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cem

Thurs:

Scotch egg
Chateaubriand (shared with Harry) - fries and broccoli
Cheese

Fri Lunch:

Bruschetta
Chicken supreme + creamed spinach
Tart

Fri Dinner:

Salmon
Steak M-R - fries and broccoli
No dessert

Thanks Mike!

cem · Re: Taylor Vertical - Post WW2 - 28 October 2025 Harry wins!

Harry wins!

cem

Apologies, but i will not be able to attend this tasting any longer as I will be over 6,500 miles away on the 28th

cem

Thanks for the heads up Alex, I'll see you there!

cem

I'll likely be in the UK then so please stick me down for this. I think the 91s are drinking very nicely now. TV91 is undeniably excellent and I am quite partial to Croft 91 too. NN96 would be in with a good shout in the top 14. I've always really enjoyed Vesuvio 95. Probably biased as I have fond m...

cem

I will be about so please put me down.

I'll bring some Raby ports.

cem

Excellent choice Alex

cem

My food orders please:

Lunch:
Bruschetta (no chilli)
Sirlion (M-R) + Fries + Mixed Salad

Dinner:
Smoked Salmon (no chilli)
Pork Chop + Creamed Spinach

Thanks!

cem

It would be rude not to attend.

I can bring a mag of 70 Harry if you want to bring the '83?

cem

Please put me down on the reserves if a place comes up. Thanks

cem

If you feel able to fit one more in, I am over in the UK in October and can provide two Taylor legends, the 1908 and the 1912.

cem

Alex Bridgeman wrote: ↑08:49 Sat 22 Mar 2025 I’ve updated the list of available wines to reflect what people have posted and what I have available.

16 producers already, nice. I will do a proper look soon but I know you can add the following to the list for sure: Niepoort, Ferreira, Hooper's and Smith Woodhouse.

I'll bring D'Yquem as well.

cem

Lunch and dinner sounds grand!

cem

Err, I have a lot of '55 and probably 20-25 different producers. Would love to come. I can fill in some gaps once everyone has declared what they are bringing.

I can bring mags of Noval and Sandeman '55 too.

I'll be over in the UK in June/Early July and October.

cem

I'll post the scores this weekend as I have the sheets. Along with some thoughts.

cem

Where will everyone's predictions and the general derision be happening?

cem

Provenance of the Taylors so you have the same info as I do Taylor 55 - Cambridge Uni College Cellar (into neck) Taylor 63 - Christie's Chalk Cellar sale (into neck & highest fill level I have ever seen on any bottle of port, let alone a 63) Taylor 66 - Country House Cellar (base of neck) Taylor...

cem

You're right - you scored 4 points which makes you current joint "Blind King" with Neil!
(Missing 3 points CEM6, TC, NAC)

cem

Happy to join in but I'll be drinking champagne - usually 2 bottles or one mag. Doesn't matter where I am in the world I make sure I am in a hotel where I can get BBC and ice buckets on election night!

cem

Yes -9 is the worst score possible. Achievable through your method or picking 21 Taylors and only 6 being correct +6 -15. Neil is the current blind king on a truly dismal 4 points! We have significant advantages this time knowing there is at least one Taylor in each vintage so one would hope the maj...

cem

jdaw1 wrote: ↑18:42 Wed 26 Jun 2024 It’s very lucky that Cliff has employed a sober person to do the scoring.

Monkey magic Julian

cem

As long as the decanted bottle you bring is not recognizable that will be fine. They will be going into identical decanters before being mixed around and then poured so nobody will know whose bottle is where in any particular year. Scoring Rules Things we all know to be true: Cliff is providing one ...

cem

Thanks for sorting the food order Harry

Salmon (no chilli dressing)
Pork belly + extra broccoli (no chilli)
no dessert

cem

Mike, if you don't mind bringing the decanters that would be a help actually as I will be traveling with a lot of bottles

cem

Thanks Glenn!

cem

I'd agree with the sentiments here and thank you Martin! I opened eight 1977s in 2021 over a long lockdown weekend (it took me a few days to recover from that I can tell you) and was left underwhelmed though for some unknown reason I didn't open Taylor. Fonseca was the best of them closely followed ...

cem

Sorry, I'm on business in NY and will be back on Monday so haven't been checking. The blinding plan looks good, if the decanters look the same. I could bring some identical decanters if the B&F's are all unique and obvious.

cem

Understood Alex, work takes precedence.

cem

Really enjoyed last night!

The fact that Taylor stormed to victory sets up the "Spot The Taylor" meet nicely.

cem

GC Mag - Very dark fruit bomb - not corked Niepoort - quiet light coloured but looking good - not corked Ducal - a little cloudy but has fruit - not corked Morano - maderised tawny by the looks of it - not corked but shot Villa Eden Cab Sav Mag (Napa) not corked, in great condition and will be a tre...

cem

Yes the idea is we have three bottles per vintage. Each vintage is numbered 1 to 3. We don't know what producer is on what number. We just know the vintage and that one of them is a Taylor. Game is guess the Taylor. 2nd game is guess the other producers in that vintage. Each of us will know one prod...

cem

So am I. I last did a proper tasting in early 2021.

cem

I'll message Glenn what I'm bringing for the 55 and then I'll have leave it up to Glenn to choose from the 1963s so I won't know what will get pulled from Seckford on that and only Christopher D. (my guest) will know it. That way everyone knows 1 port from 1 vintage and 6 Taylors for sure.

cem

Thanks for organising Martin, here are my menu choices:

Starter: Avocado bruschetta (no sweet chilli salsa)
Main: Davy's burger and fries + extra broccoli (no chilli)
No dessert

cem

Added you Mike. Just to make this even madder, I've thought up a fun tie-breaker. I'll ask Seckford to choose 1 bottle each of the missing intervening vintages from my stocks with them 1960, 1975, 1980, 1983 and then for them to decide how many should be Taylor and how many should not be Taylor i.e ...

cem

Thanks, I will be in touch. I will also organize a competent setup person who is not of the 12 to do the pouring, thus none of us will know what is in what glass until the end.

cem

Crikey, gird the loins for this tasting, as we are fast approaching the equivalent of two dozen bottles! And talking of tastings within tastings, if we had the Ni g ((which sadly I do not), then we would have another one… Funny I was thinking the same thing last night...kind of dumb not to include ...

cem

Ahh good point on the fridge issue. Then let's just double decant an overnight refrigerated bottle in the morning and keep at room temperature.

cem

There are no constraints, just that 1st or 2nd rank producers ought to be brought so the quality difference from a Taylor is not too stark/obvious. Happy to have Glenn as a coordinator or let chaos reign on the choices. One person needs to organize the pouring so we don't know what is in what glass ...

cem

PhilW wrote: ↑09:36 Sun 26 May 2024 Love the idea for the tasting, but unlikely to be able to make the date (I only get back on the Sun).
Might be able to take a seat at last minute if any late drop, which hopefully won't happen ofc.

I'll stick you down as first reserve Phil if we reach the 12 then.

cem

Of course Martin

cem

Date/Time: Monday 1st July 5pm onwards Place: Green Room, B&F Places: 12 Bottles: 18 The genesis of this fun tasting came when I opened a bottle of unknown 1924 with Harry recently. We both remarked that it had the structure of Taylor and was incredibly vibrant for a 100 year old port. I then sw...

cem

Okay after having a look at what's being brought, I will add a couple of oddities that don't appear to exist (as per Mighty Tome 2nd Edition.) Ducal 1977 VP Morano 1977 VP Also there is the inexcusable omission of Gould Campbell. I have never had a corked bottle, however on reflection I believe ever...

cem

Thats very good of you - I'll be there about 4:30 ish to get things together - people always welcome to come along and help

I'll be there to help, I'll bring along a mag of 1977 Napa for pre-Port slurping as the clarets were very poor in that vintage.

cem

Since I am bringing the Niepoort VP, frankly it would be downright rude not to have the '77 Colheita too. So I'll bring that as well.

Do we have a general kick off time and what's the earliest time for room arrival?

cem

Depending on the date, yes please!

I have a fair few if needed.

cem

Okay I'll bring the Niepoort then!

I'll see what everyone else brings and will fill in any gaps if able.

cem

I have the following in Mags for 77

Dow, Graham, Warre, Taylor, Smith Woodhouse, Gould Campbell, Quarles Harris, Calem

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I don't see an N in any of what has been listed so far and I definitely have Niepoort in bottle - lots of others too but will require searching through various stores.

cem

Sorry I have been super busy and just realized that this is 4 weeks away. What do we have missing? Can someone post what is being brought so far please? (I'm not great with all the abbreviations)

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.

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