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Got a 1947 Cockburn with Sushi this saturday

1912 Niepoort Colheita is my favourit of the death row.

Axel

an SOS '70 Croft.

Looks like the hangman is getting called up for turkeyday.

woo woo woo

I've got a Cockburn 1970 on death row for later this week.

Chris Doty wrote:an SOS '70 Croft.

Looks like the hangman is getting called up for turkeyday.

woo woo woo

wanna join us on saturday?

I really want to open my Cockburn 1847 on Friday but it would mean breaking into my last case.

DRT wrote:I really want to open my Cockburn 1847 on Friday but it would mean breaking into my last case.

Please don't...that case is on reserve for the "pint of port" tasting...

In the spirit of 1970, I too shall have to go down into the cellar and open one for turkey day.

btw DRT, you wanan come saturday?

AHB wrote:I've got a Cockburn 1970 on death row for later this week.

Look forward to hearing how this is right now. I have one or two!

DRT wrote; I really want to open my Cockburn 1847 on Friday but it would mean breaking into my last case.

Opinion is divided on this year; Lord peter Wimsey thought it dead and Andre Simon thought it well and happy. As both notes are from the twenties you might want to have the blue nun on standby as back up.

benread wrote:

AHB wrote:I've got a Cockburn 1970 on death row for later this week.

Look forward to hearing how this is right now. I have one or two!

I had two, now I only have one! I will post a proper tasting note in due course, but for now I can tell you that after 2 hours in the decanter it is subdued on the nose but wonderful on the palate, full of balance and vigorous sweet cherry fruit.

Having now opened the Cockburn 1970, next to be stood up to settle is a bottle of Warre 1977. I haven't had a Warre 1977 for at least a couple of months! I'm really looking forward to being able to sip and savour it without the pressure of having to keep an eye on the time and make sure I don't miss my last train.

Warre 1980. I don't stand mine, I decant them from the supine position. Am I missing something? They seem to come cleaner off the crust.

LGTrotter wrote:Warre 1980. I don't stand mine, I decant them from the supine position. Am I missing something? They seem to come cleaner off the crust.

Presumably you first have to stand it to remove the capsule and un-cork the bottle?

Presuming your bottles have been resting nicely on their side, all that standing in advance does (as far as i can see) is mitigate the potential that the initial act of uprighting the bottle may disperse some fine sediment into the wine.

Personally, i think standing for a long period is probably of minimal value if the port has been resting on its side for a long period and is handled carefully when taken from the rack.

RAYC wrote:

LGTrotter wrote:Warre 1980. I don't stand mine, I decant them from the supine position. Am I missing something? They seem to come cleaner off the crust.

Presumably you first have to stand it to remove the capsule and un-cork the bottle?

Presuming your bottles have been resting nicely on their side, all that standing in advance does (as far as i can see) is mitigate the potential that the initial act of uprighting the bottle may disperse some fine sediment into the wine.

Personally, i think standing for a long period is probably of minimal value if the port has been resting on its side for a long period and is handled carefully when taken from the rack.

You're right in that they are not kept absolutely horizontal during the uncorking palaver. Having observed how accuracy is valued here I am loath to guess, but I would say about 15 to 20 degrees from the horizontal is enough when uncorking/decapsuling to prevent spillage. I may have to find the school protractor, and try to avoid stabbing myself with the compass.

LGTrotter wrote:Warre 1980. I don't stand mine, I decant them from the supine position. Am I missing something? They seem to come cleaner off the crust.

I don't think you are missing anything; at least I don't think you are if your method works for you.

Personally, with the space I have to work in I find that standing my bottle up for 2-3 days before I decant it allows all the loose sediment to settle to the bottom of the bottle and that seems to work for me. But I can see that if you decant from a gentle angle there is likely to be less disturbing of the sediment.

What sort of tilt can you get away with when you draw the cork and decant that first "glug"?

AHB wrote:

LGTrotter wrote:Warre 1980. I don't stand mine, I decant them from the supine position. Am I missing something? They seem to come cleaner off the crust.

I don't think you are missing anything; at least I don't think you are if your method works for you.

Personally, with the space I have to work in I find that standing my bottle up for 2-3 days before I decant it allows all the loose sediment to settle to the bottom of the bottle and that seems to work for me. But I can see that if you decant from a gentle angle there is likely to be less disturbing of the sediment.

What sort of tilt can you get away with when you draw the cork and decant that first "glug"?

I think the answer is in my previous post, but so delighted to be getting responses from the forum's heavy hitters that I can't resist replying. Surely the angle is the same for everyone, assuming a standard fill?

Incidentally I'm a bit concerned about apostrophe crime potential on 'forum's' but I think it is only one forum I am referring to rather than the plural 'heavy hitters'.

LGTrotter wrote:but I would say about 15 to 20 degrees from the horizontal is enough when uncorking/decapsuling to prevent spillage.

Wow...i'm intrigued....i have never attempted to uncork at anything other than the vertical! (student days excepted)

And would not feel confident of my prospects on some bottles given the usual state of pre-1990 corks...

Do you have one of these, or just a very steady hand?!

Worth mentioning, in the context of this conversation, that the best £30 i have ever spent on wine paraphanalia is this (also endorsed, i believe, by DRT).

RAYC wrote:

LGTrotter wrote:but I would say about 15 to 20 degrees from the horizontal is enough when uncorking/decapsuling to prevent spillage.

Wow...i'm intrigued....i have never attempted to uncork at anything other than the vertical! (student days excepted)

And would not feel confident of my prospects on some bottles given the usual state of pre-1990 corks...

Do you have one of these, or just a very steady hand?!

How I have coveted one of these twiddly decanting things since I first saw them! I resisted the urge due to more pressing demands on my purse (port fr'instance). You are spot on about the corks, a crumbly one is irksome, however as the bottle is cradled in an unloved cushion over an impervious floor I am relaxed about dribbles. I should probably get a port slide.

I have remarkably unsteady hand.

how would one tong a bottle on its side I wonder, or perhaps the better question may be, how would one tong a bottle on its side and still have contents remaining for drinking

RAYC wrote:Worth mentioning, in the context of this conversation, that the best £30 i have ever spent on wine paraphanalia is this (also endorsed, i believe, by DRT).

Confirmed. Everyone here should have one of those.

RAYC wrote: Do you have one of these, or just a very steady hand?!

Tonight, I watched The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, one of Billy Wilder's strangest films.. Christopher Lee, playing Holmes's brother Mycroft, pours 3 glasses of 1814 Madeira using a screw-tilt thingummy like this. Quite hilarious.

Fantastic, Basil Rathbone in the lead?

djewesbury wrote:1814 Madeira

Never seen a ’14 before. Are you sure it wasn’t 1815?

jdaw1 wrote:

djewesbury wrote:1814 Madeira

Never seen a ’14 before. Are you sure it wasn’t 1815?

Page 147 of the script says 1814.

DRT wrote:

jdaw1 wrote:

djewesbury wrote:1814 Madeira

Never seen a ’14 before. Are you sure it wasn’t 1815?

Page 147 of the script says 1814.

Thank you DRT. I was certain my memory was correct on this occasion.. Doesn't Mycroft say something about it dating from the year before Waterloo..?

LGTrotter wrote:Fantastic, Basil Rathbone in the lead?

Not Rathbone, Robert Stephens. The campest Holmes ever. He was married to Maggie Smith, and channels Miss Jean Brodie all the way through, as one of the people I was with pointed out...

DRT wrote:Page 147 of the script says 1814.

The Script wrote:I have a treat for you -- a very old Madeira -- 1814. There are only six bottles left in the world. I have two of them, and am negotiating for a third.

Which explains my non-acquaintance with it.

jdaw1 wrote:

DRT wrote:Page 147 of the script says 1814.

The Script wrote:I have a treat for you -- a very old Madeira -- 1814. There are only six bottles left in the world. I have two of them, and am negotiating for a third.

Which explains my non-acquaintance with it.

This leaves three bottles unaccounted for. I'm expecting a full report..

djewesbury wrote:This leaves three bottles unaccounted for. I'm expecting a full report..

Probably one of them was drunk at The Bell, a year I was abroad. Leaving only two.

This seems to be my 100th post. What am I now?

Oh that's nice. Fonseca LBV, yes, I'll drink (to) that.

Now is our chance. This would look just swell mounted on the end-table in the Bung Hole.

It was standing for about 3 hours after I got it home from the store. Now it's open.... 2007 Quarles Harris LBV

Andy Velebil wrote:It was standing for about 3 hours after I got it home from the store. Now it's open.... 2007 Quarles Harris LBV

Post a TN won't you, curious to hear what this is like..

djewesbury wrote:

Andy Velebil wrote:It was standing for about 3 hours after I got it home from the store. Now it's open.... 2007 Quarles Harris LBV

Post a TN won't you, curious to hear what this is like..

I will prob follow this over a couple days..if it lasts that long

Will post a TN soon

'63 & 66 Grahams, need someone to help me drink them.

mosesbotbol wrote:
'63 & 66 Grahams, need someone to help me drink them.

Road Trip!

1 x G83.
A 30th birthday tomorrow. In the main, they are not port drinkers. So this is personal consumption. I hope.

To be opened coming Sunday (for my and my dad's Fathersday ): Niepoort 1997.
It'll be the first time I'll be opening such a youngster, but while opening my 6 botle case yesterday (in order to make some more room in my cellar, as bottles take up much less space than when still in the OWC), I found that one of the bottles was/is showing signs of seepage (and rather a lot of it ). So I'm hoping it will still give enjoyment coming Sunday !

gerwin.degraaf wrote:one of the bottles was/is showing signs of seepage (and rather a lot of it ).

Oh.. just bought a few bottles of this. Hope yours is OK!

djewesbury wrote:

gerwin.degraaf wrote:one of the bottles was/is showing signs of seepage (and rather a lot of it ).

Oh.. just bought a few bottles of this. Hope yours is OK!

Thanks, I'm hoping it is too! I will report back on how it turned out .

gerwin.degraaf wrote:To be opened coming Sunday (for my and my dad's Fathersday ): Niepoort 1997.
It'll be the first time I'll be opening such a youngster, but while opening my 6 botle case yesterday (in order to make some more room in my cellar, as bottles take up much less space than when still in the OWC), I found that one of the bottles was/is showing signs of seepage (and rather a lot of it ). So I'm hoping it will still give enjoyment coming Sunday !

It might be worth having a back-up. As well as the seepage problem, a lot of these bottles (even the "non-seepers") have serious VA problems. I have sore experience with this wine. But the nice bottles are really very nice.

See this thread for the background where Andy V. quoted some interesting emails from Dirk N. about this wine.

RAYC wrote:

gerwin.degraaf wrote:To be opened coming Sunday (for my and my dad's Fathersday ): Niepoort 1997.
It'll be the first time I'll be opening such a youngster, but while opening my 6 botle case yesterday (in order to make some more room in my cellar, as bottles take up much less space than when still in the OWC), I found that one of the bottles was/is showing signs of seepage (and rather a lot of it ). So I'm hoping it will still give enjoyment coming Sunday !

It might be worth having a back-up. As well as the seepage problem, a lot of these bottles (even the "non-seepers") have serious VA problems. I have sore experience with this wine. But the nice bottles are really very nice.

See this thread for the background where Andy V. quoted some interesting emails from Dirk N. about this wine.

Thanks for the tip Rob (should have thought of it myself as well of course!). I'll make sure to stand up a back-up bottle (I am tempted to take out a 1991 Q. de Vargellas to see where that one is in it's development). And even when the Niepoort 1997 turns out allright, it would be a bit of a hassle to lay the Vargellas down again of course

gerwin.degraaf wrote:

RAYC wrote:

gerwin.degraaf wrote:To be opened coming Sunday (for my and my dad's Fathersday ): Niepoort 1997.
It'll be the first time I'll be opening such a youngster, but while opening my 6 botle case yesterday (in order to make some more room in my cellar, as bottles take up much less space than when still in the OWC), I found that one of the bottles was/is showing signs of seepage (and rather a lot of it ). So I'm hoping it will still give enjoyment coming Sunday !

It might be worth having a back-up. As well as the seepage problem, a lot of these bottles (even the "non-seepers") have serious VA problems. I have sore experience with this wine. But the nice bottles are really very nice.

See this thread for the background where Andy V. quoted some interesting emails from Dirk N. about this wine.

Thanks for the tip Rob (should have thought of it myself as well of course!). I'll make sure to stand up a back-up bottle (I am tempted to take out a 1991 Q. de Vargellas to see where that one is in it's development). And even when the Niepoort 1997 turns out allright, it would be a bit of a hassle to lay the Vargellas down again of course

It seems I've been lucky ! The bottle showed great (with an extended decant time at least). Will post a TN in a bit!

We've let this thread slide a little. I'm sure we've drunk something since June..

I am standing a bottle of Warre 85 for dinner.

A pre-WW2 bottle with signs of slight seepage, to be drunk in The Bell in December.

jdaw1 wrote:A pre-WW2 bottle with signs of slight seepage, to be drunk in The Bell in December.

You win.

The remnants of a really stinky bottle of Graham Vintage XXXX from last night. I promised I would see if it got any better after 24 hours.