For The Love Of Port

Half bottles seem to be in fashion at the moment. Over the last week or two I’ve opened half bottles of Croft 2004 LBV (corked!), Quinta do Noval 2011 (I filled a half bottle with what was left over from bottles we opened Christmas 2013), Gould Campbell 1963 and Dow 1947. There was also a bottle of...

Half bottles seem to be in fashion at the moment. Over the last week or two I’ve opened half bottles of Croft 2004 LBV (corked!), Quinta do Noval 2011 (I filled a half bottle with what was left over from bottles we opened Christmas 2013), Gould Campbell 1963 and Dow 1947. There was also a bottle of ...

I’ve been working my way through various 10YO blends. For my palate, the Justino 10YOs are my preferred choice but H&H are not far behind.

I even have Justino 10YO Bual in my glass as I write this (but the Verdelho is my favourite).

A bottle of Justino’s Tinta Negra 1999 Colheita, bottled June 2024. It’s OK, but as hard as I try, I can’t love Tinta Negra.

Nearly one month gone for the Virtual Tasting.

Let’s keep the VT thread going. Open a bottle of 10YO tawny before the end of July and post on this thread. C’mon Port Lovers — you can do it!

Quinta do Vesúvio 1995 - as good as expected - and Niepoort 1991, which suffered by being closely followed by the Vesuvio 1995.

Pretty good haul from my recently completed trip to Portugal: 1937 Kopke Colheita 1941 Kopke Colheita 1964 Kopke Colheita 1965 Kopke Colheita 2004 Kopke Colheita Branco (x4) 1906 Brunheda Colheita Brunheda Very Very Old White Port Brunheda T6a Tawny Port (x2) DR 50 Year Old White Port (x2) DR 50 Ye...

I happily drink Graham Tawnies, which I thoroughly enjoy although I usually score them in the mid-eighties to just into the nineties. But the Graham 50YO is something else. It’s big and bold and full of confidence. I still remember the two occasions I’ve sampled it. The short answer to your question...

I have Quinta do Vale Meão 10 Year Old in my glass tonight while watching the Eurovision Song Contest. (Yes, I have voted for Portugal — our very cruel Portuguese teacher made us listen to the song, transcribe it and then translate it so I feel I had to.) Bottled in 2024, this is a very poised blend...

Taking the tone down a long way from the last few posts, I’ve just bought a six-pack of 50cl bottles of Blandy’s Medium-Sweet 5YO - that’s the 50:50 blend of Bual and Malvasia. Fabulous cellar defenders. Very easy to drink. I’m running out of Blandy 2004 Malvasia colheita bottles so I needed somethi...

I tasted a small sample of the Graham 50YO last year when visiting Porto. I was blown away by how good it was.

So good that I finally caved and bought a bottle.

These days provenance is king, so I only buy on provenance. But I don’t buy a lot - I buy Vesuvio and Noval on release to keep my verticals going. Vesuvio goes back 34 years! Noval only 29 years (with a couple of years not made). Most of what I buy is for immediate consumption and is usually tawny o...

Won at two different auctions: 2x OWC-6 Calem 1997 (my bid was very low and I had not expected to win both lots) 1x Niepoort Colheita 1963, bottled in 1984 1x Quinta da Devesa very very old tawny anniversary edition 80 years, bottled in 2024 1x Quinta da Devesa very very old white anniversary editi...

We don’t have a forum for fortified wines from Portugal that aren’t Port or Madeira! There’s a forum for Portuguese table wines — but what about Portuguese wines which are fortified and come from other parts of Portugal? Mouchão make a fabulous fortified wine. So do Gloria Reynolds. And there are fo...

Over the last few days I’ve been on a Sercial streak, opening a bottle of the new blend of Blandy 10YO Sercial, Barbeito’s (surprisingly sweet tasting) 10YO Sercial and a bottle of the (fabulous) Justino 1998 Sercial Frasqueira (bottled May 2023). I’m also guzzling large amounts of the Blandy 5YO Do...

I know it’s more than a year late, but I stumbled across a 30 minute podcast by the BBC made from recordings of live coverage and interviews as the Carnation Revolution was happening.

It’s available pretty much worldwide using this link.

Give me a little heads up and unless I have a tour, I am pretty flexible. It would be great to see you again, although I know we will see one another in a few months. Are you coming for the Confraria dinner this year? Roy We’re not in Porto for the Confraria dinner this year. Having done it 3 years...

Apologies everyone, I got distracted and a month passed by. There's enough interest to make this worth doing - thank you everyone. Given the time difference between me and most people who posted, if anyone wants to organise a Zoom call, please do. It makes sense for someone US based to be the organi...

Alex, do you still see Tom and drink with him? I will be meeting with Chris G. when he comes here soon. Looking forward to see him, and you too of course. We still see Tom at some of the London tastings and he still hosts us in his pub for our Christmas tasting each year. I promise to catch up with...

It was similar to when Alex/Uncle Tom et al in the UK purchased their slew of 1991 VP, momentarily forgetting the name, but it was quite good although I only had it once while in Cambridgeshire. IIRC that 1991 Port was Morgan. They sure did have a lot of it in London! It was Morgan, good memory. Be...