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NickA

I find myself against trend here. I see the immediate appeal of this fresh young thing. And somewhat like the 94 it has amazingly held on to its youth. But I found some VA a distraction and ultimately for me the profile a bit simple. Doesn't fall off midway like the 94. I don't vote based on a port'...

NickA

I liked this a lot. It was different but not as you would expect. Just a touch more depth and less developed than the very pleasurable Noval. But there was something else in the flavour profile I liked more. Cedar? Red fruit driven with perfect balance and while light really enjoyable today. Focusin...

NickA

A pleasant surprise for me given what else happened here in the 90s. Soft nose and thankfully devoid of any obvious va. Mid colour. Mid intensity on the nose. Ready. Sweet entry. Mid depth and balance. A good port that for the 91 vintage puts it in the upper bracket for me. My vote for 3rd.

NickA

My bottle. And representative of where it is today so comments above happy to let stand. However, while it's in the drink soon category I find pleasure in it. Now toned down and fading gently datey fruit and herby earthy tietary notes with overall balance dimished a bit with some dryness on the fini...

NickA

A really nice spot today. In the red fruit with some rounded development and overall sense of balance and good persistence. Lots of pleasure in this one. I don't have confidence to vote based on what might happen in years to come so go for pleasure on the night. And for this bottle also surprised me...

NickA

My history with this port perhaps colours my impression on the night. I am 11 out of 12 down and the biggest impression is alcohol and a hardness that doesn't budge and not really ticking much for me on the pleasure scale. This bottle showed some of the firmness but not so obvious on the alcohol sca...

NickA

Food order submitted, taking into account recent requests to change standard food orders; no standard food order exists for NickA and CMAG, so I have indicated to the B&F on their behalf simply that there will likely be some desire on their part for some steak. Sorry I thought that was done las...

NickA

In the unlikely event you need a reserve to fill in, can you put me down please? 66 is my birth year but they haven't lasted long in my household...excepting the rest of a case of Fonseca that's always been spectacular. I would however buy something to fill gaps, or offer to double up on what you'd ...

NickA

Thx. It's the FG. Cheers

NickA

Hi guys,
Could you put me down too please?
I could offer Fonseca or Taylors, assuming these Qunitas are acceptable?

NickA

A9: An obvious alcoholic edge to the spicy fruit. Decent tannic structure. Good acid balance. A bit unintegrated/raw today so too early to say on this one.

NickA

A8: An edgy, lanolin nose. Slight plastic note? Same on palate with a high toned citric edge. Something not right with this bottle?

NickA

A6: A fruit driven nose. Silky, some spirit. Sweet entry. Maybe a little simple today along with some alcoholic power. Structure? Concentration? A decent bright acid cut to the fruity finish. A pleasant nearer term prospect perhaps.

NickA

A7: A good density to the fruity nose aligned to some spirity sweetness. Silky black fruit in character. A velvety fruit driven palate. Tannins well hidden and good acidic bite to balance the long finish. Excellent, with good future ahead. {Portal}

NickA

A5: A denser, smokier nose. Some dustiness and an alcoholic edge. Oak too in evidence? Vanilla sweetness on palate along with oaky dryness. Quite aggressive finish and harder going today. Needs time to come together and show its potential. (Fonseca)

NickA

A4: Orangey fruit top note. Palate mixed fruit with citrus and a hint of raisony ripeness. Good but lighter structure. Simple perhaps, but smooth and attractive. Good.

NickA

A3: Some more obvious spirit with citrus notes on nose but still with good dense fruit in evidence although this has a harder edge. Firm, quite drying tannic palate. Needs to develop more to show well but could be a promising longer term prospect. (Niepoort)

NickA

A2: Deep, concentrated nose. Amazing palate density-concentration with balance. Warming, clean fruit driven finish. Citrus top notes developing. Sweetness aligned to fresh acid and underlying tannic structure. Excellent+ (Grahams)

NickA

A1: Smooth sweet apricot over rich red/black fruits. Noval like? Softly, richly tannic – balanced black fruit driven palate. Long, smooth finish. Excellent. (Grahams Stone Terraces)

NickA

B1: A lovely citrusy sweet top note to its mixed red/black fruits. Supple, fruit driven. A good early drinking prospect. A balanced ripeness and attractive already. [Noval. Quite similar in some ways to the 16, although more a stone fruit/apricot top note in the 16).

NickA

B2: Not dissimilar (to previous port, the Noval). Bright sweet fruits but with more concentration on nose and fuller tannin. Grippy acids. Good intensity and concentration on palate with firm tannic finish. Longer term prospect? {Noval Nacional)

NickA

B3: Citrus. Orange? Sweet tannic, grippy fruit. Another longer term prospect. Fruit concentration with good acid grip and length. This is a serious port with long future. {Warres}

NickA

B4: Another immediately attractive nose. Densely fruity. Palate also has concentration and latent power with balance and grip. Hidden structure and seems delicious even now. Seems to be destined for early drinking but could be deceptive. Very good to excellent.

NickA

B5: Slightly high toned nose turning peachy with dense fruit with green flecks underlying. Quite complex and attractive already. Very fruit driven and mouthfilling. Good balance and long fruit driven finish. Excellent prospect (assuming VA doesn’t start to poke out).

NickA

B6: A spicier, dense nose. A slightly distracting acetic edge to palate. Not sure this is as it should be?

NickA

B7: An inky dense sweetly fruity nose. Quite a distinctively sweetly fruited lighter style. Balanced and attractive. Hints of liquorice over black fruit. More like a sweet wine than a port in some ways, but delicious in its way.

NickA

B8: A lighter style with a spiciness to the nose, Somewhat aggressive on palate-acids and tannins bite possibly somewhat unbalanced but we shall see given time.

NickA

B9: Dusty note on nose; plenty of fruit… This was to be my last tasting note of the night and I didn’t exactly finish it! I recall it had the expected fruit than the corked bottle at a previous tasting (clearly) missed. Would be wrong to rate it but certainly nothing wrong with it or I would have wr...

NickA

C1: Attractively herby with slightly greener fruit-rhubarb? Similar palate. This has lovely complexity aligned to dense, rich fruit. Supple tannins, great balance and length. Fantastic, distinctive port. (Dow)

NickA

C2: A more spirity nose with subtle fruit. Quite a powerful yet positively assertive palate. Grippy, tannic structure. Very ‘correct’, traditional style. Is this Taylors? (I suspect I noticed the distinctive bottle top

)

NickA

C3: Lovely violet top note. Slightly high toned with a dusty note to the dense fruit. Beautifully pure and powerful black fruits on the palate. Perfect balancing acids and tannins completely unobtrusive. Fantastic. (Taylor VV. This was a better showing than a previous tasting, relative to the straig...

NickA

C4: Open, concentrated fruit on nose with a slight spirity edge. Dense fruit and yet seems a lighter style. Nice balance, structure not obvious and could be an attractive earlier term prospect.

NickA

C5: Dense, powerful sweet fruit on nose. Palate powerful with intense sweet fruit and supple structure. Red and black fruits wrapped up within a sweet core. VG+

NickA

C6: A lightly prickly high toned nose yet maintains a darker fruit profile. A lovely fruit perfume runs through the palate. Bright. Great acid cut and very drinkable today-indeed difficult to spit. The structure is lighter, or extremely well hidden. Quite delicious – but what does its future hold..i...

NickA

C7: Another lovely fruit driven nose. Perfumed and delicious fruit driven palate. Sweet and balanced. Hardly any grip or tannic structure in evidence and delicious already. What for the future?

NickA

C8: A densely concentrated fruit with notes of dust and spirit. A good balance of dense fruit with power and acidity balanced with grippy tannins just noticeable on the finish. Concentrated yet balanced for the long term. Excellent.

NickA

C9: A somewhat muted nose with attractive hints of red and black fruits. Doesn’t show the concentration or depth to mark out as great but beautiful balance and mid weight. Could be deceptive of course if closed.

NickA

D10: Slightly high toned red currant fruit. Palate fresh red fruit driven. Hints of spicy heat and supporting acids through to gently warming finish. Solid port, but lacks the suppleness/immediacy of others in comparison.

NickA

D1: Slightly closed, spirity nose; simple fruit on palate in lighter style but shows more spirit too. Even somewhat LBV like in style with fruit not as expansive as the majority today. (Croft)

NickA

D2: Another slightly spirity edge to the nose, with red and black fruits with the vintage’s citrus edge. Palate more expansive with good mid-weight fruit and balance. Some warmth evident on clean finish which its good acid cut. Good solid port here. (Croft da Roeda Serikos)

NickA

D3: A dense fruit driven nose but still somewhat reserved brooding nature. A solid fruit density matched to clean balanced structure. Good persistence with a clean fruity perfumed finish. Quite Taylors like with its tightly coiled yet perfumed fruit profile but certainly not the power. (Vesuvio)

NickA

D4: A slightly orangey note to the herby mixed fruit nose. A very intense concentrated palate entry. Citrus notes throughout. A deliciousness makes it difficult to split. Perfect balance with great cut and plenty of ripe tannin. Great length. Superb. My pick of the tasting. (Prior to being revealed ...

NickA

D5: Very attractive red fruit driven nose, mainly cranberry. Powerful entry. Bright acids. Little tannin in evidence but certainly present. This is a very attractive earlier drinking style on the red fruit spectrum. Lovely, slightly warming finish.

NickA

D6: A dense, reserved, slight spicy fruity nose. Slight prickle of VA. A bright floral deliciousness to the sweetly red fruited palate. Balanced with good freshness through its good acidic cut. Another where spitting was not the preferred option!

NickA

D7: An attractive spicy fruity, liquorice tinged red and black fruits. Surprisingly complex and open. Palate matches nose almost exactly with a slightly dryer finish. Excellent early term prospect.

NickA

D8: Slightly high toned spirity nose. Redcurrant fruit. Similar notes on palate. Bright, lighter fruit. Decent balance but more spirit than fruit showing today. Classic in its way but not expected from a ‘17.

NickA

D9: A very direct fruit driven nose. Perfumed red and black fruits. Some earthy undertones. Really good concentrated fruit-both red and black. Perfectly balanced with great acids. Excellent.

NickA

D11. A nicely integrated spicy fruity nose. Quite grippy tannins and acid cut. Concentration is there but clamped down a little. Long tannic, drying finish. Needs some more time to show how it comes together as promising nose isn't quite followed by the palate.

NickA

Thanks echoed for organisation and supply of ports. With 40+ notes to type up it is likely to be the weekend for me. I have finally placed my first orders for 17 and heavily into to Dow, Grahams and Capela that I thought showed superbly (and were available!). There were plenty more and clearly a vin...

NickA

Lightest of the flight. A pinched nose, almost like lead pencil, nutty and quite tertiary. Dried fruits and a burnt raison finish. This bottle at least is past its best.

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