1997s, B&F, Tue 24 May 2022

[jdaw1]

Neil C. arranged, at the Boot and Flogger, a horizontal of 1997s, the first since a 1997 Maturity Evaluation on 16th June 2014.

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 1997 Burmester;
• 1997 Quinta do Noval;
• 1997 Quinta do Noval Silval;
• 1997 Taylor;
• 1997 Fonseca;
• 1997 Croft Quinta da Roêda;
• 1997 Dow;
• 1997 Graham;
• 1997 Gould Campbell;
• 1997 Warre;
• 1997 Vesuvio;
• 1997 Smith Woodhouse;
• 1997 Quarles Harris;
• 1997 Martinez;
• 1997 Sandeman Vau;
• 1997 Ramos Pinto;
• 1997 Val da Figueira;
• 1997 Osborne;
• Planning and arrangements;
• Food order;
• Placemats (and in list of placemats).

[Alex Bridgeman]

For the record, the Martinez and Val da Figueira were double-decanted at 19.30 the night before the tasting. Neither appeared faulty at the time.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Charles, Tony - when did you decant the Vesuvio and Smith Woodhouse?

[Alex Bridgeman]

Last night's tasting definitely brought a smile to my face. My experience with the 1997 vintage has not been particularly good over the years. When we held our last horizontal in 2014 I found the wines to have an earthiness to the fruit that I disliked and to be surprisingly approachable.

Last night they showed so differently. There was a consistent freshness to the wines, red fruit and high acidity giving a lovely balance. Still showing generous tannins, the tannins are fine-grained and very ripe combining with the fruit and acidity to provide a very nice mouthfeel. Many of the wines are still youthful, with the primary fruit just starting to develop some secondary nuances - at the beginning of their first drinking plateau. None of the bottles consumed yesterday caused me any doubt of their ability to drink very well, or better than today, for the next 20-30 years if cellared well. I will be starting to open and slowly drink my stocks of 1997 very soon.

[CPR 1]

Charles, Tony - when did you decant the Vesuvio and Smith Woodhouse?

The Vesuvio was decanted about 18:30 the night before

[winesecretary]

First, thanks to nac for arranging with his characteristic thoroughness and also to all of those providing wines.

Second, this was really quite a good tasting, only one of the wines was possibly faulty (Noval Silval) and only three others perhaps a bit tired (Burmester, Osbourne, Sandeman Vau). Everything else - and that's 14 of 18 wines - got points. Without checking, I think only the 1955 horizontal of recent years has achieved a higher proportion than that.

So: most of the wines we tasted I would not be unhappy to own. However: I do not feel that there were any wines that were really wonderful, in the sense that a glass of Fonseca 1985 or Vesuvio 1992 makes my heart sing. So while I will be buying, modestly, to up my very limited stocks of this vintage it will be so that I have an interesting representative range to hand, of a vintage that is now starting to be something of a pleasure to drink, rather than because I fell in love.

[PhilW]

First, thanks to nac for arranging with his characteristic thoroughness and also to all of those providing wines.

Agreed.

Second, this was really quite a good tasting, only one of the wines was possibly faulty (Noval Silval) and only three others perhaps a bit tired (Burmester, Osbourne, Sandeman Vau). Everything else - and that's 14 of 18 wines - got points.

Now here I feel I must step in and respectfully point out that the Martinez only received points because you gave it some, and everyone else in the room thought it was faulty, hence the uproar when you gave it a point! ) (also I didn't note a fault with the Silval, albeit softer and clearly junior to the Noval).

However, Mz aside I do agree that the wines showed well and indeed, for me at least, higher than my expectations. The Dow received general acclaim as the groups WOTN, having received their highest points from 9/14 attendees. Noval was a clear second place, then Warre just a whisker ahead of Gould Campbell, Vesuvio and Graham.

So: most of the wines we tasted I would not be unhappy to own. However: I do not feel that there were any wines that were really wonderful, in the sense that a glass of Fonseca 1985 or Vesuvio 1992 makes my heart sing. So while I will be buying, modestly, to up my very limited stocks of this vintage it will be so that I have an interesting representative range to hand, of a vintage that is now starting to be something of a pleasure to drink, rather than because I fell in love.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality, although there did seem to be some degree of homogeneity; however the wines are really only just starting to enter their drinking window - I would personally suggest leaving for at least another 5-10 years - seeming to follow an ongoing pattern of slower-maturing wines for the last forty years or so compared to prior to that. I think the '97s will show favourably in the longer term.

[winesecretary]

@ PhilW - I must be becoming even deafer than I thought, I didn't hear the uproar...

[jdaw1]

[jdaw1]

[jdaw1]

[jdaw1]

[jdaw1]

Last night's tasting definitely brought a smile to my face. My experience with the 1997 vintage has not been particularly good over the years. When we held our last horizontal in 2014 I found the wines to have an earthiness to the fruit that I disliked and to be surprisingly approachable.

Last night they showed so differently. There was a consistent freshness to the wines, red fruit and high acidity giving a lovely balance. Still showing generous tannins, the tannins are fine-grained and very ripe combining with the fruit and acidity to provide a very nice mouthfeel. Many of the wines are still youthful, with the primary fruit just starting to develop some secondary nuances - at the beginning of their first drinking plateau. None of the bottles consumed yesterday caused me any doubt of their ability to drink very well, or better than today, for the next 20-30 years if cellared well.

This is an excellent summary. The dirtiness of the 2014 tasting has gone. red fruit, good balance, mid+ weight. This is not a top-rank Vintage for the ages. But it is a properly declared good year that will give pleasure for some decades.

The pictures of the glasses might be difficult to parse, because the grey Titles printed so faintly as to be absent. PNGs of the placemats might help:

[Mike J. W.]

I thought I had seen the score sheet previously, but I can't locate it now. Was it removed?

[winesecretary]

Can I also add that the circa-45-year-old Exhibition Ale which Tom brought along was absolutely delicious, rich, savoury and full of life and interest, and would have rated at least an HM had it been an option.