For The Love Of Port

Here in the hinterland, backwoods, provinces of North Texas, I have received an invite to a Boys' Night Out Group next Tuesday 2-21-06.
This group has met for years and they have great cellars. My virgin appearance. The theme is Spanish and Alsace but I hear they love port.
I have a 98 Vega Sicilia and a 99 ZH Riesling for the evening meal but I am thinking of a 66 Dow or a Smith Woodhouse 77 as the dessert offering.

What do you think?

The 98 Vega Vega Sicilia is probably the Valbuena #5. I really enjoy this wine, I've tasted 95,96,97 so far and it has always deliver value for money if you like finesse and complexity.

But if you want to learn them how great is a mature VP I'd go with Dow's 1966. What is the Cuvée for the Zin Humbrecth Riesling? If its the Regular Riesling, go for the Port, but top cuvée of ZH Riesling can be amazing!

You are correct on the VS Balbuena # 5.
The Riesling is the Clos Hauserer.
The 66 Dow would be a treat!

Funny thing, on Wed. night a good friend from NY who is a member here but has not posted since the very beginning asked me which '66 (besides the Nacional and Fonseca ... which he knows I love dearly) would I suggest he picks up for a very special occasion with a gal who really digs Port.

My response: Dow 1966. Rich, I'd offer you the same suggestion.

rahenderson wrote:I am thinking of a 66 Dow or a Smith Woodhouse 77 as the dessert offering.

We must be long-lost twins; the above being my two all-time favourite "middle-aged" ports. Can I come

My personal preference - would be for the Dow 66.

But I don't think you'd go wrong with either choice. Perhaps just flip a coin and let the coin choose....

Alex , Roy, and Stuart.
I think these folks know their port and the most replaceable is the SW77 so that may be the way I go. I have 4 days to decide. The main issue is that there will be so many wines and so many people. The Dow 66 may need a smaller quieter group.

Stuart, we may be twins in some Universe. The SW is great but so is the Dow . How do you feel about the Graham 63?
Tuesday , February 21, 2006 Pappadeaux Restaurant, Arlington , Texas, 7 PM. You may come!! The chef is a member of the group and is preparing the meal.

"Can I come" was really a joke as not much chance thanks for the invite though.

I've had very little Graham 63. In England all 63s are living on their reputation to such an extend that they tend to be 50% more expensive than the 66s. Yet all real port lovers I know tend to prefer 66s. I'm busy tasting and buying 66s to such an extent that I've neglected the 63s. I wonder if I could afford them now and have almost skipped them in favour of the 66s that I think are turning out better and are, for the time being, cheaper.

However, if you do have some, report back. I see that Roy rates the Graham 63 higher than 66 in his notes.

Stuart missed out the opportunity to compare the '63s against the '66s (and against the '70s) at the first London offline in November. However, he is right in that the general preference seemed to be that the '66s were better than the '63s although the '63s are very fine wines.

I've posted a link to the tasting notes from the offline below - hope it works since this is the first time I've tried posting a link to another thread on the forum. You might be interested to see what others thought of the Grahams '63 - I thought it was lovely.

Alex

fortheloveofport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=400

Stuart, I knew it was mostly a joke but if the opportunity arose....
I first met Roy on the Squires BB when I purchased a large amount of Graham's 63 Berry Bros. I asked about what Berry Bros meant, showing great ignorance but he educated me quickly.
A local merchant made a great buy from a wholesaler and sold it out at $124 U.S.
It is outstanding port.

I like 63 the vintage over the 66 as did Lord Parker, but overall Roy rates 66 higher. The greater value is proably in the 66. I do like the 66 a lot.

For the BNO group tonight I have selected the SW 77 because there willbe some 30 people there sharing lots of wines. I fear the 66 Dow would get lost and I am not sure how things can or will be decanted.

US124 is a very good price for G 63 - even compared to here, where the prices are lower.

Incidentally, my Graham 66, of which I have a good stash, is a BBR bottling and is of remarkable quality. It is not my favourite 66, but I'd guess it will be the longest lasting - probably partly due to the incredible depth of the wine and partly due to the reliability of BBR bottlings. In my experience BBR were the most consistent UK bottlers and I find less duds amongst theirs than any other.

As stated, because of the large crowd and the unsure format , I went with the SW 77. I was able to commandeer a large carafe for decanting, no filter, no funnel. I winged it, pouring and stopping short of sediment on instinct. Great ruby color.
The wide mouth of the carafe helped release a powerful bouquet of mint, ripe raspberry fruit. It got about 3 hours of air. The aeration was very good and there was no excessive heat or alcohol. It had a great mouth entry, full coating of the palate releasing a nice concentration of dark berry fruit and spices. Long finish . Great with a toffee bread pudding and Spanish cheeses and roasted almond slivers.
It followed my 98 Vega Sicilia Balbuena # 5 which is also a deep red, beautiful wine. There were many Spanish gems and Alsace rarities to go with the Spanish theme food that included roast trout, lamb chops, braised short ribs, etc.

BTW Stuart, I have followed up inadvertently with the buyer of the 63 BB Graham's from my local merchant. I ran in to him at a wedding lat week and he told me the story.

A wholesaler approached them and said they needed to move this port. They made a low bid on it which was accepted. They marked it up a reasonable profit . At $124 they say made good money on the deal according to him so the wholesale price must have been very low.

It sat on the local shelves a few months at around $160. At a fall sale 2004 , they put it on the list at $124. I had the list for a week and noticed this great price on the 63 Graham. I checked it out and a group of us bought it all.
One of those rare lucky finds for me.