We held my brother's 50th birthday party at our house last night. We are a large and extended family with 6 siblings who love port.
Our notes:
55 Taylor The favorite . Very smooth, decanted 8 hours. Balanced fruit. pale ruby color.
63 Graham's BB A favorite of a couple of us. Much more fruit forward. Mint, rich berry fruit.
92 Taylor In a class by itself, Hard to compare with the older ones but such concentrattion .
94 Warre A different but great style. I agree with the RP notes of licorice, rich jamy berry fruit.
A great way to celebrate a 50th Birthday.
Event: 1955, 1992 Taylor, 1963 Graham & 1994 Warre Vintage Port
Moderators: Glenn E., Andy Velebil
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Richard Henderson
- Posts: 693
- Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:21 pm
- Location: fort worth, Texas, United States of America - USA
Event: 1955, 1992 Taylor, 1963 Graham & 1994 Warre Vintage Port
Richard Henderson
Richard,
I am sorry for not responding when I first saw this on the Squire's BB, but after Mark's disrespect yesterday (first moving... then deleting my post on the 50 year Tawny Port news that I shared there), my attitude towards posting on that site has changed. I will still post on things of interest, but when it comes to Port ... folks will have to come here to gain the expertise of the folks who frequent this website. I invested many thousands of posts and incredible amounts of my time responding to all sorts of Port related questions there for 3.5 years and things will now change. I may add my two cents there on occasion, but the FTLOP will always be my priority, especially when concerning Port/Madeira and Douro wine posts. So thank you for cross posting this here.
I had the '55 Taylor's last week in Atlanta for the umteenth time. It showed very well there but although I always enjoy it, it never gets me excited the way some of the other '55s do. On any given night though, this would be a welcome addition. I just choose not to buy this particular one. As you have most assuredly seen me write in the past, Michael Broadbent is a huge fan of this particular Port. I might have only decanted this for 4-5 hours though. Did you try it earlier on in the decanting regimen?
1963 Graham's is one of my favorites of the vintage and is today, still a stellar example of the greatness of the top wines from this vintage. I have had this a half dozen times in the past four or five months and it has shown well on just about every occasion. In London at an offline with a dozen folks from this BB, it took a long while to evolve, but once it did, it was wonderful.
The '92 Taylor is the class of the vintage. It is a superb wine that will reward patience. It is fun to try today but I'd really advise leaving other bottles to reach further maturity. This is one of those great wines like the Taylor '45 I had last weekend, that deserve to be allowed to drink at their best. I am sure there are some people who feel that is next Friday night, but I am not one of them.
1994 Warre was one of the more under-appreciated wines of the vintage. I have a soft spot for it as I was at Quinta da Cavadinha in 1994 and was actually barrel sampling the 1992s at the time. True story: I had been visiting other Quintas like Bomfim and a driver from the Symington's took my gal and me to Cavadinha. He gave us two glasses, a clean 5 foot section of a garden hose and drove off. No one else was at the property and we had our way with the barrels, after he gave us some idea what the lay of that area was. I have pics to prove it. What an amazing experience. When the '94 vintage came out, I bought a case or more from every property I visited (and then many others too). I really enjoy the Warre and feel that between 1977 and 2000, it is by far the best wine they made. What say on that score?
Fort Worth is one of the very few cities (now that I have been to Atlanta) that I would like to do a Port tasting in this year. I have Miami and one or two others in my sites. Do you have enough folks (say approx. a dozen) to do a significant tasting?
I am sorry for not responding when I first saw this on the Squire's BB, but after Mark's disrespect yesterday (first moving... then deleting my post on the 50 year Tawny Port news that I shared there), my attitude towards posting on that site has changed. I will still post on things of interest, but when it comes to Port ... folks will have to come here to gain the expertise of the folks who frequent this website. I invested many thousands of posts and incredible amounts of my time responding to all sorts of Port related questions there for 3.5 years and things will now change. I may add my two cents there on occasion, but the FTLOP will always be my priority, especially when concerning Port/Madeira and Douro wine posts. So thank you for cross posting this here.
I had the '55 Taylor's last week in Atlanta for the umteenth time. It showed very well there but although I always enjoy it, it never gets me excited the way some of the other '55s do. On any given night though, this would be a welcome addition. I just choose not to buy this particular one. As you have most assuredly seen me write in the past, Michael Broadbent is a huge fan of this particular Port. I might have only decanted this for 4-5 hours though. Did you try it earlier on in the decanting regimen?
1963 Graham's is one of my favorites of the vintage and is today, still a stellar example of the greatness of the top wines from this vintage. I have had this a half dozen times in the past four or five months and it has shown well on just about every occasion. In London at an offline with a dozen folks from this BB, it took a long while to evolve, but once it did, it was wonderful.
The '92 Taylor is the class of the vintage. It is a superb wine that will reward patience. It is fun to try today but I'd really advise leaving other bottles to reach further maturity. This is one of those great wines like the Taylor '45 I had last weekend, that deserve to be allowed to drink at their best. I am sure there are some people who feel that is next Friday night, but I am not one of them.
1994 Warre was one of the more under-appreciated wines of the vintage. I have a soft spot for it as I was at Quinta da Cavadinha in 1994 and was actually barrel sampling the 1992s at the time. True story: I had been visiting other Quintas like Bomfim and a driver from the Symington's took my gal and me to Cavadinha. He gave us two glasses, a clean 5 foot section of a garden hose and drove off. No one else was at the property and we had our way with the barrels, after he gave us some idea what the lay of that area was. I have pics to prove it. What an amazing experience. When the '94 vintage came out, I bought a case or more from every property I visited (and then many others too). I really enjoy the Warre and feel that between 1977 and 2000, it is by far the best wine they made. What say on that score?
Fort Worth is one of the very few cities (now that I have been to Atlanta) that I would like to do a Port tasting in this year. I have Miami and one or two others in my sites. Do you have enough folks (say approx. a dozen) to do a significant tasting?
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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Richard Henderson
- Posts: 693
- Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:21 pm
- Location: fort worth, Texas, United States of America - USA
Roy, sorry for the experience with Mark. I posted my notes here FIRST and there as an afterthought.
As I have said before, that board is not what it used to be. The posts fly by. Mark hardly ever weighs in. It has gotten too big. Your input has been invaluable there so I hope it is not the last word.
I stopped posting there for a couple of years because for a time, he had some problems with some folks and it seemed like those of us from the hinterlands of the south were being snubbed. Probably I was a little too sensitive. I like Mark and the way the board used to be.
These 55 Taylor's have been outstanding bottles. As I rethink my decant time... I intended 8 hours but I pulled the cork at 3:30 pm and we tasted it at 8:30 so it was 5 hours. I had the last at 11:30 . It was magnificent. I was so busy cooking, I did not get to taste during the 5 hours. I did try a sample at 3:30. It was a little closed.
The 63 Graham's BB is how I first met you on the Squires BB when I bought a lot, some 30 bottles at closeout prices.
Another friend shared it at our Friday group last Friday. I shared the purchase with the group. Getting this 2x in 2 days!!!!
I am glad I have 20 more 375's of Taylor 92 and 6 mags. It is great now and decades from now.
Great story on the 94's. What an experience. My friendly local retailer is closing this out at $64.
I have tried a limited amount of Warre and I can't lay hands on my port tasting notes at the moment , and I have bottles but not opened the 2000, I believe the 94 is their best. No other Warre has ever stood out in my mind like this one. I beleive I had teh 77 , 83 and 85.
Between the Fort Worth Club Wednesday group which has met for 50 years and the Friday City Club group which has met for 15 years. I think 12 folks for a port event promoted in advance would definitley be a possibilty.
Congrats to the Sea Hawks!!
As I have said before, that board is not what it used to be. The posts fly by. Mark hardly ever weighs in. It has gotten too big. Your input has been invaluable there so I hope it is not the last word.
I stopped posting there for a couple of years because for a time, he had some problems with some folks and it seemed like those of us from the hinterlands of the south were being snubbed. Probably I was a little too sensitive. I like Mark and the way the board used to be.
These 55 Taylor's have been outstanding bottles. As I rethink my decant time... I intended 8 hours but I pulled the cork at 3:30 pm and we tasted it at 8:30 so it was 5 hours. I had the last at 11:30 . It was magnificent. I was so busy cooking, I did not get to taste during the 5 hours. I did try a sample at 3:30. It was a little closed.
The 63 Graham's BB is how I first met you on the Squires BB when I bought a lot, some 30 bottles at closeout prices.
Another friend shared it at our Friday group last Friday. I shared the purchase with the group. Getting this 2x in 2 days!!!!
I am glad I have 20 more 375's of Taylor 92 and 6 mags. It is great now and decades from now.
Great story on the 94's. What an experience. My friendly local retailer is closing this out at $64.
I have tried a limited amount of Warre and I can't lay hands on my port tasting notes at the moment , and I have bottles but not opened the 2000, I believe the 94 is their best. No other Warre has ever stood out in my mind like this one. I beleive I had teh 77 , 83 and 85.
Between the Fort Worth Club Wednesday group which has met for 50 years and the Friday City Club group which has met for 15 years. I think 12 folks for a port event promoted in advance would definitley be a possibilty.
Congrats to the Sea Hawks!!
Richard Henderson