For The Love Of Port

Andy Velebil wrote:And then at 7pm they are doing a SQVP tasting...

Adrian was also responsible for pioneering a new style of port – Croft Pink – which is the first new style to hit the market in generations.

Looks like a great pair of tastings, but this bit of marketing spiel made me laugh!

My understanding is that there is not much Scion left for the primary market. It seems these sort of ports sell rather well (thinking of the Dom Pedro 1853 and the Whitwam's Millennium 1881 as being other examples). Agreed, i think there are enough people around to soak up these "prestige"...

But there are some vintage ports with colour that is not normal. Fonseca Guimaraens 1976, Smith Woodhouse 1977 and Dow 1980 being three specific examples. There are many others that fit the same mould. These are examples of where colour turns me off from fully enjoying the Port. Do others have the ...

1994 Ramos Pinto Confess was a bit disappointed, especially in comparison to the 2007 Grahams I had last weekend. Though the 2007 Grahams was 2x the price, thinking was totally worth it. Found the Ramos Pinto to be much lighter bodied (as well as lighter colored), tasting and looking almost like a ...

I think that bottle was actually opened by Julian Wiseman in the US. But even in the lodge they are not unheard of - i remember being surprised at a review of a harvest tour tasting at the Fonseca lodge in Oporto that Kobrand import bottles were used! (and you can just about see the Kobrand stencill...

Well...the thing that piqued my interest was the daughter of drinking age, who currently has no interest in his 10,000 bottle cellar...

Article with some Adrian Bridge quotes about this According to his figures (and my envelope calculations), the price hike quoted in the first paragraph roughly equates to a rise in input costs of 20 eurozone cents per bottle of port. This was also interesting He also said there was industry pressur...

Presumably if the shortage is in this year's harvest, it is a problem for fortified wine producers next year rather than an immediate problem. But it would be interesting if so (and the first time in about 4 decades?!), as i had always understood that the EU problem was one of chronic over-productio...

hmmm...with all this enthusiasm i'm beginning to think my lone 6-pack of this is not enough, considering its (relatively) reasonable price! I've already just about gone through my 07s - probably all drunk far too young and i'll no doubt kick myself when i come round to my remaining bottles in a few ...

Yes - hence i was thinking more about an unfiltered LBV (a quick check shows Niepoort 1950 Garrafeira was put into demijohn in 1955 - i.e. spending 4-5 years in wood).

Hadn't appreciated the bon-bons were not corked - how are they sealed?

Q regarding ageing in these things: once you're up to 9litre / 15 litre bottles, what is the difference between these and one of the niepoort bon-bons used for garrafeira? Or is a producer essentially half way towards a garrafeira if they bottle some LBV in one of these?!

Rarity i guess...i suspect there will be plenty of 0.75l bottles available to purchase in 20 years, but it will be a good deal harder to get a 6l or 9l bottle. (cf Graham 1994 available at £35 per bottle, versus EUR2,200 for an Imperial of it this week at Christie's). I suspect there's also a bit of...

Bradley Bogdan wrote: And really? I've only been able to find info on the Q.D. Silval (but no pictures) and the Nacional.

Pic of the Marco:

Wow - had not realised there was a regular 83 Noval.

But if the photo on winebid was of your actual bottle and not just a stock photo grabbed from the internet, it looks like you got a nice result.

Andy Velebil wrote: I ask as most unfiltered LBV's use a driven cork and most filtered LBV's use a t-cork.

agreed - croft is the only unfiltered lbv i can think of from the last couple of years that uses stoppered corks.

The reason being that the Malvedos wine has always been produced from the same vineyards, but some of those vineyards did not belong to Graham, and were not part of Quinta dos Malvedos, until that year. Was just reading through the old TNs - according to Roy's old note here it was the 1986 that was...

I'd probably be more generous with the Dow - rather good i thought (though no 1970 to be sure)

I had less luck with the Offley and the Guimaraens (Guimaraens was a bad bottle but, as AHB says, Adrian Bridge thought it had escaped the industrial alcohol).

Miguel Simoes wrote: Would you have a go at the 2007 Grahams soon or might it be closed already?

i was wondering the same on this port just this evening. Would be interested to know if anyone has pulled a cork on one in the last couple of months...

Marc J. wrote:Very cool! I wish we had something like that over on this side of the pond.

Despite its name, Jazz FM is not actually broadcast over the FM band.

It is, however, broadcast over the internet and - as far as i am aware - available on your side of the pond!

Tom Archer wrote:

Out of curiosity, how do you plan to consume the Nebuchadnezzar bottles? That's a lot of VP to drink quickly once opened...

Not sure - except I don't think it will be part of a vertical or horizontal!

You've also got to persuade customs on your way back over that it is for personal consumption!