Trip to Los Angeles for a Magnum Port lunch from 1890 to 1970

[hadge]

As some of you are aware, I was super generously invited to a Magnum Port lunch, hosted by Don Schliff, at Wolfgang Puck, The Cut restaurant in Los Angeles, with the magnums dated from 1890 to 1970. How could I say no to this? Me + Magnums + Lunch = YES, YES, YES !

I arrived at T5 for breakfast in the Concorde lounge; on my way through I had a very entertaining time in security, watching armed police checking a couple of people out and making them remove nearly all of their clothing, this caused a little delay to breakfast. When I finally arrived in the lounge, I sat on the terrace and enjoyed a very good eggs benedict with extra sausages. After completing the required shopping, I went back to the Concorde lounge to try some of the wines on their list. My first choice was the Chablis and was told it was out of stock (not a good start BA) so I the chose the DAO which was very disappointing, hard acid, little balance with the fruit, over rich for me. Next, I decided to try the port a glass of Warre 2009 Colheita, then didn’t have it but I was given a glass of the Dow 2007 Colheita. I enjoyed this, it had a nice balance, there was nice fruit but a little heat in the middle which smoothed out in the mid length finish (Good). I’m not sure how long this bottle had been open for, but I would have thought a fair length of time, as it was right at the back of the cupboard. It was then time to find the plane.

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Boarding was very easy boarding and I managed to complete the most important task, that of obtaining a wash bag for my wife. The flight champagne of LP GS was good, plus they had the Chablis on board which was a good easy drinker, with a nice balance of fruit without over powering acidity (Good). The Californian PN was just about drinkable! Hard finish, must have been 100% new oak hard tannins. The Sweet wine was very enjoyable, the highlight of the flight wines, long smooth finish, Dow 2007 Colheita a much better bottle, with a nice balance between fruit and tannins, not over complex, no heat in the middle, with a lovely caramel finish. (Excellent)

I arrived at LAX, and it took a couple of weeks to get through immigration! When I finally arrived at my hotel (the Intercontinental Downtown LA), I joined Cliff and Amanda for a warm up dinner at UK breakfast time where we had some very good steaks but they clearly didn’t know what real French fries are! We were served rosti potatoes which was their idea of fries. I must remember the difference between British and American humour!! I caused confusion when I questioned what were these things that had been set down in front of me! We thoroughly enjoyed an excellent bottle of 2002 VS Unico. It needs more time but is still a lovely wine; currently it’s just a little closed and lacks the balance and complexity I would expect. Even so, it was highly drinkable just not in my top bottles from this producer. Having said that this is becoming one of my favourite producers in the world and I’m not sure I have ever had a bad bottle.

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[hadge]

Now for the main event (how can I bore the reader more before getting to the main event hmm?!)

Wearing black tie (one of the few to follow the dress code) Cliff and I arrived at Wolfgang Puck, The Cut Restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel to find Don Schliff opening the magnums with quite some port tong set up I had ever seen. It was quite something to watch. He started with the 1970 and worked towards the oldest bottles. The oldest 4 bottles were opened by hand by Adrian Bridge to keep the bottles for the museum in Oporto.

Sadly, I’m not sure which glass of Krug I was served as I was one of the early glasses. I believe that it was the 161eme edition as they where opening this first but it could have been the 168eme edition as both of these were bottled in Jeroboams. It was ok, nothing world beating in my opinion but then I’m very weak on champagne. The smoked salmon canapes were excellent and so were the tempura king prawns.

To the table and the pleasure of sitting next to Martine Saunier. What a fascinating and wonderful lady.

Here comes the big moment, the first flight of ports arrive….

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Taylor 1970
The first port, one sniff and I detected a very little TCA, oh no! for me to detect it, it must be bad!
Graham 1970
Wonderful nose, great balance, no heat, this is great, this is the start we should have had. This got better and better as the day/evening went on, (I took advantage of being able to finish the decanter in the evening!) this was a real joy and wonderful by the end, it was definitely under decanted at lunch, I believe around 2 hours in decanter and hour in glass at lunchtime. Excellent
Warre 1970
Classic Warre nose, perfume, and elegance. Had balance but I felt this was a little older than I expected it to be. Not a great bottle in my eyes but very drinkable and no faults. Average

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The food, Duo of Hudson Vally Foie Gras, this was wonderful, the port wine gelee the highlight of this dish but it was very well balanced and great cooking.

Second flight

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Warre 1966
A classic Warre, very elegant, good balance with lovely fruit showing. This was the table’s favourite from this flight, but not mine. Excellent
Warre 1963
This was a little odd, with too much heat for Warre’s and a very hard finish, it had to be a bad bottle. Average
Croft 1963
Lovely and smooth with nice balance but a little light but had good structure. A drink up port if I had any. Lovely easy drinking. Very Good
Dow 1963
Just wow!!! What a wine, it needed time to open up in the glass but when it did!! It was like golden nectar. Classic dry style of Dow, with a little power, amazing fruit that was in perfect balance. In my top 3 and I was very pleased to have this decanter in the evening, even if I shared it around with some random Americans! Outstanding
Graham 1963
Something not right on the palate, hmm I think TCA, took its time but came through after 30 minutes.

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This was the weakest food course food wise, the lobster claw was great, the tail was a little under cooked but still good.

[hadge]

Third flight

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Graham 1960
Great nose, had a little heat in the middle with smoothing in the finish. Took time in the glass but the balance came through. A lovely start to the flight. Was a little surprised this was 1960 was tasting young. Has time to go. Very good
Fonseca 1960
Just wonderful, lovely long finish, but lacked a little of the Fonseca power I’m used to. A very enjoyable port. Very good
Cockburn 1955
This was the weakest of the 1955’s, lovely fruit with great balance and light structure. This was in a great window but I would drink up. Not got the legs to be open for a long time. Very good
Grahams 1955
Stop the tasting! Just wow!! Where is that decanter steal it now! Truly a wonderful port! Balance, power, wonderful long finish, very smooth. Didn’t want to write a note as just wanted to drink it. Outstanding
Fonseca 1955
That was a mistake to say stop the tasting! This was an outstanding bottle, a true great. This is the decanter than I’m going to steal. What great Fonseca power with the perfect balance. Still youthful, in a fantastic place. What a finish. Just a touch better than the Graham before it. Outstanding
Sandeman 1955 – Tregnum
The first Tregnum of the day. I was very much looking forward to trying this bottle in this format. It was overshadowed by the last 2 ports but still a great port, needs more time (under decanted, much better later in the evening), a nice easy drinker, lacking a little complexity of the last two bottles but had the balance and lovely finish. On its own I would have been very happy with it, there was just better in the lineup. Excellent

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This was an amazing course of food! The veal shank was cooked to perfection with a wonderful canaroli risotto, this worked with the power of the ports above.

Flight 4

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Graham 1948
Lovely balanced port, a very classic Graham style, still had power in the fruit with everything coming at the right time, great finish. The ‘55 was just a little better for me. Outstanding
Graham 1945
Where to start?! A magnificent port. Everything I want from a port. Balance, power, complexity, wonderful long finish. Outstanding
Graham 1935
Interesting, a nice port but lacked a little balance, a little dry and a medium finish. I wondered if over decanted?! It was reported to me that this bottle had a very high level, I did look at the cork and it didn’t have any re-corked stamped and looked like an original. Average
Cockburn 1935 – Re-corked by Whitwham
Hmm!! Dry with little heat, just too old? Over decanted? Think that it had been decanted for 4 hours at this point and had been in glass for nearly an hour before being served. A disappointment. Poor
Taylor 1927 – not a Magnum from Bottle.
I was very lucky!! This was a good bottle, just lovely. Good power and balance. No heat in finish, just nice and smooth. The other bottle had a fault for half of the room. I believe it was TCA maybe just a little dirty. Very good

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Where to start with this food course? An amazing Jurgielewicz Aged Peking Duck, words cannot do it justice! The greatest Peking Duck I have ever had anywhere in the world, I wish that I had taken notes on how it was cooked as I wouldn’t want to get it wrong from memory.

[hadge]

Flight 5

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Sandeman 1911 – Tregnum
An interesting nice port. This was a little cooked and dry. I believe this was over decanted and would have loved to tried it, pop and pour. This had been decanted for over 4 hours at this point of trying. I did have a second glass from the decanter not much later, which was better and not quite as dry and more Sandeman in style. Nice but going over, drink up. Average
I have a little side note on this, which I’m happy to explain in person. I did have a debate about the bottle type and shape.
Dow 1896 – Tregnum
This was meant to be the highlight and star of the tasting, my first ever taste of Dow 1896. Hmm what to say. A very dry, light fruit, there was some balance but just overall a little dull, a perfectly nice port just flat. Maybe going over? I feel this was another over decanted port. I then managed to get hold of the decanter for a fresh glass, more fruit, classic Dow style, good balance, medium finish, but it still lacked something. Average
Cockburn 1890
This was sadly a poor port, flat, just too old. Dry, heat cutting through everything. Been decanted for 4 plus hours. Would have been interesting to have tried this first, to see if the same thing was there. Poor
Mystery Port
Lovely nose, this has to be a Colheita. Hmm a little taste now, getting all of that caramel, sugar. Nice balance but not perfect, I’m think this tastes like the 1880 Whitwhams, this is my guess. I was wrong, it was the reserve King Pedro V Vintage 1853, we were given a paper on it. It was bottled in 2003. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of this bottle. Very good

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I had a wonderful brie for my cheese course, the rest of the table had Cropwell Bishop Stilton, I would have to say my brie was excellent.


To round up, I have to start by thanking Don Schliff for organising and providing the wines. He did an excellent job of presenting and hosting us all round. The tongs setup is amazing and quite something to watch. What a great location to pick and how can I fault the menu? I just can’t, it was perfect, thank you to Wolfgang Puck for being a great host and picking the perfect menu. The cooking of the menu by Executive Chef Drew Rosenberg was excellent, outstanding, just wonderful with some very clever ideas on the plates. The whole of The Cut team were so welcoming and helpful, especially when I took over the bar at the end with the leftover decanters. The last thank you goes to Adrian Bridge for talking us through each flight of wines.

The highlights,

The food, yes this was meant to be all about the port but just wow!

I find it difficult to rank my top 5 ports, this is just a little bit of an order, but they are all so close

• • Fonseca 1955
  • Graham 1945
  • Graham 1955
  • Dow 1963
  • Graham 1948

Then I have a couple of honourable mentions

• • Sandeman 1955
  • Warre 1966
  • Graham 1970

Overall, it was an excellent tasting with a wonderful number of ports in great places, I would have been happy to drink all but 3 of the ports for the rest of the evening. As before, I got lucky, with Wolfgang’s help (he opened the bar for us and gave us a large table to use) with some help we managed to move the decanters through to the bar. Wolfgang bought a second round of the Peking Duck and I had a glass of F55 in my hand, I believe this is what they call Port heaven. I did work my way through the F55 followed by a glass or two of the G45 which Cliff had been working through, then we went onto G55, D63. Finishing the night on the S55 for me. what an amazing lunch all round! A true PFL by the end.

PS note,
I rounded the trip off with a little walk around Venice Beach the next morning followed by a very fun dinner with a local winemaker (who I introduced to great port and his now love for it). We had a lovely 2010 Puligny-Montrachet Les Referts, surprisingly not premox and an excellent La Chapelle 2001. He gave me a very nice present of his first vintage 2018 of fortified PN, which was the year he discovered how wonderful Fonseca 1966 is, when it is decanted correctly in the end. I look forward to trying his fortified. When flying back I found Adrian Bridge in the lounge and on the same flight as myself.

What a few days in LA.

I have finally got around to posting this!!!!

[cem]

Thanks for posting this Harry. as you've reminded me what a fun weekend it was.

I can't quibble with your choices as to the best showing ports, they were outstanding.

I do wish Don would serve the ports oldest to youngest as I am quite sure the older ports were over-decanted by a long chalk.

[flash_uk]

What a cracking event guys, and a splendid write-up Harry!

[winesecretary]

What a lovely writeup with the ebullient HH enthusiasm really bubbling through.

Quite some tasting. but as cem says I also would have gone oldest to youngest especially if ll decanted at same time.

[PhilW]

I really enjoy write-ups of tastings like this, thanks for posting. My favourite line from your write-up: "I did work my way through the F55 followed by a glass or two of the G45 which Cliff had been working through" - yeah, you and Cliff must have struggled with that hard work there :o)

[Doggett]

No words… other than… Bloody Hell! Great report Harry!

[Christopher]

World class review! Thanks so much Harry! Looks like a proper tasting!

[mcoulson]

What an excellent write up to a fab event ... Thankyou

[Alex Bridgeman]

I've just noticed the report - and loved reading it. Harry - thank you for taking the time to share with us the fun of the trip.