When I opened and decanted the Quinta do Noval 1963 that I recently posted a tasting note for, I had already opened and was drinking a glass of Hermitage La Chappelle 1997. This was a lovely fruity wine which still has a pretty formidable tannic structure. My wife and I had been enjoying this wine with a meal we had just finished.
I opened the port, decanted it and - because of some of the things that I have read recently about some of the '63s being a little fragile - I decided to take an immediate tasting note so that I could track the development of the port over a few hours.
Once I had taken the tasting note, I tidied up and put the QdN bottle on my shelf of "special bottles" and went through to the living room. I found there the remains of my glass of La Chappelle and about a quarter of the bottle left by my wife for me to finish off.
I took one sip of my wine glass....and it was awful
So as my wife spent the rest of the evening finishing the bottle, I found that I had learnt my lesson. Don't drink port and then go back to table wine.
I did manage to finish off my glass after I had let my palate settle for around half an hour, but it was a painful and shocking experience.
![Embarassed :oops:](./images/smilies/icon_redface.gif)
Alex