Port party post-mortem

[dagibbs]

That was quite a party. Yet again, things broke up around 5am. I was up at 10am the next day -- way too early -- for Christmas and birthday celebrations with my family. I've finally gotten around to doing more cleanup. Wow did we go throug a LOT of beverage servicing devices (wine glasses, port glasses, liqueur glasses, mugs, etc). I've got a 2nd full load in the dishwasher, and still got a bunch for the next load.

Thank you everyone who came, and everyone who brought me something, and everyone who brought stuff to share. I greatly appreciate your generosity and sharing.

I managed to avoid my usually "is anyone going to show up for my party" panic this time. Because, I get that. Everything is setup, the party start time has arrived, and people are being "fashionably" late. And it is 8:05pm, and I'm panicking that nobody will come. (Yes, I realize this is irrational.) This time, the first guests showed up at 20 minutes to 8, so there was no such worry.

Beverage list:

Some Scotches (Glen Fidditch 12 year, Bowmore Islay 12 year, Aberlore 10 year).
A sipping Tequila & a Honey-herb liquer (to be returned to ironphoenix).
Sortilege (maple syrup & rye liqueur)

Pinnacle Ice Cider
Neige Premier Ice Cider

Opitz One (red dessert wine, present from ragnhildr) - very nice, light sweet, refreshing
Le Pedneault Plum Mistelle - sweet, interesting, enjoyable. (I think it was metawidget and rottenfruit which brought it.)

Cruz vintage 1989 Porto - (?) - interesting, a touch tannic at first, but mellowed with air, nice complex notes, but not the most impressive vintage I've had.

Sandeman 10 year Tawny (mikepictor; LCBO) - an absolutely solid 10-year tawny. Pleasant, warm, sweety/caremelly, a bit darker in colour than I expected from a tawny of that age, though.

Fonseca 20 year tawny (SAQ - $68.00) - everything I would expect from a port of this age and quality. Gorgeous colour, caramel aroma, and intresting flavours.

Burmest 10 year tawny (SAQ, $35) - a welcome return visit.

Pocas LBV 2001 (SAQ, $23) - I was surprised to find this was an unfiltered and needed decanting. A nice LBV, though it needed a bit of breathing. Worth drinking again.

Offley Cachucha reserve white Port - (SAQ, $19) - a reasonable white port. Quite drinkable, but will have to resample to be sure, since it came out late in the evening.

Comments

[rottenfruit.livejournal.com]

Thanks for having a birthday! Sorry I missed the singing and dancing...
Oh yes, we did bring the mistelle.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. Glad I did remember properly -- there was lots of stuff arriving.

[mikepictor.livejournal.com]

The Sandeman was from the vintage shelves of LCBO.

I need to get me some sortilege, and find out where Mike got that spiced honey stuff.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

The SAQ Depot at 210 rue de Champlain has it.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

That is, the Sortilege. I don't know about the spiced honey stuff.

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

I actually got the Old Krupnik at LCBO King Ed/Rideau; glad you liked it!

[oni-neko.livejournal.com]

it was a good party.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Glad you were here.

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

Thanks for hosting! I'll pick up the bottles soon!

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. Next time you're over, just remember to take them away with you. Or, stick them in a vehicle as soon as you get here.

[tocityguy.livejournal.com]

Happy belated birthday BTW

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

One conversation you missed at the party

[metalana.livejournal.com]

is there a Port equivalent of BoardGameGeek.com? If not, you should start it.

Re: One conversation you missed at the party

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I wonder if there is. I'm sure there are Port afficiando sites. I just haven't looked for one. Maybe I should.

[http://users.livejournal.com/niall_/]

Hmm, maybe the Burmest was what I was thinking of about the tawny at Hallowe'en.

My brother had a open-for-open half-bottle of...I forget the name, but it's the brand that has the crate-style lettering directly on the glass, no label per se... and 1982 vintage. Very sweet, and quite, quite, quite nice... he has an unopened 200 bottle too. Those were gifts some time ago.

5am? That was later than the last port party. :)

I remember the Old Krupnik... vividly.

Glad the party was a blast!

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I didn't have the Burmeister at Halloween -- I picked it up at the SAQ, and I had not made an SAQ visit before Halloween.

I think the Halloween party also ran until about 5am, actually. (Yup, according to this post: http://dagibbs.livejournal.com/541564.html it did run until 5am.)

There is more than one brand that does crate-style lettering on the bottles. I currently have a Barros 1997 vintage in that style, but I've also seen (I'm pretty sure) a Kopke and a Roze's in that style.

[http://users.livejournal.com/niall_/]

Ah, it was a Barros 1982 (and 2000, not "200"). The memory image finally came back.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I'd guessed 2000 instead of 200. :)