Served double blind, from a bottle that had been opened the night before. A bit of a volcanic mineral thing on the nose, with pleasant red fruit, and a dusty quality to the tannins. Clearly with a little bit of age. I guessed a riper Etna nerello mascalese. Oof.

Served double blind. Black fruit and juicy, I initially thought that this might have been a cool climate syrah (not unlike the Claire Hill ones I tasted a few months ago). This didn't quite have the same pepperiness or spice profile however. Some sort of Rhone grape seemed the most reasonable to me.

Served double blind, from a bottle opened the night before. Clearly Italian, and the fruit profile reminded me a little of nebbiolo at first, but tasting it made it pretty clear that this was sangiovese with the herbal elements and tannic profile. Quite ripe, I figured this was something like 2018, and in fact guessed that this was Montevertine.

A very impressive chardonnay; far less affected by reduction than the much more readily available Kumeu River wines. I like that this has ripeness to the palate, and that it's not just a pile of acidity, even though this definitely has a lean, mineral chardonnay profile. I would be very interested to taste an example of this with more bottle age.

Sweet fruit, with a bit of a juicy profile for chardonnay. Again a wine not stricken by reduction. More fruit forward and less lean and minerally than the Pyramid Valley, but a very good drinking chardonnay nonetheless.

Not sure what to make of this wine. Somewhat sweet and confected fruit on the nose, with a leesy note as well on the palate that gives this a bit of a waxy/oily texture. Not as much acidity as I would like to have in my white wine either, but there was a little bit of salinity here. A pretty atypical flavour profile all in all.

While I understand what this is driving at, I do with it was a wine with a little more weight to it. Fantastic stem-driven, light and perfumed, red-fruited aromatics, with a slight bit of awkwardness on the palate because I think the fruit isn't as intense, giving a little bit of an angular sensation with the acidity and tannins. A little minerality (a slight chalky feeling) adds more complexity here.

Fresh and clean, with bright red fruit on the nose and palate. Not much funk here, but some youthful tannins that will need a few years to soften up. A little more rich on the palate than most Jura reds I've had.

We got to this after talking about how palomino fino is a synonym of chasselas (it's not, actually). Fresh, bright, and unfussy wine with nice acidity and a touch of minerality too. It also has acidity, unlike, apparently, palomino fino.

1216/2000 L2/18. The lightest and most elegant of the VORS bottlings tonight, with a relatively high-toned and sunnier disposition. Less fruit and more salinity here, showing an almost tropical pineapple like note on the palate, as well as plenty of saline notes. A relatively racy texture, especially in comparison to the more oily and opulent wines that followed.

1002/2000 L3/18. This represents the next step up in terms of richness and opulence. Aldehydic notes on the nose but with a distinct sotolon character. There is a strong roasted nut component on the palate, and the acidity comes across as quite citric and sharp. A slightly oily texture moderates the acidity.

0934/1200 L1/20. This was my favourite of the three VORS bottlings tonight. It is a very intense wine, with lots of rancio, citrus peel, roasted nuts, and caramel notes on the nose and palate. A thick, oily texture, this has a tangerine note to the acidity, and a subtle salinity on the back end. Not quite as elegant and filigreed as the Palo Cortado or Oloroso, this is a massively scaled wine.

204/300 L·/15. From half-bottle. Insanely intense. This tastes exactly like a wine that has been evaporating for decades. It is painfully concentrated and on the pop and pour seemed to be very much suffering from a lack of oxygen. Very woodsy, with an expansive nose that is a study in tertiary components. There's almost a scotch-like component on the nose here. The acidity is screaming high and concentrated, and everything about this wine is dialled up to max. This straight-up tastes salty. Fantastic concentration and complexity, but for overall enjoyment this might just be a little bit too much of a good thing.

As a post-script 9 months after opening this bottle, this was finally showing much more restraint and balance. Certainly the profile is very similar with the intense acidity, but at this point, the wine feels a little rounder and much less being punched in the face repeatedly.

On the pop and pour, this is quite attractive already, though there is definitely a bit of stink that should go away if I give this the few days of decanting that it needs. There's a slight herbal note here that gives this a lovely freshness. The sugar profile reminds me of kuromitsu, and the acidity is incredibly high, as expected for verdelho. As typical of the house, the profile is quite dark, and what's surprising to me is how sweet this is for a verdelho. Fantastically delicious, it's always a treat to taste something so old.

1879/2400, L2/19. PX is pretty much some of the most distinctive stuff in the world of wine. There's no mistaking raisin juice concentrate. This is incredibly thickly textured from the sugar (the bottle is noticeably heavier than the other three 750s despite the shape being entirely the same). This pours without a sound. Incredibly sweet, this is counterbalanced by a strong bitter note that serves to help cut through all the sweetness. Notes of licorice, molasses, and star anise, there's an amaro-like note here.