ThePortForum.com

Just your socks?

The only residents of USA that I know to use their State as a unit of measure are Texans, usually in a "mine is bigger than yours" kind of way. Using Indiana as another arbitrary unit is indeed curious.

Excellent. Thank you.

As I was slurping my way through a few Pineau des Charentes in France last summer I was struck by parallels with Tawny - grapes with spirit added and left in barrel to mature. I asked the venerable owner of the Distillery, and she seemed to have no idea what I was talking about, didn't even really k...

The RP97 showed well amongst the other 97s. The 97s with crumbly corks, of which there seem subjectively to be (too) many, show poorly, so perhaps this one was somehow flawed?

Paling rich red. Browning towards edges with colourless meniscus. Clear. No sediment. Filtered LBV I guess. Nose of plum, spice and a little alcohol, but have to entice it out. Balanced in mouth. Joy. Dark fruit. Plum liquorice spice. Broad with good texture but light. Perhaps a little hollow mid pa...

1994 Taylor LBV. On the lighter side.

I thought it was a Wine Society declassified wine I bought. I dug into the website. It is not. It is Ulysse Pauillac 2010 , sold through the Wine Society via their "special relationship". Sorry for the mistake. Declassified Latour supposedly. I'm never sure about these sorts of wines, ofte...

I bought some of the Wine Society 2010 Pauillac at £19.95 or so. I vaguely remembered other vintages selling out rather quickly, and indeed this one did too. It had a recommended drinking window to 2025 (and they are conservative): longer than most, hence I felt it might be interesting. One day whe...

No exit poll. Vote swapping allowed. Tense.

When is the result, and what are you drinking?

I bought some of the Wine Society 2010 Pauillac at £19.95 or so. I vaguely remembered other vintages selling out rather quickly, and indeed this one did too. It had a recommended drinking window to 2025 (and they are conservative): longer than most, hence I felt it might be interesting. One day when...

The area around Moorfields and James Street Stations, and Dale St itself, are the more traditional business sectors, which I would guess more likely to have port. The last time I was there was many years ago, and it was a bit the worse for wear. A tenuous lead, but with the guide book idea a perhaps...

Excellent. Thank you. I found myself down from the fence in no man's land (apologies for mixing) and was wondering how to climb back onto it. I think Tesco 94 is good value and usually more than OK but never great. Sometimes it is worth aiming for great. Those times when everything comes together ar...

Tesco 94 must be a candidate for label bias. Would it perform better blind or in a decanter labelled Skeffington? If there is variation, is it any more than other ports suffer, such as the Graham 80: perhaps a quick case study is in order? If there is a question mark over a bottle, opening another £...

However the more I open it the more I think that there may come a day when I regret being quite so cavalier about opening a bottle of 1994 port from anywhere, albeit one from so pedestrian a supermarket. The answer is simply to buy enough. Christmas is coming. I'll be getting more when on (hopefull...

I was unimpressed with the Fonseca. On paper it is a great price for what should be a decent port, so I was disappointed. It is in a very disjointed state now, showing signs here and there of being good, but I have no idea whether it will come back together nor where it will go. I read it was a Wine...

I hope they will come in a lovely case, I will have to wait and see. I went for the easy option of storage: I may incur wrath if another Vesuvio box appears here too soon after the last ones!

I succumbed to 6 Vesuvio 04 from the Wine Society. Easy storage and I thought a reasonable price (£36) given it has probably been well treated.

However the more I open it the more I think that there may come a day when I regret being quite so cavalier about opening a bottle of 1994 port from anywhere, albeit one from so pedestrian a supermarket. The answer is simply to buy enough. Christmas is coming. I'll be getting more when on (hopefull...

I'd add Tesco 94 to the list. I opened another one, and perhaps got lucky again, but it drank well. These will keep my sticky paws off those with more potential that I should leave in the dark. I must get around to cutting and sticking those marvellous decanter labels.

It was v good in parts. At its height it was delightful. More disjointed than the 97s, which themselves are not currently in a great place. Fonseca 85 to my mind is so much better today, and I am sure it will improve further. I think you are right and the 90s need more time.

Yes. Interesting. How low needs the fill level get to be noted as ullaged. 68 years old. How ullaged would we expect 60 70 year old port to be now?

D+3 Dark dense red, browning slightly at the edges. Little in nose. Alcohol and some plum. In the mouth sweet, quite viscous. Not much fruit - some more plum, figs. A little liquorice. A little medicinal. Finishes slightly bitter. Dark chocolate. Savoury, a Rhone meaty savoury component. Acidity pro...

If I had a port barrel with port and brandy already in it I'd give it a go. I'd follow the RSL guy's advice. I don't think the quality will shake the earth, but you'll have fun and learn how it works. Drink some, and it you like the liquid that comes out more the port you fill it up with, you're ont...

Returned and Services League of Australia? There are a lot of Australian references to port barrels.