For The Love Of Port

I was so impressed with my recent Gould Campbell 1977 purchase that I am considering a case or two from other vintages.

Does anyone have any recommendations from the eighties or nineties, and especially the 1994 which I have seen in the UK at £276 per case duty and VAT paid?

Thanks. Philip

I find tasting and 'port' glasses a bit small for port, especially if you like to give your wine a good swirl while you sniff. I'd recommend a Riedel "Ouverture" red wine glass which at 12 3/8 fl oz is about 40% bigger than their standard port glass (8.5 fl oz) and it's also around 40% of ...

Labelled as Justerini & Brooks (a UK merchant) 1977 Vintage, shipped by Smith Woodhouse, capsule Gould Campbell, and cork Justerini 1977 Vintage. Following some help from Justerinis and Symingtons, it was established that this is indeed Gould Campbell 1977. First from a case purchased a month or...

Derek I agree that cool room temperature, say 17 - 18c is best for my tastes. For example, the mystery Smith Woodhouse that we discussed on the forum last week. At room temperature (say 21 - 22c) this just seemed a bit dull and flat. Brought up to around 18c from a 1/2 bottle I kept in the fridge fo...

Thanks for the input chaps. By the way, HRH Jancis pointed out a few months ago that Berry's own label "William Pickering 20yr old Tawny" is made by Quinta do Noval but at £22.95 a bottle, represents excellent value when compared to prices of around £35 per bottle for the same wine under a...

I recently bought a couple of bottles of Justerini & Brooks 1977 Vintage port which is described on the label as being "specially bottled in Oporto for Justerini & Brooks.....shipped by Smith Woodhouse & Ca". Should this to be exactly the same wine that Smith Woodhouse bottled ...

Roy Sorry I didn't get back sooner with a tasting note on the Warre LBV '94. It's a bit of a sorry tale. As I said, I decanted the wine in the morning (Wed March 22nd) before I went to work and a preliminary sniff and sip at 7.00am was very promising. I left half in the decanter and stoppered the re...

OK OK - you guys talked me in to it. I went into Morrisions last night and bought the last two bottles of the Warre LBV '94 for £11 (U$19) each. One of these is sitting in the decanter at this very moment patiently awaiting my return from work this evening. A brief sniff and taste at 7.00am this mor...

Peter I'd recommend a simple salad of tomatoes with a drizzle of olive oil and some shavings of the best fresh parmesan you can lay your hands on accompanied by a warm foccacia. This went very well with a bottle of Barbeito 1978 Sercial a few weeks ago - the wine perfectly complementing the sweet an...

Roy, this is my first post on the forum so be gentle with me. Following on from Alex's excellent and comprehensive tasting notes from the London Madeira tasting on October 25th, I include my own tasting notes of recent Barbeito purchases. While I would not call myself an experienced Maderia drinker,...

David No other reason other than provenance. The fact that the Dow Tawny has been sitting around who knows where for several years since bottling also made me wonder where the LBV has been in the four years since it was released. I appreciate that most LBV will improve with bottle age but Morrisons ...

Thanks Roy. The year of bottling on the five bottles ranged from 1997 to 2000. I 've taken your advice therefore and 'passed' rather than 'punted'. Same for the Warre LBV 1994 that was standing next to it.

Fred I think Derek's idea of a poll before deciding on a tasting candidate is a good idea. As he said, Ramos Pinto isn't a name we see that much in the UK. However, Fonseca bin 27 is widely available and would suit very well for April. In fact, someone gave me a bottle a few months ago and I was won...

My local Morrison's supermarket has several dusty bottles of Dow's 20yr old tawny that have been sitting upright on the bottom shelf of the wine section for some time. The £15 price tag is tempting. I appreciate the best way to test their provenenace is to buy a bottle and pull the cork, but in gene...