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Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 16:33 Wed 13 Jul 2011
by RAYC
A list of some good (and some not-so-good) ideas that have not yet reached fruition:

So What's the Best Single Quinta, then? suggested by JacobH in January 2011
The Daily Drinker tasting suggested by JacobH in October 2010 (and scuppered late in the day for various reasons)
A Dry vs Sweet (Dow v Graham) Blind Tasting suggested by JacobH in September 2010
A 1986 Horizontal suggested by Chris Doty in September 2010
A Tasting of the 1995 Vintage suggested by g-man in April 2010
Auzzie Port & other stuff suggested by DRT in October 2009
Comparing the Bottlers suggested by jdaw1 in September 2009
A Martinez Vertical suggested by Conky in June 2009
A Complete Vertical of 20th century vintages of Taylor suggested [in jest] by AHB in March 2009
The Great Taylor Fladgate v Symington head-to-head Tasting suggested by Ghandih in February 2009
The Delaforce Vertical suggested by jdaw1 in May 2008
A Douro wine tasting suggested by Christopher in April 2008
The Big TPF Douro Offline suggested by DRT in January 2008
A 1908 Horizontal suggested by AHB in September 2007

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 18:17 Wed 13 Jul 2011
by g-man
i'd like to add a tasting:

it's the I've always wanted to try that bottle tasting.

we post our wish list, and like minded individuals will split the cost to source and taste such bottles.

For example, croft 45 could occasionally be found for 450$.
While I myself could finish a bottle, I figure the enjoyment be more split amongst another for 225$/piece.

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 14:02 Fri 15 Jul 2011
by Alex Bridgeman
I would like to withdraw my suggestion of a 1908 tasting. That was made in 2007, with the intention of holding it the following year. It seems to be somewhat less glamorous to suggest a tasting of 103 year vintage port than to suggest a horizontal of century old wine.

Perhaps 2012...

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 21:27 Fri 15 Jul 2011
by JacobH
AHB wrote:I would like to withdraw my suggestion of a 1908 tasting. That was made in 2007, with the intention of holding it the following year. It seems to be somewhat less glamorous to suggest a tasting of 103 year vintage port than to suggest a horizontal of century old wine.
Does your withdrawal mean that you would decline an invitation to such a tasting if proffered? ;-)

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 22:39 Fri 15 Jul 2011
by Alex Bridgeman
JacobH wrote:
AHB wrote:I would like to withdraw my suggestion of a 1908 tasting. That was made in 2007, with the intention of holding it the following year. It seems to be somewhat less glamorous to suggest a tasting of 103 year vintage port than to suggest a horizontal of century old wine.
Does your withdrawal mean that you would decline an invitation to such a tasting if proffered? ;-)
Not in the least...but I would probably suggest that a different theme be chosen and the 1908 wines included in future verticals.

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 22:10 Sun 31 Jul 2011
by uncle tom
Delaforce is the one to take forward IMO, with at least one, and preferably two members of the family in attendance..

I have a dozen vintages of Delaforce VP in my cellar, the most notable absentees being '27, '45 & '55

'Delaforce, a celebration' might be the theme, at the RAF club perhaps (preferably upstairs..) and timed to suit the family..

- do others concur?

Tom

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 22:31 Sun 31 Jul 2011
by DRT
uncle tom wrote:do others concur?
I own exactly 12 fewer vintages of Delaforce than Tom does, but am happy to adopt.

Perhaps we could expand the theme a little and put Delaforce up against one or two other houses that are less frequently encountered at UK tastings such as Ramos Pinto and and Calém?

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 01:10 Mon 01 Aug 2011
by RAYC
uncle tom wrote: 'Delaforce, a celebration' might be the theme, at the RAF club perhaps (preferably upstairs..) and timed to suit the family..

- do others concur?

Tom
I concur - i was rather impressed by the '66 Delaforce that WS1 shared at a small tasting earlier this year.

Bearing in mind the genesis of this tasting idea, does any further thought need to be given to timing/location?
DRT wrote:Perhaps we could expand the theme a little and put Delaforce up against one or two other houses that are less frequently encountered at UK tastings such as Ramos Pinto and and Calém?
I am not opposed to this, though Delaforce appear to have been quite prolific in their declarations - it may be possible to come up with a deep enough vertical to sate even old-world thirst! (particularly if their colheitas and Q de Corte bottlings are included)

But the natural stablemate, if one were required, would surely be Royal Oporto....(and there's no reason why a careful selection of bottlings, including some old colheitas and eg: the 1970 Q de Carvahlas and the regular 1987 RO VP, wouldn't make for a rather good tasting...)

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 05:01 Mon 01 Aug 2011
by WS1
RAYC wrote:
uncle tom wrote: 'Delaforce, a celebration' might be the theme, at the RAF club perhaps (preferably upstairs..) and timed to suit the family..

- do others concur?

Tom
I concur - i was rather impressed by the '66 Delaforce that WS1 shared at a small tasting earlier this year.

Bearing in mind the genesis of this tasting idea, does any further thought need to be given to timing/location?
DRT wrote:Perhaps we could expand the theme a little and put Delaforce up against one or two other houses that are less frequently encountered at UK tastings such as Ramos Pinto and and Calém?
I am not opposed to this, though Delaforce appear to have been quite prolific in their declarations - it may be possible to come up with a deep enough vertical to sate even old-world thirst! (particularly if their colheitas and Q de Corte bottlings are included)

But the natural stablemate, if one were required, would surely be Royal Oporto....(and there's no reason why a careful selection of bottlings, including some old colheitas and eg: the 1970 Q de Carvahlas and the regular 1987 RO VP, wouldn't make for a rather good tasting...)
Hmmm, not so sure to expand the tasting to include Calem or Ramos Pinto. Both are producers with either great history (Calem was always very good until 1970!) or are still in most years produce very good ports now. Delaforce before 1970 (similar to Sandemann) is very good indeed! Have as far as i remember from Delaforce VP 66, 70, 77, 82 and 85.
As far as I additionally remember is Axel a keen colector of Delaforce ports. Also why do we not include some Qinta del Corte SQVP ports? Have 80 and 87.

regards

WS1

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 08:51 Mon 01 Aug 2011
by JacobH
DRT wrote:Perhaps we could expand the theme a little and put Delaforce up against one or two other houses that are less frequently encountered at UK tastings such as Ramos Pinto and and Calém?
The (very few) Ramos Pinto red Ports I’ve tried have not been great. Am I missing something?

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 19:50 Tue 02 Aug 2011
by jdaw1
In the UK I have Df70 and Df77” , which are, of course, at the disposal of the team. In the US I also have Df35, which likewise, subject to transportation.
DRT wrote:Perhaps we could expand the theme a little and put Delaforce up against one or two other houses that are less frequently encountered at UK tastings such as Ramos Pinto and and Calém?
I’m not enthusiastic about this.
RAYC wrote:! Delaforce appear to have been quite prolific in their declarations - it may be possible to come up with a deep enough vertical to sate even old-world thirst! (particularly if their colheitas and Q de Corte bottlings are included)
A much better plan.

RAYC wrote:Royal Oporto
Enthusiasm diminishing.

JacobH wrote:The (very few) Ramos Pinto red Ports I’ve tried have not been great. Am I missing something?
Vickers' Liquors had RP85 at ≈$25 a bottle. A few of us cleared them out, and it was a very satisfactory house VP.

”  I have a nagging doubt about this. It might have been ‘stolen’.

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 22:36 Tue 02 Aug 2011
by DRT
jdaw1 wrote:In the UK I have Df70 and Df77”  !

”  I have a nagging doubt about this. It might have been ‘stolen’.
I think it went on holiday to the Douro, spent a few weeks resting in Barlborough, and then rushed to the rescue of a Christmas emergency in Paris.

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 22:48 Tue 02 Aug 2011
by jdaw1
That was the ’70. That wasn’t stolen silly! we know that one of those went on holiday. I’m worried that the ’77 might have been ‘stolen’.

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 20:33 Thu 04 Aug 2011
by Axel P
I very much would like to join a Delaforce tasting as well. I do have many Vintages from 66 and younger (I guess pretty much all of them), so how about this for a January tasting? Anybody volunteers for organising. I would book the club and get the VIP.

Axel

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 21:36 Thu 04 Aug 2011
by jdaw1
Organisation thread started: Delaforce vertical in early 2012.

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 18:04 Wed 05 Feb 2014
by RAYC
Two things have happened recently:

(i) i realised I have not organised a tasting for some time;
(ii) i have been attempting to rationalise my port storage and found some bottles i had forgotten about.

In terms of tastings within the next 12 months, would there be any interest in:

a) 1982 horizontal - i collected approx 12-15 82 VPs for an aborted tasting in 2010. Provenance of most of these bottles is unproven (but not necessarily bad), and i can't remember keeping a record of acquisition costs so would take token contributions only in order to open all these up 30 years after bottling. We could perhaps have a few bottles of 1970 sitting behind the bar "just in case"...

b) a 1967 horizontal - i have a few (6-7?) particularly nice bottlings of 67 that would make the backbone of a good horizontal. Would look to add Nacional to revisit this vintage on a stand-alone basis.

c) a "Niepoort 7s" tasting (or "umbrella" tasting for those familiar with bingo lingo) - colheita, pota VP and bdx VP from 1970; colheita, garrafeira, magnum VP and 75cl VP from 77; regular VP, Pisca VP, crusted and LBV from 07. Perhaps a Redoma - Batuta - Charme 07 line-up alongside the meal. Would need to track down the colheitas (which i'm merrily assuming won't be impossible) but otherwise thought it could be quite fun...

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 18:10 Wed 05 Feb 2014
by PopulusTremula
RAYC wrote:
In terms of tastings within the next 12 months, would there be any interest in:

a) 1982 horizontal - i collected approx 12-15 82 VPs for an aborted tasting in 2010. Provenance of most of these bottles is unproven (not necessarily bad), and i can't remember keeping a record of acquisition costs so would take token contributions only to open all these up 30 years after bottling. We could perhaps have a few bottles of 1970 sitting behind the bar "just in case"...

I'd be interested in an 82 horizontal and have a Noval which can be added to the batch. It's in good condition but with unknown provenance.

/M

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk 2

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 18:12 Wed 05 Feb 2014
by jdaw1
RAYC wrote:A list of some good (and some not-so-good) ideas that have not yet reached fruition:

!
The Great Taylor Fladgate v Symington head-to-head Tasting suggested by Ghandih in February 2009
This became Tue 11 Oct 2011, RAF Club, {D, F, G, T}×{’63, ’66, ’70, ’77}.

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 21:40 Wed 05 Feb 2014
by PhilW
RAYC wrote:In terms of tastings within the next 12 months, would there be any interest in:
An '82 horizontal would be my pick of your suggestions, I would be keen on this.

Other ideas mentioned recently which could also be added to the list include the 1958 horizontal, which I think Wolfgang may be planning; Also - have we ever done a 1987 horizontal?

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 22:35 Wed 05 Feb 2014
by jdaw1
RAYC wrote:The Delaforce Vertical suggested by jdaw1 in May 2008
This was done on Tuesday 24th April 2012 in The Bung Hole.

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 16:05 Thu 06 Feb 2014
by Alex Bridgeman
I'd be interested in the '82 or the '67 horizontals - it's a reasonably well known fact that I am a fan of the '67 vintage and think this is well under-rated by the general world of wine-lovers.

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 16:36 Thu 06 Feb 2014
by jdaw1
Please reserve a place for me at the 1967 Horizontal.

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 22:54 Thu 06 Feb 2014
by djewesbury
Also keen on 82 and 67 horizontals.

Re: Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 01:14 Fri 07 Feb 2014
by DRT
jdaw1 wrote:Please reserve a place for me at the 1967 Horizontal.
+1, please.

Unfulfilled ambition...

Posted: 01:20 Fri 07 Feb 2014
by djewesbury
djewesbury wrote:Also keen on 82
And I would like to bring an 82 guest if this happened...