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I propose another rule: “AHB is dictator”. His acolytes are vaguely aware that the dictator likes old, that the dictator likes large, that the dictator likes tappit hen more than tregnum, that the dictator likes good fill levels, and that the dictator likes time to write his tasting notes. Another ...

I’ve just realised I’m in danger of being knocked out! Right, so there’s two new rules being implemented as of now. If you get knocked out, there is nothing to stop you from coming back with an older bottle which gets you back around the table. But if you do, you have to bring not just your “winnin...

I’ve just realised I’m in danger of being knocked out! Right, so there’s two new rules being implemented as of now. If you get knocked out, there is nothing to stop you from coming back with an older bottle which gets you back around the table. But if you do, you have to bring not just your “winning...

CPR 1 wrote: ↑16:08 Sun 14 Jun 2026if we include the 2007 I would like to suggest we also include the 2011

That’s a great call. Dow 2011 was an absolute rock star 10-12 years ago. I haven’t opened one in the last decade and would be really interested to see how it’s developing.

NigelM wrote: ↑11:41 Sun 14 Jun 2026 I can offer S55

You're on the list...at least for now...

And, just in case others are also considering options, I've booked myself into the Cross Keys Hotel in Saffron Walden.

That was a fascinating tasting, such a change in style around 1980 with the older wines having been made in a more delicate and elegant style and the younger wines more extracted and with more fruit and less subtlety. While I agree 1970 and 1926 were splendid wines, I also really liked 1997. I took ...

First post updated with the proper arrangements for the night. As usual, all bottles will be opened with tongs and we will use our best efforts and our fading sight to identify what we open and - in most, but not all, cases - drink.

I've now had the chance to look through my cellar list in detail and also to give some thought about shippers we haven't tasted recently in London. With both of those things in mind, I've decided to make Sandeman the theme of this year's old Port dinner. Our last London tasting of Sandeman was 15 ye...

Tuesday 10th November works for me. I’m in.

jdaw1 wrote: ↑19:33 Fri 12 Jun 2026 Believed fixed: please re-check the placemats. (Suits OK? If you prefer could be ‘Zeddemore’, ‘Venkman’, ‘Stantz’, and ‘Spengler’.)

Looks good to me. Are they A3?

@Christopher - are you printing or do you need someone else to print?

6 bottles of Poças 2015 White Colheita (bottled 2025) arrived at the house yesterday, courtesy of House of Townend.

One appears to be rapidly evaporating this sunny afternoon.

There is a draft of the placemats , images of which have been added to the first post . As ever, somebody please check. I plan to serve the Qv14 closure samples blind, from Sandeman 20YO bottles so I suggest that the "DUMPY", "STRAIGHT" be removed from the circles. Oscar is brin...

How many dozen do you need?

A parcel arrived safely this morning, the contents of which will be stood in the cellar to settle and be decanted on Wednesday morning before I depart for London.

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What a splendid way to celebrate our 20th anniversary.

What a young man I was when we first started out on this journey together. Huzzah to us all!

Apologies to the guys in the US, but the 2015 White Colheita has now landed in the UK and is available @ £28.99 from House of Townend with free delivery for orders over £120. 6 cases of 6 bottles were brought into the UK on the last shipment and were landed today. 5 cases remain after Mrs B placed h...

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Do these work for you Zak?

@Alex: do you light top-down or bottom-up? I was taught to light bottom-up. Paper under thin kindling under larger kindling under proper wood. Never a firelighter! My grandmother would be very upset if I had to resort to one of those. It’s also entirely satisfying that all of the wood we burn is so...

akzy wrote: ↑07:38 Wed 03 Jun 2026 Could you post a clear top down and side view here of them? I have some ideas that I want to test...

I’ll try to remember to do so when back home this afternoon.

What are the port tongs metal? Is it some iron derivative? Steel, cast iron, etc. I’m guessing probably either iron or a mild steel. They often need to be bent or hammered back into shape after a lot of use since they’re soft enough, when red hot, for the circle at the end of them to be forced open...

jdaw1 wrote: ↑21:07 Tue 02 Jun 2026 @Alex: do you light top-down or bottom-up?

For tong purposes, do lava stones help or hurt?

I’ve never had lava stones as part of my heater, so can’t say for sure but would guess these would help if they are glowing hot.

Perhaps nearly 6 months late, but I think it's now time for some more pointless statistics. On 31 December 2025, my cellar comprised of the following (with 2012 figures in brackets) Port 86% (91%) - unchanged on last year Bordeaux 4% (3%) - up from 3% last year South Africa 2% (0.5%) - same as last ...

Óscar would like:
Starter — superfood salad
Main — rump of lamb
Dessert — tbd

Alex:
No starter
Alex & Martin to share a Cote de Boeuf cooked medium rare.
Alex also skinny fries and creamed sweetcorn
Dessert tbd

It's a well known frustration that while induction hobs look beautiful and sleek in a kitchen, they don't heat Port tongs. For that you need a gas burner or an open fire. Someone experiencing this frustration recently asked me how I manage to use tongs without a hob on which to heat them. Normally I...

W60, BBR bottled. A wonderful mature brick red colour, 50% opaque. A little hollow on the nose, not showing much but there is a little faint sweet raisined fruit. Lovely texture on the palate with the elegance expected of Warre. The mature, spiced fruit blossoms on the palate. The fruit is a little ...

W60, light brick red colour, very pale, 20% opaque. A little bruised fruit on the nose. Sweet but with very little fruit initially on the palate. A little more fruit arrives on the mid-palate but the wine is very evolved. Nice aftertaste, gentle redcurrant jelly with a bit of aniseed. 89/100.

T60, bottled by Grants of St James. Pale rose colour, 20% opaque. Sweet redcurrant nose. Very little fruit on entry but develops on the mid-palate. Lovely aftertaste full of dried fruit, which fades to a certain level before persisting. 89/100.

Sb60, gentle rose gold colour, pale at 10% opaque. A little malt vinegar on the nose. Sweet but also with a huge bitterness. Some nice balsamic vinegar on the finish but really a glass of not a lot. 83/100.

RCV60, very pale and full of sediment. Lacking on the nose, with not much more on the palate - which is drying out. Perfectly harmless, with the heat showing most strongly on the aftertaste and finish. A little red liquorice. 85/100.

O60, rose red colour, 40% opaque. Candied cherry and star fruit on the nose. Drying out on the palate with a little fruit showing, warm aniseed finish of good length. Nice. 88/100.

N60, red-gold colour, 20%. A little harsh on the nose with dried fruit, dried apple and golden syrup. Lovely on the palate, full of flavour with a touch of fire. Warm aftertaste, cocktail cherry on a slightly short finish. Nice wine. 90/100.

Ni60, one of the most attractive appearances at this tasting. Bronze, 30% opaque. A little dried citrus peel on the nose. Sweet and smooth on the palate, dried red fruit leading to a glorious sweet red cherry aftertaste and long finish. Impressive. Rather lovely. 93/100.

Mz60, pale burnished brick red, 10% opaque. Nothing on the nose. A vague sense of something citrus on an otherwise butterscotch palate, although a little acidity does emerge on the late palate to improve the interpretation of the wine. Lingering canned mandarin and Golden Syrup on the long finish. 8...

J&B60, shipper not known. Deep red colour, full of fine sediment. Lovely lack cherry nose. Sweet fruit palate, one of the more youthful wines at this tasting. Black cherry with a touch of pine. The pine oil shines on the aftertaste, with a delicious slight bite to it. Delicious. The best wine so...

G60, mature rose red, 50% opaque. Attractive Turkish Delight on the nose, sweet rose water. Lovely mature and sweet fruit on the palate, dried sweet raspberry. Glorious on the palate. The sweet fruit shines on the aftertaste with a density that just delivers on the finish. Very good, one to add to t...

GB60, very evolved appearance, pale brown, 10% opaque. A little vinegar on the nose although no sign of this on the otherwise hollow palate. A little bitter on the aftertaste, then a pleasant baked oat finish. Not bad in the end, but really not great. 84/100.

F60, dark rose red. 50% opaque. Subdued red fruit on the nose. Rich and still quite youthful raspberry and rose petal palate. Extremely expressive on the aftertaste, with a slightly green edge to the finish. Very good. 93/100.

D60, a little cloudy having been stirred up during transport to the tasting, but a lightly coloured mature bronze. Limited nose, a little bitter and herbaceous. Pleasant on the palate with the noticeable dryness of Dow. The acidity is pronounced, some burnt matches in the dried plum. Impressive drie...

Ck60, pale burnished bronze, 10% opaque. Little on the nose. Sweet on the palate, a little caramel initially before a lovely dose of lime acidity cleans the palate. Lime oil aftertaste and a lingering drying finish. Not unpleasant. 86/100.

Ca60, deep burnished copper colour, 40% opaque. Dried figs and redcurrant nose. Light and elegant on the palate, gentle but really rather lovely in structure and balance. Delicious ginger biscuit finish of great length. 91/100.

BN60, pale rose gold colour, 30% opaque. Hollow on the nose but much nicer on the palate where some bright fruit shows with good acidity. Redcurrant jelly aftertaste and a nice redcurrant jelly finish 87/100.

Jáfoste Although Luís Rodrigues blends Ports for a number of small producers, he now also has his own project based on wines he has been able to acquire from families dotted around the Valley, families that he has got to know through his work as a consultant winemaker and viticulturist. LR Wines &a...

9th February is Shrove Tuesday. It is likely that my wife will be expecting me to cook her pancakes that evening. For obvious reasons I would prefer the tasting on 2nd February or for Shrove Tuesday to be moved by a day.

That's the last of the tasting notes, so the review is now complete.

Taylor Very Very Old Tawny IMG_8151.jpeg This wine has an average age of around 100 years and will be the oldest wine offered in the Taylor portfolio once the 1896 single harvest tawny has sold out. This is a blend of some of the smaller parcels of historic wine from the Taylor cellars, brought tog...

Maynard 80 Year Old Tawny The Maynard brand — named after the English wine merchant from the 1650s, Walter Maynard – is part of the portfolio of the Vinihold group, managed by Fernando and Álvaro van Zeller with Álvaro overseeing the blending of this wine. With roots in the Douro Valley that go bac...

Now up to date to the Ramos Pinto tasting in a couple of weeks.

I'm trawling through the organisation threads to update the Summary by Shipper and found this one. How timely! So far this ridiculously warm weekend we've opened and finished Lamelas 10YO White, Quevedo 2012 White Colheita and Kopke 2003 White Colheita. It's just too hot for anything other than a Wh...

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