For The Love Of Port

Yesterday evening I participated in a small group (26 people) of Niepoort Douro wine enthusiasts. Dirk Niepoort presented the following 14 wines: 6 Charme: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 5 Batuta: 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007 3 Robustos: 1990, 2004, 2005 I had previously tasted a couple of Charm...

Hi Roy! Yes, the metal mesh is quite tight, so I decant slowly. I did write: "most sediments are being collected in the sieve" and "Sometimes I must make a second decanting, but rather seldom". The very, very small sediments are still there, but they are not bothering me being so...

Some years ago I purchased in Rome, Italy, a metal sieve with a tight "mesh" so that most sediments are being collected in the sieve. After that I always pour a half test-glass in order to check the sediments etc. Sometimes I must make a second decanting, but rather seldom. I prefer to ser...

Hi Roy! Very interesting, and I am sure that the 5,000 will be reached well in advance of Christmas. FTLOP Port gala in the U.S. sounds tempting to attend (even when paying). Interesting to follow the developments, so I suggest that you give us a status f.ex. at each Monday morning (as I guess a maj...

Hi Joao! It was a pleasure meeting you at Ervamoira last month as part of the FTLOP Harvest Tour. I have two questions. Ramos Pinto has for abt 20 years been owned by Roederer group, and as far as I know, Ramos Pinto is their only investment in Portugal. It could be that my question is considered to...

Tasted first time at the FTLOP Harvest Tour 2010 lunch at DOC restaurant in Douro Oct 5th, 2010. Then 2.5 weeks later at home in Norway as part of our dinner. The tasting notes were basically identical. At home it was decanted for abt one hour. Deep dark red colour. Fresh cool aroma of dark and red ...

Hi Roy! Based on the experience so far, I like the 20 yr best. The comments from Andy are very interesting as on my private trips to Douro prior to the FTLOP Harvest Tour 2010, I have heard the same, namely that the producers only keep the white port for abt 4-6 yrs old before being bottled. So his ...

Abt one year ago the Andresen 10 yrs white came on the market here, and I purchased three btls and tasted one. Disappointed and somewhat confused. What did they try to make, an old white or in reality a tawny? Then on the FTLOP Harvest Tour 2010 we had the opportunity to taste this again at Andresen...

Hi Eric! I have had several Portuguese red wines which includes Tinta Barocca, but after having checked my notes and re-checked facts at the wine producers, it appears none are based 100 % on Tinta Barocca liked the South African I mentioned. Found 4-5 Portuguese red wines that have from 10-30 % Tin...

Thanks David! It was nice to meet you and get to know you and all the other port enthusiasts. So much port wine competence in that group! We really enjoyed every minute of the Harvest Tour, and it lived up to the expectations, and more so for several visits. I will post a proper tasting for the Dona...

Hi! When leaving Porto for Norway on Sunday 10th October I had tasting notes of 101 port wines, 44 table wines and 4 other wine products in my little book (totally 149). After having let the impressions “sink down”, I realize that I have also been part of some education. At the age of 55, and being ...

Hi! Difficult to choose, as there were many good red wines. Many tastings were based on corked being pulled, and then served immediately, and quite a few of the wines would have benefitted from abt one hour in the decanter. At Quinta do Crasto all red wines were served from a decanter, which made th...

Hi! My wife and I had a mix of ports and Douro wines in our luggage when returning from the FTLOP 2010 Harvest Tour a week ago: The port wines: 1 btl 1957 Kopke Colheita 2 btl NV Andresen Royal Choice 20 yrs old tawny 2 btl 1999 Quinta de la Rosa LBV (37,5 cl) 1 btl 2005 Quevedo Vintage (in a nice g...

Hi! My wife and I had a mix of ports and Douro wines in our luggage when returning from the FTLOP 2010 Harvest Tour a week ago: The Douro wines (all red) 2 btl Quinta do Portal Grande Reserva 2000 3 btl Dona Matilde Tinto 2008 1 btl Dona Matilde Reserva 2007 1 btl Dona Matilde Reserva 2008 The ports...

All the five wines are produced in the Carnuntum area, which is located in eastern Austria, on the border to Slowakia. The two blaufränkisch wines (Carnuntum and Spitzerberg) are based on grapes produced locally in the Carnuntum area, and same goes for the white wine with Grüner Veltliner grapes. Ho...

Although this topic is strictly speaking outside of FTLOP’s normal scope, I thought it may be of interest for the readers of FTLOP. In 2002 Dirk Niepoort established cooperation in Austria together with Dorli Muhr (now I understand his ex-wife) with the purpose of producing red wines and white wines...

From a real ”off-year”. A single bottle that was purchased several years ago. Dark red colour. Needed thorough filtering in the decanting process. Decanted three hours before drinking. Pleasant distinct aroma of berries, a little floral and touch of wood. Medium body, relatively dry, short to medium...

This product belongs to “Niepoort Projectos”. Recently available here in Norway in a very limited number. All bottles available were in 37.5 cl. Golden transparent colour actually resembling of bronze! An appealing look, and the wine had an aroma of nuts and herbs. A very elegant balanced taste and ...

Two bottles purchased near the quinta in Sao Joao de Pesqueira late Sept. 2001. First bottled tasted Oct 5th, 2001, and was not drinkable. In addition to yeast, there were some strange unknown aromas. Both the taste and the aroma were strongly affected by the spirits, and tasted chemicals and more s...

Hello Roy! I hope you enjoy Madeira! Here in Norway we have a Wine Monopoly with high taxes, but we can still get many good vintages (although at high prices). However, in order to find the best value-for-money vintage ports, I have tried many off-years with a great variety of results. I guess you w...