The Port Forum Port Bucket List

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 20:46 Fri 06 Jan 2017

Everyone and anyone is invited to use this thread to nominate a bottle or few which they would really, really like to try at some point in the future. You never know, perhaps someone here has the chance to make your wish come true. Don't be shy about nominating anything, but don't go overboard with a long laundry list - you can always make a second post (or third, or fourth...) once your bucket list has been achieved.

And to start things off, here's mine:
- a good bottle of Smith Woodhouse 1963 vintage port
- any other 1963 vintage port I've not tried yet (anyone want the list?)

Doggett · Post by **Doggett** » 21:23 Fri 06 Jan 2017

A starter for you... The first because I want to try all the shippers that produced my birth year vintage of 1972 and this one the most. So far the ones I have tasted include just TV, FG and a truely marvellous bottle of OBV that Derek was kind enough to share. The second because I have read some marvellous tasting notes, and heard some lyrical reviews of what is a port that is realistically possible to taste at some point, rather than opt for a perfect magnum of Noval Nacional 1963 from the Quinta cellars I may not be fortunate enough to come across. The third because I love my Tawnies and have been lucky enough to have a glass of Taylor's Scion, try a Sandemans Cask33 and have a number of other premium release aged Tawnies...but I would very much like to try the Graham's Ne Oublie.

SCD's Bucket List

1. Dow 1972 VP
2. Niepoort 1945 VP
3. Graham's Ne Oublie 1882 Wood aged Tawny

Post by **jdaw1** » 14:11 Sat 07 Jan 2017

AHB wrote:(anyone want the list?)

Post it anyway, for the reasons you gave.

Dow 1878.

Post by **DRT** » 18:20 Sat 07 Jan 2017

jdaw1 wrote:Dow 1878.

+1

Which was the 19th century Croft that was declared but "suspected" to be wine from the previous generally declared vintage? 1869?

I want to taste that one.

If only there was a book available where one could find answers to such questions

Post by **jdaw1** » 19:03 Sat 07 Jan 2017

If only.

From memory, reported that the grapes were 1868, but for reasons of stubbornness marketed as 1869 (perhaps also Martinez '69). But both years of Croft were seen at auction.

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Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 23:35 Sat 07 Jan 2017

jdaw1 wrote:Dow 1878.

Care to say why?

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 23:36 Sat 07 Jan 2017

Doggett wrote:A starter for you... The first because I want to try all the shippers that produced my birth year vintage of 1972 and this one the most. So far the ones I have tasted include just TV, FG and a truely marvellous bottle of OBV that Derek was kind enough to share. The second because I have read some marvellous tasting notes, and heard some lyrical reviews of what is a port that is realistically possible to taste at some point, rather than opt for a perfect magnum of Noval Nacional 1963 from the Quinta cellars I may not be fortunate enough to come across. The third because I love my Tawnies and have been lucky enough to have a glass of Taylor's Scion, try a Sandemans Cask33 and have a number of other premium release aged Tawnies...but I would very much like to try the Graham's Ne Oublie.

SCD's Bucket List

1. Dow 1972 VP
2. Niepoort 1945 VP
3. Graham's Ne Oublie 1882 Wood aged Tawny

Nice explanations, which made for interesting reading.

I have no Ne Oublie in my cellar, but I believe that you can buy it by the glass at the Lodge / Vinum restaurant...

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 00:52 Sun 08 Jan 2017

jdaw1 wrote:From memory, reported that the grapes were 1868, but for reasons of stubbornness marketed as 1869 (perhaps also Martinez '69). But both years of Croft were seen at auction.

I might reference one J Wiseman;

jdaw1 wrote:
Doggett wrote:HENRY. Cockburn '69.
Sixty-nine?! Faked by Croft; produced by none other (I scorn your sole reference to Martinez.)

Found when just about to add to the "Port and literature" thread.

Anyway, I hope the following counts as bucket list material; I would love a case of Fonseca 77 to sip gradually through the years. Just because it is a masterpiece. The other bucket list port which springs to mind I own already, Cockburn 77. I always wanted to try one but never thought I would get the opportunity. God bless the Symingtons. All I have to do now is wait a few years for the new corks to settle down.

Andy Velebil · Post by **Andy Velebil** » 10:34 Sun 08 Jan 2017

1963 Smith Woodhouse as well. Simply as it's probably the only major classically declared VP I've not had from the past 53 years (those regarded as top notch producers that is). And it's one I've never seen come up for sale and I've never seen a bottle of it. Unicorn, it is.

Post by **DRT** » 11:00 Sun 08 Jan 2017

I just had a quick search for SW63 in all of the usual places. The only hit I found was that one member of the CellarTracker community has one listed in their stock. As I am not registered with CT I cannot hunt him down. Do we have any members here with advanced training on forensic investigation and detection?

Andy Velebil · Post by **Andy Velebil** » 18:46 Sun 08 Jan 2017

DRT wrote:I just had a quick search for SW63 in all of the usual places. The only hit I found was that one member of the CellarTracker community has one listed in their stock. As I am not registered with CT I cannot hunt him down. Do we have any members here with advanced training on forensic investigation and detection?

I'll work on it. Thanks for the heads up.

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idj123 · Post by **idj123** » 19:42 Sun 08 Jan 2017

I could list Ports from the 19th century but hopefully more realistically, the following (two from the same house and two from the same year):

Ni70 (slightly surprising that I don't believe I have tasted this)
Ni55
F27
Ck27

Post by **PhilW** » 13:56 Mon 09 Jan 2017

PW's Port Bucket List
Av63 - ideally alongside the component wines
Ni55 - perhaps this might happen at the 55s tasting in 2017
NN63 - one day I would love to try this
F27 & W27 - my two favourite houses
Niepooort VV - the original version

[edited to remove port I have been lucky enough to drink since posting the list]

uncle tom · Post by **uncle tom** » 10:00 Fri 13 Jan 2017

Would love to do a matrix tasting of the principal shippers 1896/1900/1904/1908/1912

As for Dow '72, I can easily spare a bottle..

Alex M · Post by **Alex M** » 14:37 Fri 13 Jan 2017

A fairly simple one without wanting to go 'overboard'.

T1970 vs TQdV1970

Post by **jdaw1** » 22:10 Fri 13 Jan 2017

uncle tom wrote:Would love to do a matrix tasting of the principal shippers 1896/1900/1904/1908/1912

I am available that day.

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 23:18 Fri 13 Jan 2017

jdaw1 wrote:
uncle tom wrote:Would love to do a matrix tasting of the principal shippers 1896/1900/1904/1908/1912
I am available that day.

Even if the day is 1st April?

Post by **jdaw1** » 23:57 Fri 13 Jan 2017

AHB wrote:Even if the day is 1st April?

I could get permission for a Saturday tasting. Could you?

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 00:06 Sat 14 Jan 2017

jdaw1 wrote:
AHB wrote:Even if the day is 1st April?
I could get permission for a Saturday tasting. Could you?

Whether it's a Saturday or not depends on which year the tasting is held. And if it was on a Saturday perhaps I could host it - that's what I had to do last time I got permission for a Saturday tasting in October 2013.

Post by **jdaw1** » 11:49 Sat 14 Jan 2017

Thank you.

Julian Wiseman accepts the kind invitation of Alex Bridgeman to a matrix tasting of the principal shippers 1896/1900/1904/1908/1912, on Saturday 1st April 2016.

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Post by **PhilW** » 13:19 Sat 14 Jan 2017

jdaw1 wrote:Thank you.

Julian Wiseman accepts the kind invitation of Alex Bridgeman to a matrix tasting of the principal shippers 1896/1900/1904/1908/1912, on Saturday 1st April 2016.

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Now if only you could go back in time to attend it.

Post by **jdaw1** » 15:43 Sat 14 Jan 2017

That'll teach me to use Tapatalk. Damn!

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Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 12:41 Thu 04 May 2017

LGTrotter wrote: ↑00:52 Sun 08 Jan 2017The other bucket list port which springs to mind I own already, Cockburn 77. I always wanted to try one but never thought I would get the opportunity. God bless the Symingtons. All I have to do now is wait a few years for the new corks to settle down.

They seem to have done so. CMAG and I shared a bottle from the bicentenary released last night and it was delicious - elegant and mature, just the way I like my port.

Post by **DRT** » 12:49 Thu 04 May 2017

AHB wrote: ↑12:41 Thu 04 May 2017
LGTrotter wrote: ↑00:52 Sun 08 Jan 2017The other bucket list port which springs to mind I own already, Cockburn 77. I always wanted to try one but never thought I would get the opportunity. God bless the Symingtons. All I have to do now is wait a few years for the new corks to settle down.
They seem to have done so. CMAG and I shared a bottle from the bicentenary released last night and it was delicious - elegant and mature, just the way I like my port.

I am was available and in London that evening

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 08:07 Fri 05 May 2017

DRT wrote: ↑12:49 Thu 04 May 2017
AHB wrote: ↑12:41 Thu 04 May 2017
LGTrotter wrote: ↑00:52 Sun 08 Jan 2017The other bucket list port which springs to mind I own already, Cockburn 77. I always wanted to try one but never thought I would get the opportunity. God bless the Symingtons. All I have to do now is wait a few years for the new corks to settle down.
They seem to have done so. CMAG and I shared a bottle from the bicentenary released last night and it was delicious - elegant and mature, just the way I like my port.
I am was available and in London that evening

If only we had known! We were even talking about how rarely you were in London overnight these days...

Post by **DRT** » 19:47 Fri 05 May 2017

AHB wrote: ↑20:46 Fri 06 Jan 2017 - any other 1963 vintage port I've not tried yet (anyone want the list?)

jdaw1 wrote: ↑14:11 Sat 07 Jan 2017
AHB wrote:(anyone want the list?)
Post it anyway, for the reasons you gave.

AHB has not yet posted the list. Does this mean there are no other 1963 ports that he wants to taste?

Andy Velebil · Post by **Andy Velebil** » 20:55 Fri 05 May 2017

DRT wrote: ↑19:47 Fri 05 May 2017
AHB wrote: ↑20:46 Fri 06 Jan 2017 - any other 1963 vintage port I've not tried yet (anyone want the list?)

jdaw1 wrote: ↑14:11 Sat 07 Jan 2017
AHB wrote:(anyone want the list?)
Post it anyway, for the reasons you gave.
AHB has not yet posted the list. Does this mean there are no other 1963 ports that he wants to taste?

I know of two that AHB wants to taste. One, if he's nice, may get to sooner rather than later.

Post by **jdaw1** » 22:32 Fri 05 May 2017

AHB wrote: ↑23:35 Sat 07 Jan 2017
jdaw1 wrote:Dow 1878.
Care to say why?

George Saintsbury, in ‘Notes on a Cellar Book’ (1920), pages 31-32 wrote:For some years, however, after the book was started I did not drink much port, being in the heat of my devotion to Claret or Burgundy after dinner. … During that interval I was accused and convicted of acute rheumatism, and sentenced, as usual, to give up port altogether—which was all the harder as I had just returned to my natural allegiance thereto. The result was that several dozens of what was going to be one of the best wines of the century, Dow’s ’78, comforted the sick and afﬂicted of a Cambridgeshire village

uncle tom · Post by **uncle tom** » 09:17 Sat 06 May 2017

comforted the sick and afﬂicted of a Cambridgeshire village

Before the nanny state outlawed claims that alcohol could be beneficial - 'Guinness is good for you' - ' Invalid port' etc..

- I wonder when it was that Port was first marketed as an aid to recuperation?

(I actually think that Invalid Port was a valid product - did the producers ever challenge its prohibition?)

g-man · Post by **g-man** » 01:06 Wed 10 May 2017

My wishlist is to try a Noval Nacional that will fascinate my taste buds.

Barring that,

I'd love to do a horizontal of the 55's as the only 55's I've had are the cockburn and the dow's which was graciously opened by Uncle Tom

griff · Post by **griff** » 11:17 Mon 15 May 2017

g-man wrote: ↑01:06 Wed 10 May 2017 My wishlist is to try a Noval Nacional that will fascinate my taste buds.

Barring that,

I'd love to do a horizontal of the 55's as the only 55's I've had are the cockburn and the dow's which was graciously opened by Uncle Tom

I admire your ambition! The 55 vintage is, in my opinion, the ne plus ultra. I have also relied on the kindness of colleagues.

Yet to have a Noval Nacional, let alone a 31.

uncle tom · Post by **uncle tom** » 14:45 Mon 15 May 2017

Yet to have a Noval Nacional, let alone a 31

Try finding a reliable TN on NN31 from the last forty years that does not include a measure of disappointment..

That bird has flown I think - the regular N31 is still drinking extremely well though.

Axel P · Post by **Axel P** » 06:32 Fri 19 May 2017

Fonseca 1927 it is for me

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 12:06 Sun 21 May 2017

Axel P wrote: ↑06:32 Fri 19 May 2017Fonseca 1927 it is for me

Track down a bottle of SW63 for me and we have the theme for a dinner - "Bucket List Ports".

Other 1963 vintage ports that I am aware of which I have not yet tasted include:
Barros
Butler Nephew
Douro Wine Shipper's & Grower's Association
Feist
Ferreira's Quinta do Vesuvio
Gilbert's
Kopke
Ramos Pinto
Rocheda
Rozes
Tuke Holdsworth

If anyone knows of any of these or would be willing to share one with me over dinner (and I'll bring something equally special) then please let me know!

Axel P · Post by **Axel P** » 18:06 Thu 25 May 2017

I would be game for RP 63.

Axel

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 17:55 Sun 28 May 2017

Axel P wrote: ↑18:06 Thu 25 May 2017I would be game for RP 63.

That would be brilliant. Any plans to visit London before December?

Axel P · Post by **Axel P** » 09:43 Mon 29 May 2017

No, but I happen to have more than one bottle, so if you come to Germany prior....

Axel P · Post by **Axel P** » 09:43 Mon 29 May 2017

... and just met someone who has Fonseca 27 on the weekend in the Douro...

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 20:35 Mon 29 May 2017

Axel P wrote: ↑09:43 Mon 29 May 2017... and just met someone who has Fonseca 27 on the weekend in the Douro...

That's a tremendous and very pleasant surprise. Do tell us what you think of it. I've only had it once and that was from a small sample bottle which Tom kindly kept for me from a bottle shared some years ago.

Axel P · Post by **Axel P** » 06:47 Wed 31 May 2017

Well, I just met someone who has a bottle in his possession and is willing to open...