ThePortForum.com

Not a hotel, but if we have a restaurant price list thread then I can't find it. Highly recommended in Wokingham, Milton's restaurant has three ports on their wine list. These are Taylor's First Estate (£26 a bottle), Taylor 2002 LBV (£28 a bottle) and Croft Quinta da Roeda 1995 (£30 a bottle). No d...

I like the idea of a GC vs SW matrix. I don't have much I can contribute but have Gould Campbell 1977, 1991 and 1994 and Smith Woodhouse 1977, 1980 (in halves), 1983 and 1991. We could also go for a more informal "bring a blind bottle of something decent to share with others, including those wh...

Am I lucky, or what. The wife decided we were going to go out for dinner before the theatre tonight. When we arrived at our table, I found a decanted bottle of Quinta da Roeda 1995 waiting for me. Isn't that nice!

There is the 55@55 tasting organised for 12th October, and there is the the Christmas offline in December.

But we don't have anything planned for November. Any suggestions?

I've used them a few times and have never had a problem with them.

AHB wins a pipe of Dow 1896 (en Magnum). His prize will be delivered the next time a pipe of Dow 1896 (en Magnum) appears on the market. Excellent. I shall clear space next to my existing pipe of Dow 1896 in half bottle format so as to make it as convenient as possible to compare the effect of diff...

Was this a half bottle bought from the airport at Oporto?

I've just realsed that I didn't give a review of the evening. It was another terrific evening and a delight to meet Rob Coombes, who joined an offline for the first time and just fitted right in! And Rob is the only person I have ever met who was crazy enough to cycle that mountainous terrain that t...

Perhaps you should leave your postal address here and see what else might turn up at your door in Paris...

Very similar to pre-WWII Croft, with plenty of orange in the flavours, but more tart and acidic than a mighty old Croft.

Mature red coloue, 70% opacity. Delicious on the nose with red licorice an ddamsons. Fabulous palate with lots of dark damson and fruity acidity. Lovely structure, with soft and gentle tannins; delightful development. A dry aftertaste, full of sweet red licorice and with an enormous sticky length. 8...

Mid red with some bricking on the rim. Quite light in the centre (60% opacity). Some gentle sweet redcurrant on the nose, also showing a bit of heat. Slightly lighter bodied than some of the older wines at this tasting, full of fruit, but fairly straight-forward. Very enjoyable on the palate, but li...

Ptch black and opaque. Much darker than any other port in the Dow offline. Closed on the nose, showing nothing more than some faint blackcurrants. Ripe, sweet fruit on the palate. Full of deep, dark fruit; immensely impressive, with the dark tannins still prominent. Promising much for the future. Th...

Deep in colour, slightly darker than the 1972 shown alongside. Perhaps slightly corked nose, certainly very flat; others seemed to notice TCA more than me. Sweet initial impact, little fruit and mostly just flavours are just bland jelly-bean sweetness. Faint tannins and good levels of acidity. A hot...

Surprisingly good colour, but lighter than the immediately adjacent years. Slightly funky nose, showing stewed fruit and a hint of mint. Sweet in the mouth, fruit generally gone but replaced by a pleasant honey and lemon acidity. Surprisingly there is still a bit of tannin. Later in the palate some ...

Deep red, centre just transparent. Dusty, perhaps slightly peppery, on the nose. Very pleasant on the palate, but with less immediate depth than the '66 or '63 shown alongside. There is plenty of fruit, but it is straightforward and simple; it does develop depth with aeration. Tannins are now fully ...

Deep red, almost identical in colour to the '70, with a centre that is just transparent. Nose a little closed, faintly showing cherries. Sweet and fruity impact, bringing lovely flavours to the mouth. Full bodied and delicious. Gorgeous aftertaste, big and mouthfilling - huge. Long and gentle finish...

Mature red in colour. Lovely smooth redcurrants on the nose, with delicious all spice mixed in. Initial impact is dominated by ripe fruit. Beautiful balance and complexity. Great depth and density on the palate. Very dry; mouthfilling and gorgeous with fully resolved tannins. Sweet and fruity aftert...

Deep burnt sienna in colour, very light centre. Distinct fresh cranberries and tangerines on the nose. Smooth entry, full of oranges in caramelized syrup. The texture thickens nicely on the tongue. The heat tries to break through, but never quite manages it. Burnt orange on the aftertaste, and domin...

From a bottle with top shoulder fill, rewaxed in November 2009. The corks used in these Oporto bottled wines are short and very poorly branded. It is clear the cork is branded, but the branding is so light as to be illegible. Thankfully the labels are still attached and intact. Mature red, 50% opaqu...

(Though, of course, if the problem occurred during the wine-making, we may not be in much luck). I've never read anything that would imply you can get TCA taint during wine-making. I believe (but would be happy to be corrected) that a wine can only be affected by TCA leaching out of a cork - and th...

I don't want to overload palates before dinner, nor do I mean to imply any slight as to the quality of the wines from any particular shipper. How about this as an alternative for three flights? BEFORE DINNER FLIGHT 1 - THE SYMINGTON FAMILY Cockburn, Dow, Graham, Martinez, Warre AFTER DINNER FLIGHT 2...

benread wrote:I am not sure storage organisations are regulated by them

I can confirm that storage organisations are not regulated by the FSA; they are resellers of insurance and not providers of insurance. There are regulations associated with the reselling of insurance, but not enforced by the FSA.

Does anyone know whether or not there has been such an incident since the end of WWII? I remember at least one major theft where a London wine merchant had their storage facilities emptied of all valuable wine by thieves. I think it was about 10 years ago. From the Environment Agency's flood maps, ...

1977 v 1977 would be problematic because the Dow will be corked I'm working on a solution for that and later in the year should have a magnum of Dow 1977 which could be used for a tasting like this - but would have to be matched against a magnum of Graham 1977 or it wouldn't be a fair comparison. A...