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15,800 cases released. (From the case purchased at Straker Chadwick and shared between AHB, DRT and THRA.) Warm, red colour showing brick red maturity. 60% opaque. Gentle nose of spiced mulberry; a touch stewed on the palate, fruity and attractive, with very soft tannin and strong acidity. Big and l...

Deep orange in colour, turning pale rose on the rim. A swirl brings the vibrant Fonseca cherry to the fore, slightly hot, slightly cloying. Smooth and balanced on the palate; very secondary with dates and walnuts and a delicious hint of nutmeg. A beautiful texture. A little heat on the aftertaste, b...

Baked terracotta colour; 70% opaque. Mature fruit and raisins on the nose, stewed and spiced with cinnamon although a little faint. Warm fruit, rich in flavour but on the lighter side of medium bodied; thick in texture. Very flavoursome, elegant with good and rich depth of flavour. Vanilla on the af...

Opened 3 April 2011 and decanted for about 36 hours before being tasted. Slightly cloudy appearance, deep orange in colour, opacity difficult to determine because of the cloudiness. Very closed and flat on the nose, a little musty if anything. Perhaps a spoiled bottle? Flat and hollow entry showing ...

A small sample was left for me on Sunday morning, with no clues as to what the port might be. Mid-red, showing middle-aged maturity; 80% opaque. Lovely mature, fruit driven nose showing sweet bramble fruit and a cedar wood twist; deep, rich and promising. Sweet fruit hits the palate with gentle tann...

Deep rich orange, little red, burnt sienna rim; 50% opaque. Initial nose of bottle stink (2 hours) has now gone to reveal a menthol infused smell of grass after a rain shower, showing lots of floral perfumes. Big presence on the palate, deep mandarin and orange zest; hugely arresting on the palate. ...

The mid red colour of early maturity; 50% opaque. Over-ripe blood oranges on the nose, lots of sweet redcurrant. Sharp acidity at the fore of the palate, restrained fruit and soft tannins - dry profile. Lots of tobacco and leather, concentrated. Good elegance on the aftertaste and a big, red jelly b...

By Graham Mid red colour, showing maturity, touch of orange on the rim; 40% opaque. Full of dusty fruit on the nose, sweet and attractive, fresh citrus everywhere. Sweet impact, rose hip syrup; gentle red jelly flavours come through on the palate but always with a strong acidity. No noticeable tanni...

By Smith Woodhouse. Mid-red, holding in to the rim with a slight rose tinge right on the edge of the rim; 90% opaque. Peach and vanilla on the nose - and Rainier cherries! Light bodied texture, flavoursome with candied red jelly beans dominating the palate, supported by gentle tannins and soft acidi...

Ex-cellars, en magnum. Deep red in colour, opaque and solid right into the rim. Dusty cherries on the nose, tight and unyielding needing more time in glass or decanter; some red licorice. Medium bodied and with good texture on the palate; full of fruit but with a firm core of acidity that adds a sha...

8 people means that we need to relocate from the Meeting Room to one of the tunnels. I shall call The Crusting Pipe tomorrow and see if we can move.

It's taken me absolutely ages to finish, but I've finally managed to find the time to type up all my tasting notes from April - all 105 of them! Expect to see them appearing slowly in the tasting notes database over the next few days.

jdaw1 wrote:Stickers again? (In which case I have some tasks outstanding.)

I would suggest that stickers would be best at the Bell

Ben's hope to attend is noted on the first post.

And I've even chosen the bottle that I'll bring along!

Christmas comes but once a year - but it brings our traditional Port Forum Christmas get-together themed along the lines of "The Unknown Shipper and His Peculiar Friends". I spoke to Tom briefly on Saturday and Tom has indicated that he is happy once more to organise our Christmas bash at ...

g-man wrote:does the restaurant have decanters?

I would imagine the bottles i'm interested in don't need decanting.

They have a couple of decanters, but we tend to use water jugs to make decanting easy.

g-man wrote:Ie pop and pour so we can keep alex guessing in the dark too.

I can arrange a decanting service where the bottles are decanted about 12 hours ahead of us meeting up - but not by me. Let me know if you're interested.

From a 3 litre bottle, filled in 1985. Light in colour, a mid- to pale-red; 30% opaque. Slightly smelly on the nose, very mild bottle stink masking over-stewed rhubarb sweetened with brown sugar. Syrupy in texture, nice mouthfeel; very sweet, with mocha flavours which eventually allows some mild and...

jdaw1 wrote:Review thread. Do I need to arrange TN threads?

That would be most helpful. I am still a long way behind in typing up my tasting notes but this would save me a job.

April 23rd saw 8 of us gather together in the Crusting Pipe to celebrate the launch of The Port Society. We celebrated the launch in fine style, with port and steaks (or rare roast beef in my case). My sincere thanks go to Tom and Ray who provided all the port and food - an extremely generous gestur...

are there any other wines stores within the city with not so eye watering prices like BBR? =) Oh, any one live near Warwick, Warwickshire? Try Corney & Barrow, El Vino, Davys, Uncorked, Soho WInes, Justerini & Brooks, Farrs, Bibendum, Roberson, Fortnum & Mason, Lea & Sandeman, Waitr...

I was looking at my diary for the next couple of weeks and spotted that I will be in London on May 6th - isn't that convenient! So who is coming to meet up with Jeff for his very brief visit to the UK? Venue: The Meeting Room, The Crusting Pipe , Covent Garden Time: 5:30pm to about 11pm Confirmed At...

Castas e Pratos is a great restaurant and has a super wine shop on the side. We had an extremely well prepared lunch there, washed down with a delicious (if you like your port well mature) bottle of Baldias 1987 traditional LBV.

And shed-loads of RL work to get through. Got to earn those port vouchers somehow!