel and burnt sugar flavours, a nice "brown sugar" complexity and an occasional bitterness like is found in walnut skins. The aftertaste is very quiet, lingers a while but then goes sooner than I would have hoped. A little above the average for drinking today and a port that I would anticipate will decline with grace over the next 10 years. 6/5 or 90/100.
Port E - 12 hours double decant time
Deep colour, holding right into the rim, Nose with an alcoholic overtone but with a lovely sweet menthol and licorice essence. Floods of sweet blackberries come into the mouth, with a light and creamy mid-palate. Lots of complexity in the development of the wine in the mouth. The aftertaste takes a while to kick in and is not massive or long lasting. Overall this is a youthful wine that is likely to develop a considerable elegance over time. Bottom of the top quartile and will improve over the next 10 years. 6/7 or 90/100.
Port F - 1 hour
A clear colour, light and transparent; rosey hue with some bricking on the rim. A lovely, uplifting nose of herbs and lavender over a strawberry syrup. A sweet, neutral entry with lots of redcurrants and some raisins; a nice and spicey mid-palate. A sweet, gentle aftertaste dominated by Seville orange marmalade that slowly morphs into a slightly bitter coffee. Drinking very nicely today but with lots of life ahead of it yet and probably still room for improvement. 6/7 or 90/100.
[This was another of the wines that changed dramatically in the glass over the course of the evening. When returning to this wine 3 hours later it was considerably more elegant and integrated than it had been when first tasted. On the later showing this port would probably have been rated as 7/7 or 91/100.]
Port G - 4 hours
A very dark brown colour, almost opaque at the centre. A maderised nose, very strong VA with a distinct appley core. A smooth impact with a lively sparkle from the VA. A lovely appley complexity and a stewed fruit mid-palate. The aftertaste brings a wallop of black molasses and creme brulee.
I did not rate this wine as it was so different from anything that I am used to tasting. As we discussed what we had tasted in this wine, we came to the conclusion that what we might be tasting was an extreme example of Douro bake. This was a very, very interesting wine. As a blending wine into an aged tawny, this would bring some considerable depth and complexity even if used in very small quantities.
The Wines Revealed
So what were the wines? They were:
Port A - Taylors 1963; a Berry Brothers bottling that had lain in their cellars since being bottled. In lovely condition and a great wine. Thanks to Paul for this contribution.
Port B - Cockburn 1955; an excellent bottle and one that showed very well indeed. My first 1955 port, for which I will be very grateful to Nicos.
Port C - Morgan 1991; I decided that we had to show Roy for himself what the fuss was all about. Now he has seen the Morgan 1991 and can understand why we keep drinking so much of it.
Port D - Grahams 1948; sold to me as a Croft 1945 but with no label on the bottle. The seal had all but fallen off the bottle and all I could make out from the seal was the letters INT across the middle. When the cork was pulled, it came out in one piece and was very clearly branded Grahams 1948. A bit of a surprise but one I decided I could cope with.
Port E - Warre 1970; Christopher's contribution and one that sparked off an interesting conversation about whether this port is starting to really come round after a very long time of being disappointing.
Port F - a Fonseca 1980 from Ian. Light and elegant, I really love this particular vintage of Fonseca. It is so different from the normal burliness I associate with the "great" vintages. To me, this is a Fonseca that gently carresses the senses as you sniff, sip and swallow.
Port G - a one off. Roy had this bottled a week ago when he was in the Douro especially for this tasting. Quinta da Brunheda (I hope I have the spelling right) 1906 colheita. Many thanks Roy!
And finally, we were thrown out at midnight and I only just made the last fast train home. It was a great evening, terrific company and some fabulous and interesting wines. I had so many firsts - my first '48, my first '55, my first experience of a real concentrated Douro bake blending wine - and learnt a very interesting lesson on the differences in the wine after double decanting compared to decanting into an open decanter.
I look forward to the next Crusting Pipe offline! Paul has requested a 1977 horizontal...
Alex
