For The Love Of Port

Today's the big tasting day for my friends and I've just uncorked Warre's 1980 VP. But I'm getting a bit nervous about the cork! This is how the cork looked like initially: http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/1315/top2gk1.jpg I got rid of most of it by using wet towel. I don't think this is a problem...

Be prepared to be surprised: (and thanks for sharing your thoughts!) I was quite surprised when I opened this 375cl bottle of Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha 1988 VP . I bought it a couple of monts ago for $25 from a trustworthy wine seller. At first I thought that someone had exchanged the fluid with ...

I've opened a 'secret' bottle of Port today and I now hope that you are willing to be part of this little experiment. Take a guess: 1) What type of Port is this? And why? 2) How old is it? And why? There a two goals: a) I and other newbies can hopefully learn a bit about color and how it changes ove...

Andy Velebil wrote:Tonight I opened a Warre's 20 year old tawny Port (the regular one, NOT the Otima). Can't recall the last time I've seen this one for sale down my way. So of course I had to get it. I'll post a TN later.

Please do so as I can't find a TN on it and because I'm having it in a few weeks.

I sure will, Stewart. I don't think we will use placemats - mostly due to the fact that it's not a vertical/horizontal tasting, but also because I don't have that many wine glasses. Each person will have two identical glasses and that should do the trick since we got two whites and two tawnies. The ...

I'm enjoying a few glasses of Taylor's LBV 2002 and I'm trying to figure out what it tastes of, if it's sweet or has a lot of acid and tannins, the lenght and the body of it. I'm a complete rookie when it comes to this no matter what type of wine I'm having. Okay, here we go: The alcohol is well int...

I think this will be the final line-up: http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7281/lineupflash600jy6.jpg Noval Fine White, Calem White & Dry, Warre's 10 YOT, Warre's 20 YOT, Noval Fine Ruby, Portal LBV 2000, Quinta do Portal 2005 VP, Warre's 1980 VP . I need to figure out how to decant the two VP's...

Andy,

Do you use it on bottles that don't necessarily need to be opened this way (e.g. younger VP's) just for the fun of it? I guess my question is: Is it that fun to use?

Thanks, guys. I tried the white ones this Superbowl Sunday and they were quite nice and fresh, and definately worth serving as aperitifs for a tasting like this one--either as stand alone or as portonics. Preferably both :D I'll report back once the tasting is over so that other newbies like myself ...

Portonics. They were really nice

Hi all, I'm throwing a port tasting in late February for seven of my beer-loving friends (male, late twenties). Almost all of them are port newbies, so the goal of the tasting is not to try the best port but to show them that port isn't just equal to young tawny. Since many of them are students and/...

I opened up a bottle of Krohn 10 year old tawny and was very surprised by it's smoked taste and smell (although more nutty in the nose). I'm not really fond of the smoke and would like to know if my Krohn 20 year old tawny or my Krohn Colheita 1976 are as smoked as the 10 year old. Any experience wi...

When you listed out the ports that you tasted at your work function (who do you work for! What a great work event!), you called the Romariz 1991 a Morgan port. What told you that this was a Morgon port? I ask because I have some bottles which are labelled as "Morgan 1991 Vintage Port" but...

The 'viral 'marketing' approach: Being a young (late 20's) Port lover I find myself in a position where few of my friends share my interest in port. Instead of just accepting that, I thought I might just as well see if some of them have the potential to become Port lovers. That's why I'm throwing a ...

This one is close to Erik's. Supposedly the world's oldest recipe for glögg: 3 cups red bordeaux 1 cup red port ½ cup cognac (I used vodka) the peel from one orange or lemon (or mix) a bit of grated cinnamon and nutmeg 5 whole cloves 2 tbsp sugar Warm it up quickly and serve it before the alcohol st...

Well well. The new bottle's cork was ok, but it appears as if Calem's having general problems with their cork supplier. The bottle was $15 so I guess that's what to expect from such a cheap LBV. http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/7323/errormediumqf8.jpg (the one to the right is just for purpose of t...

Roy Hersh wrote:If it was a recent purchase and you returned it to the retailer, you'd get a new bottle in exchange. If you drank it, well then

It was undrinkable. Luckily it was fairly new and I got a new bottle in return.

I was opening a bottle of Calem's LBV 2003 and was met by a not too nice smell. Still, I was curious to taste it and did so and it tasted as expected - bad. About the same as corked red wine. I looked at the cork and saw that it must have been leaking. It was also a bit wet around the neck. It looks...

Thank you. I just very recently discovered port so I can't really contribute with much anytime soon. My story: I was on a business trip to Lisboa this November and was able to take a few days off. During the days off I visited IVP several times. Lovely! The tastings opened up a new world and with be...

Considering a Burmester 1986 Colheita, but I'm really not sure if a VP would go better with the traditional Danish christmas desert of creamed rice pudding with vanilla and hot cherry sauce. May substitute for a young VP. I served Calem's LBV 2003 which I think suits this dessert well. Did you go f...