For The Love Of Port

Have just decanted an old bottle of Cockburn, vintage previously unknown, but with a very good fill - it turned out to be the '47..

..not the darkest of ports, but the dregs were very nice..

Will be transported to my brother's house this afternoon, where I expect we will get elegantly sozzled on fine claret, before downing this little baby after dinner..

..what are others indulging?

Tom

My plans my have had a monkey wrench tossed in this morning when I woke up at 2am with a screaming sore throat and a fever. Looks like the flu has caught up to me at the worst time. Being sick during the holidays is no fun and it's not even 9am on Christmas Eve. I had a 1992 Fonseca VP (from the David Guimareans thread) on tap to decant this morning, but looks like no alcohol for me for a couple days.....except the Niquil shots I took at 2am this morning.

Due to travel, I'll be going with something easy - a 2003 Noval LBV. It's the only Port we could find at a reasonable price near my parents' house.

(editing - As the day progresses, I find new opportunities to put the Merry in Merry Christmas. (Look it up: there was once a secondary meaning to 'merry'.)

We did start the day with Prosecco-Mimosas/straight Prosecco (Nino Franco's Rustico).

I may find time today to try a gift: my (first-ever) Warre's Otimo 20 yr.

This evening, it looks like Asahi Extra Dry in the 22 ounce bottle and a bit of hot saki on the side. Somehow it appears I am having sushi for Christmas dinner.

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It's just the thing to begin the day with an eye-opener.

Egg nog is great at breakfast.

The beer that refreshes at mid-morning is fine.

A Three-Martini lunch has tradition behind it.

Some sangria in the afternoon makes the day go better.

Can't miss Happy Hour(s)!

A little something to whet the appetite before dinner is great.

What wine with dinner? White? Red? Better open a bottle of each.

A glass or two of port for "afters" hits the spot.

A few beers while watching the tube is every man's prerogative.

A night-cap is good to help you get to sleep.

But this sip sip sip all day has got to stop!

Staying away from Port this year. The end of the dinner wine this year is 1988 Chateau La Tour Blanche Sauternes.

1937 Warre's Colheita....cannot wait!

I had some Graham's Six Grapes last night. May open a Graham's 2003 LBV this afternoon to compare and contrast with the Six Grapes or may just finish the remaining half of the bottle of Six Grapes (my custom is to open a bottle, decant half, save rest in a t-stopper bottle as my wife rarely has more than one glass of the port).

Nice thread and thanks Tom ... I hope your bottle turns out to be a great one!

I wanted to choose a VP that I've never opened or tasted before, in fact there's no signs of this appearing in our TNDB either. So, Taylor just decanted a 1983 Niepoort for tonight's dinner at her best friend's home.

1997 Taylor and 1933 Justino Henriques malmsey.

The Taylor is tasty but too young.

The 1933M has been open for over a year and is just right. It's my uncle's birth year and I help him drink it when I visit.

Tom,
We broached a half bottle of 1997 Smith Woodhouse on Christmas Eve. Mighty fine. I have a bottle of 2000 Croft on the chopping block for this week.

Dalva 52 and Dow's 1985 here.

We had DRC's Tache, St-Vivant, Echezeaux and Grand Echezeaux 1998 before. To tell how good the Dalva 52 is, there was as much "wow, impressive ...." words being spoken around the table as when we tasted the DRCs.

over 6 hour period yesterday evening/night with about a 3 hour advance decant:

77 fonseca

kickass and merry xmas to all!

Well, we had the sushi, but I forgot: nailed again by Michigan's alcohol laws - no alcohol sold on Christmas Day. Drank a gallon of green tea with some very spicy sushi, sashimi and various "rolls". Good zippy wasabi, too.

So we came home after and had 2007 Convento dei Cappuccini Brachetto d'Acqui, Nino Franco Rustico (prosecco), Warre's Otima 20 and Nimrod. (With homemade cookies!)

We have 2000 Smith Woodhause VP. But not as a quaffer but quiet more as to decide if stocking up.

After 8 hours (from a half of a standard bottle) this is just a midbodied biting beast. After 30 hours it calmed a bit down. Beautiful nose of cowberry, tight mouthfeeling, lots of tannins. Not giving away very much. This is still so young and quit impressive for my palate. I saved the other half of the bottle and started yesterday for a 24 hours decanting. It's planed to take a second sample at 48 hours. I would not be surprised if this would be a real star in 15 to 20 years.

Peter W. Meek wrote:Well, we had the sushi, but I forgot: nailed again by Michigan's alcohol laws - no alcohol sold on Christmas Day.

What goofiness is that? And here I was angry that Colorado won't let you take a bottle into a restaurant.

No Xmas Port for me this year, but four bottles opened for my birthday the day after. TN to follow.

I was the sick and sober one this xmas so the '92 Fonseca is still waiting to be opened. Good news is I am finally starting to feel better today...just in time to start my 80 hour work week this week . Looks like that poor bottle won't get opened till after the New Year.

Eric Menchen wrote:

Peter W. Meek wrote:Well, we had the sushi, but I forgot: nailed again by Michigan's alcohol laws - no alcohol sold on Christmas Day.

What goofiness is that? And here I was angry that Colorado won't let you take a bottle into a restaurant.

Well, Michigan won't let you bring a bottle into any establishment that has a liquor license . A few will risk it, but they can lose their license by doing so. That's why I buy so much of my Port at my favorite restaurant; they will keep it and let me store it after it has been opened.

I'm not sure about places with no license. Certainly the State Liquor Board can't hurt them, but it may be illegal under some state or local law.

(further discussion moved to a new Topic under Other Discussions; please check there and reply there)

We had a very nice 2003 Noval LBV on Christmas. It was the only LBV we could find in Kansas City, but I was happy to find it because I'd never had it before and I have a 6-pack in my cellar from the Noval buying op last spring.

Andy Velebil wrote:I was the sick and sober one this xmas so the '92 Fonseca is still waiting to be opened. Good news is I am finally starting to feel better today...just in time to start my 80 hour work week this week . Looks like that poor bottle won't get opened till after the New Year.

Andy , don't tell me you visited a porcelain god !!
If so , there's hope for me yet

We had a 1963 Taylor's Vintage Port. It was great.