Conky's Martinez 85 TN: The Aftermath

[Alex Bridgeman]

Admin Note: Moved from here

Pre-amble.

For those that dont know me, I have a soft spot for this Port, and will be expecting to like it. I will of course try to be independent, but thought it worth mentioning. I'm also going in for an Angiogram tomorrow. That's were they shove a tube up the main artery of your thigh, and let it go into your heart. They release a dye and check your artery walls for angina.
I was a bit disturbed to see on the Net that this procedure had a 1 in a thousand mortality rate. I'm sure that's more your very aged, very ill typres, but unlike Tom, I thought I'm buggered if I'm leaving 4 bottles of Martinez 85 for those I may leave behind. They can jolly well do with 3!

So with that waffle out of the way,

2130hrs, took off the foil. Disturbed to see moisture, and what appeared to be a sodden cork top. No distinctive smell. Struggled manfully with the cork, but yet again only released two-thirds of it. Was chuffed to see the middle of the cork was bone dry and healthy, before the bottom third was literally stuck to the side of the bottle, and soaked in Port. No noticable smell! Why? Slight blackcurrant, but just not there.
Decanted and looked in amazement at the thickness and quantity of the sediment! Started to ponder if I'd lost an extra glass due to it all, but also hoped it was a good sign.
First pour. Light coloured, very limited nose. Tears are remarkable. The last ones fall ever so slowly down the glass. I do it a few times, because it seems so pronouced.
Taste. Oh dear. Weak and watery. How can the tears be so indictive of substance, but the taste so ordinary? Oh dear. Stare at the glass for a few minutes...this is going to be an anti-climax.

Over the next half hour, I start to gentley sip it. And to be fair, within 20 minutes, I'm definitely tasting something different. There's no heat. And yes, yes I can definitely taste some sort of mouthfeel developing. It's as though it was hidden, but is now emerging.

I'm not vastly experienced, but I am used to Ports calming down to taste great. Intergration, loss of heat, reduction of powerful flavours. This is the opposite. As I continue into the second hour, it is emerging, the nose is now subtley fruity. I'm rubbish at recognising them, but there's a few, and they dance on the tongue. The watery feel has gone. How can that happen? It's now as the tears suggested, creamy and lightly rich.
You're not quite there yet. Not the full hit of my most favourite Port...but I'm now sure I'm dealing with the same beast. Thank you.

It's now midnight (2 and a half hours). This is a beautiful Port. If I was to say that a Fonseca 63 hits hard and demands respect, but is pure quality, well this is the other end of the scale. It is also pure quality, but the rich mouthfeel is accompanied by sensual fairies dancing on your tongue. This doesn't slap you, it's an elusive will o' the wisp, that you want to grab and keep, but keeps you just out of reach. I'm going to spend a few more hours enjoying this. And if I'm here tomorrow night, as I expect to be, I'll finish of the other half-ish of the decanter, I intend to leave to aid recovery and convelesence.

Alan

Alan,

Good luck with the Op...

...and that is some tasting note, one that Roy would be amazed to see. Something of a dramatic difference between this one and the first one you posted elsewhere!

Alex

[Ghandih]

Hi Conky,

Also hope the investigation goes well today. My mother-in-law has had one of those too, and she's still fine, so no worries, I'm sure.

That sounds like a really unusual development of a vintage port, from opening to maturing. Almost makes me think you might have had the bottle inverted when you were decanting, so that you got all the end-port first.

I'm with you in lovin the Martinez '85, so hope that it will continue to grow and expand and develop, as Uncle Tom suggests with his extended decanting times should be possible. I'd love to join you to enjoy it, but will look forward to hearing about whether it's up there where it should be, by the time you taste it tonight.

Could be you decanted it just right for tasting after the op - clever!


Gandhi

[Conky]

Cheers for that, I dont even think they classify it as an Op nowadays. I was just adding a bit of late night drama!

Alex,

I still dont like TN's. Mine that is, I like reading others. I feel most good port is just that. Might require the odd 'Now what is that in the aftertaste I'm getting?' or 'It's certainly changed since we frst opened it', but other than that, let the scribes scribe, and let the drinkers drink!
There are of course, notable exceptions.

Simon,

Maybe we should have a Fonseca 63/Martinez 85 night! Now that would be worth a huge steak, and then watching you struggle over the chopped up dead animals the following morning.

Alan

PS. Quite looking forward to resuming the battle tonight.

[Alex Bridgeman]

...accompanied by sensual fairies dancing on your tongue. This doesn't slap you, it's an elusive will o' the wisp...

Now if that's not effusive prose then I don't know what is! I seriously, really enjoyed that tasting note and loved the imagery that you created with your choice of words and descriptions.

Alex

(And you had all the apostrophes in the right places in the quote above! What have you done with the real Conky?)

[Conky]

Tasting Note Update.

Disaster! Had the medical procedure and spun into two days of severe migraines. Yummy.
Kept looking at the decanter and cursing. Stupidly tried a sip last night, and it felt medicinal and wrong. Showed more of my stupidity and impatiance, than any charactistic of the Port.
I feel I have missed out on the second half of a beaut, but it's not exactly going to be a chore drinking the rest, when I'm clear of my ails.

Alan

[DRT]

Good to see you back online Conky. We were beginning to think we would all have to come to St Helens to drink your cellar dry

Hope you feel better soon

Derek

[Conky]

Thank the Lord!

I've thrown off FIVE long days of Migraines, and I'm back on the Port. This is still a very pleasant full bodied Port, with a smooth aftertaste. Debs wasn't that bothered and initially said no to a glass. A Sip of my glass later, and suddenly she had a large glass of her own.

Because my tasting was a little ruined, I wont score it this time, but it's definitely a 95+ in my book, and still one of my favourites.

Alan

[jdaw1]

This is a load of tosh. Absolute codswallop. Manifest nonsense of the horoscope-reading vaccine-refusing primitively superstitious kind. You expect us to believe that Conky:

• has written an eight-paragraph tasting note;
• with no apostrophe errors?

Conky has used somebody’s computer, somewhere, and not logged off, and the prankster owner of the computer knows his liking of Martinez 1985 and is using it to impersonate. We’re not fooled.

[Conky]

Manifest nonsense of the horoscope-reading vaccine-refusing primitively superstitious kind.

Could I suggest, that the above sentence is screaming out for a comma.

[jdaw1]

Not necessary (I read it without pauses) but other writers might wish to emphasise a pause. Optional.

[DRT]

This is a load of tosh. Absolute codswallop. Manifest nonsense of the horoscope-reading vaccine-refusing primitively superstitious kind. You expect us to believe that Conky:

• has written an eight-paragraph tasting note;
• with no apostrophe errors?

Conky has used somebody’s computer, somewhere, and not logged off, and the prankster owner of the computer knows his liking of Martinez 1985 and is using it to impersonate. We’re not fooled.

I'm with you on this one, Jdaw. As soon as I read it I thought either KillerB had logged in ad Conky or Conky was on exceedingly strong pre-meds

"Fairy's dancing on my tongue" = Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Derek

[jdaw1]

"Fairy's dancing on my tongue"

Correctly, he wrote “fairies dancing on your tongue† (though I accept the second-person pronoun is dodgy). Further evidence that it wasn’t Conky.

[Conky]

I'm becoming quite proud of the fact that my Tasting Notes may be very rare, but when they happen they are definitely some form of event!

And Julian...crap excuse for no comma!

[jdaw1]

Manifest nonsense of the horoscope-reading vaccine-refusing primitively superstitious kind.

Could I suggest, that the above sentence is screaming out for a comma.

You may. But you should first retract your incorrect comma.

Not necessary (I read it without pauses) but other writers might wish to emphasise a pause. Optional.

And Julian...crap excuse for no comma!

No. This isn’t a technical description: a detailed list of properties had by something that is large, blue, round, furry, expensive, and smelling of cheese. It is a gush of flamboyant criticism, and so is meant to read as a breathless exclamation. Hence the absence of internal pauses.

Why do these people argue with me?

And much of this thread should be moved to MD, perhaps with Admin starting by quoting Conky’s original post.

Admin: Done to the best of my ability

[Conky]

I agree wholeheartedly with this approach.

Let the conversation take its course, but when it's clearly wandered from the Tasting Note aspect, just dump it here, with a brief explanation if required. The Tasting Note Archive should be 'waffle' free (apart from Port waffle). I dont think this Post will be a great addition to the Literary World...but it keeps you going.

Keep up the good work, and if it's to much messing about, share the load.

Alan

[DRT]

Just so you know, this task was performed by the Deputy to the Creator's Assistant (i.e. Me). The Creator's Assistant may have been able to do it better, but then he has the constant guidance of the Creator to aid him in his role.

Derek

[Andy Velebil]

"Fairy's dancing on my tongue"

Alan, you've gone mad...Fairy's dancing on my tounge I'm getting worried about you, I hear there is electroshock therapy for such things

nice TN though, good job