What are you standing in the cellar

[g-man]

Got a 1947 Cockburn with Sushi this saturday

[Axel P]

1912 Niepoort Colheita is my favourit of the death row.

Axel

[Chris Doty]

an SOS '70 Croft.

Looks like the hangman is getting called up for turkeyday.

woo woo woo

[Alex Bridgeman]

I've got a Cockburn 1970 on death row for later this week.

[g-man]

an SOS '70 Croft.

Looks like the hangman is getting called up for turkeyday.

woo woo woo

wanna join us on saturday?

[DRT]

I really want to open my Cockburn 1847 on Friday but it would mean breaking into my last case.

[RAYC]

I really want to open my Cockburn 1847 on Friday but it would mean breaking into my last case.

Please don't...that case is on reserve for the "pint of port" tasting...

[g-man]

In the spirit of 1970, I too shall have to go down into the cellar and open one for turkey day.

btw DRT, you wanan come saturday?

[benread]

I've got a Cockburn 1970 on death row for later this week.

Look forward to hearing how this is right now. I have one or two!

[LGTrotter]

DRT wrote; I really want to open my Cockburn 1847 on Friday but it would mean breaking into my last case.

Opinion is divided on this year; Lord peter Wimsey thought it dead and Andre Simon thought it well and happy. As both notes are from the twenties you might want to have the blue nun on standby as back up.

[Alex Bridgeman]

I've got a Cockburn 1970 on death row for later this week.

Look forward to hearing how this is right now. I have one or two!

I had two, now I only have one! I will post a proper tasting note in due course, but for now I can tell you that after 2 hours in the decanter it is subdued on the nose but wonderful on the palate, full of balance and vigorous sweet cherry fruit.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Having now opened the Cockburn 1970, next to be stood up to settle is a bottle of Warre 1977. I haven't had a Warre 1977 for at least a couple of months! I'm really looking forward to being able to sip and savour it without the pressure of having to keep an eye on the time and make sure I don't miss my last train.

[LGTrotter]

Warre 1980. I don't stand mine, I decant them from the supine position. Am I missing something? They seem to come cleaner off the crust.

[RAYC]

Warre 1980. I don't stand mine, I decant them from the supine position. Am I missing something? They seem to come cleaner off the crust.

Presumably you first have to stand it to remove the capsule and un-cork the bottle?

Presuming your bottles have been resting nicely on their side, all that standing in advance does (as far as i can see) is mitigate the potential that the initial act of uprighting the bottle may disperse some fine sediment into the wine.

Personally, i think standing for a long period is probably of minimal value if the port has been resting on its side for a long period and is handled carefully when taken from the rack.

[LGTrotter]

Warre 1980. I don't stand mine, I decant them from the supine position. Am I missing something? They seem to come cleaner off the crust.

Presumably you first have to stand it to remove the capsule and un-cork the bottle?

Presuming your bottles have been resting nicely on their side, all that standing in advance does (as far as i can see) is mitigate the potential that the initial act of uprighting the bottle may disperse some fine sediment into the wine.

Personally, i think standing for a long period is probably of minimal value if the port has been resting on its side for a long period and is handled carefully when taken from the rack.

You're right in that they are not kept absolutely horizontal during the uncorking palaver. Having observed how accuracy is valued here I am loath to guess, but I would say about 15 to 20 degrees from the horizontal is enough when uncorking/decapsuling to prevent spillage. I may have to find the school protractor, and try to avoid stabbing myself with the compass.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Warre 1980. I don't stand mine, I decant them from the supine position. Am I missing something? They seem to come cleaner off the crust.

I don't think you are missing anything; at least I don't think you are if your method works for you.

Personally, with the space I have to work in I find that standing my bottle up for 2-3 days before I decant it allows all the loose sediment to settle to the bottom of the bottle and that seems to work for me. But I can see that if you decant from a gentle angle there is likely to be less disturbing of the sediment.

What sort of tilt can you get away with when you draw the cork and decant that first "glug"?

[LGTrotter]

Warre 1980. I don't stand mine, I decant them from the supine position. Am I missing something? They seem to come cleaner off the crust.

I don't think you are missing anything; at least I don't think you are if your method works for you.

Personally, with the space I have to work in I find that standing my bottle up for 2-3 days before I decant it allows all the loose sediment to settle to the bottom of the bottle and that seems to work for me. But I can see that if you decant from a gentle angle there is likely to be less disturbing of the sediment.

What sort of tilt can you get away with when you draw the cork and decant that first "glug"?

I think the answer is in my previous post, but so delighted to be getting responses from the forum's heavy hitters that I can't resist replying. Surely the angle is the same for everyone, assuming a standard fill?

Incidentally I'm a bit concerned about apostrophe crime potential on 'forum's' but I think it is only one forum I am referring to rather than the plural 'heavy hitters'.

[RAYC]

but I would say about 15 to 20 degrees from the horizontal is enough when uncorking/decapsuling to prevent spillage.

Wow...i'm intrigued....i have never attempted to uncork at anything other than the vertical! (student days excepted)

And would not feel confident of my prospects on some bottles given the usual state of pre-1990 corks...

Do you have one of these, or just a very steady hand?!

[RAYC]

Worth mentioning, in the context of this conversation, that the best £30 i have ever spent on wine paraphanalia is this (also endorsed, i believe, by DRT).

[LGTrotter]

but I would say about 15 to 20 degrees from the horizontal is enough when uncorking/decapsuling to prevent spillage.

Wow...i'm intrigued....i have never attempted to uncork at anything other than the vertical! (student days excepted)

And would not feel confident of my prospects on some bottles given the usual state of pre-1990 corks...

Do you have one of these, or just a very steady hand?!

How I have coveted one of these twiddly decanting things since I first saw them! I resisted the urge due to more pressing demands on my purse (port fr'instance). You are spot on about the corks, a crumbly one is irksome, however as the bottle is cradled in an unloved cushion over an impervious floor I am relaxed about dribbles. I should probably get a port slide.

I have remarkably unsteady hand.

[g-man]

how would one tong a bottle on its side I wonder, or perhaps the better question may be, how would one tong a bottle on its side and still have contents remaining for drinking

[DRT]

Worth mentioning, in the context of this conversation, that the best £30 i have ever spent on wine paraphanalia is this (also endorsed, i believe, by DRT).

Confirmed. Everyone here should have one of those.

[djewesbury]

Do you have one of these, or just a very steady hand?!

Tonight, I watched The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, one of Billy Wilder's strangest films.. Christopher Lee, playing Holmes's brother Mycroft, pours 3 glasses of 1814 Madeira using a screw-tilt thingummy like this. Quite hilarious.

[LGTrotter]

Fantastic, Basil Rathbone in the lead?

[jdaw1]

1814 Madeira

Never seen a ’14 before. Are you sure it wasn’t 1815?