I have a similar approach. If I buy wine that I want to make sure arrives safely, I will go and get it. Last year I did a day trip to Perth from the South of England. That's a 15 hour round trip of about 950 miles - but that was the only way I could be sure my bottles were treated properly. And it was a good job I took my own bottle boxes with me!Glenn E. wrote:Very sad to see such a lovely bottle ruined.djewesbury wrote:I spent a day and a half trying to find a courier who was able to move a bottle of wine 100 miles within the island of Ireland. I now know that there is none.
But this quote makes me think of a very true saying:
In America, 100 years is a long time. In Europe, 100 miles is a long ways. Our concepts of time and distance are strikingly different.
I'd have probably driven 100 miles to pick up a magnum of G77.
The curse of G77
- Alex Bridgeman
- Graham’s 1948
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Re: The curse of G77
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.
2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
- uncle tom
- Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
- Posts: 3520
- Joined: 23:43 Wed 20 Jun 2007
- Location: Near Saffron Walden, England
Re: The curse of G77
To date, 8752 bottles of port have passed through my hands, and to date, not one has been broken - but I'm sure the day will come..
If you send something by post or courier, expect that it will fall off the back of a truck, literally - that's a drop of about 4'6" - 1.35m - typically.
If the packaging won't withstand that, don't send it...
If you send something by post or courier, expect that it will fall off the back of a truck, literally - that's a drop of about 4'6" - 1.35m - typically.
If the packaging won't withstand that, don't send it...
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
- djewesbury
- Graham’s 1970
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Re: The curse of G77
uncle tom wrote:If you send something by post or courier, expect that it will fall off the back of a truck, literally - that's a drop of about 4'6" - 1.35m - typically.
Yes.
Daniel J.
Husband of a relentless former Soviet Chess Master.
delete.. delete.. *sigh*.. delete...
Husband of a relentless former Soviet Chess Master.
delete.. delete.. *sigh*.. delete...
Re: The curse of G77
jdaw1 wrote:Could this be a Croft-Cockburn ’68-’69 switch, the author being aware, even if only vaguely, that the Croft ’69 was not all what it seemed? It might be a literary device, echoing a poisoned wine, without involving libel lawyers.uncle tom wrote:'The Cockburn '69 my lord - there is no finer wine'
uncle tom wrote:I've never heard of a Croft 1869 - in fact, the oldest on my database just happens to be 1870.
André L Simon, in [url=http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=18141#p18141]Vintagewise[/url], wrote:The case is different with another notoriously bad vintage, that of ’69, which was shipped by one solitary shipper, Messrs. Croft, and a beautiful wine it was, but it was not a ’69 and everybody knew it.
What happened was this: the summer of 1868 was exceptionally hot and the grapes were shrivelled by the heat; there was no question about this; the head of the House of Croft had seen them with his own eyes, when visiting the firm’s vineyards in the Alto Douro; and so he declared to all who met him on his return to Oporto that there would be no Vintage and hardly any wine at all. But it so happened that the moment he had turned his horse’s head towards Oporto, a fine rain had descended upon the shrivelled grapes which were bursting forth sugar and only wanted this gift from heaven to swell out and bring forth a wonderful wine, one of the finest vintages ever made in the Douro. But Croft would not go back upon their word: they had declared that there was not going to be a ’68 vintage and there was no Croft ’68 but everybody knew that Croft ’69 was ’68.
- uncle tom
- Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
- Posts: 3520
- Joined: 23:43 Wed 20 Jun 2007
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Re: The curse of G77
Lovely story - I wonder if any bottles survive?
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
Re: The curse of G77
Even if it is a lovely story, I'm not opening my last case until 2069uncle tom wrote:Lovely story - I wonder if any bottles survive?
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
Ernest H. Cockburn
Re: The curse of G77
How cute, buying it in cases rather than by the pipe, delivered and binned into the cellars.DRT wrote:I'm not opening my last case until 2069
- djewesbury
- Graham’s 1970
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- Joined: 20:01 Mon 31 Dec 2012
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Re: The curse of G77
Full refund issued by RBS / MasterCard toward the end of last week. A happy ending, thankfully.djewesbury wrote:Apparently the courier declined extra packaging when offered...
Daniel J.
Husband of a relentless former Soviet Chess Master.
delete.. delete.. *sigh*.. delete...
Husband of a relentless former Soviet Chess Master.
delete.. delete.. *sigh*.. delete...
Re: The curse of G77
I seems the mistaken Cockburn 1869 in Kind Hearts and Coronets that was recently discussed in the Port & Literature thread has been raised before...jdaw1 wrote:jdaw1 wrote:Could this be a Croft-Cockburn ’68-’69 switch, the author being aware, even if only vaguely, that the Croft ’69 was not all what it seemed? It might be a literary device, echoing a poisoned wine, without involving libel lawyers.uncle tom wrote:'The Cockburn '69 my lord - there is no finer wine'uncle tom wrote:I've never heard of a Croft 1869 - in fact, the oldest on my database just happens to be 1870.André L Simon, in [url=http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=18141#p18141]Vintagewise[/url], wrote:The case is different with another notoriously bad vintage, that of ’69, which was shipped by one solitary shipper, Messrs. Croft, and a beautiful wine it was, but it was not a ’69 and everybody knew it.
What happened was this: the summer of 1868 was exceptionally hot and the grapes were shrivelled by the heat; there was no question about this; the head of the House of Croft had seen them with his own eyes, when visiting the firm’s vineyards in the Alto Douro; and so he declared to all who met him on his return to Oporto that there would be no Vintage and hardly any wine at all. But it so happened that the moment he had turned his horse’s head towards Oporto, a fine rain had descended upon the shrivelled grapes which were bursting forth sugar and only wanted this gift from heaven to swell out and bring forth a wonderful wine, one of the finest vintages ever made in the Douro. But Croft would not go back upon their word: they had declared that there was not going to be a ’68 vintage and there was no Croft ’68 but everybody knew that Croft ’69 was ’68.