For The Love Of Port

What does the industry do to pull people in? The key to getting more people drinking port is simply to get more people to try it, and the best way I can think of doing that is to give away thousands of 10cL bottles (5cL is too small IMO) predominantly of a good ruby reserve, (not a bog standard rub...

1973

I like the selo. It makes it a lot easier to find Port in a wine section, and I think it makes the bottles look classy. But care must still be taken - a Selo on a Portuguese wine does not a Port wine make... Bairrada (Comissão Vitivinícola da Bairrada)... http://i61.tinypic.com/2r6ijxv.jpg Colares....

Did you have the opportunity to taste Filipa Pato's "Espirito De Baga" - Port in all but name - made entirely from Baga wine fortified with Baga brandy?

I was in GN that day - obviously not at the same time :-(

We occasionally refer to ourselves as the Winos. This appears, then, to be one of those "separated by a common language" words To the English - "Wino" is a monstrously derogative term - to quote one of the online dictionaries - and this is pretty much what I have in my head when...

Caves Messias Colheita 1991, bottled 2012 - bought from a small supermarket on a recent trip to Esposende.

Aside from Graham's not replying to me, I have a couple of "issues" with this... First - in theory this sounds like a fine idea, but... 1) I've seen nothing about where all this bond money is to be held for the few years before the bottles are, hopefully, delivered - has anyone seen the fi...

I have 2 entries for this... 1) A bottle of Graham's 1985 VP. This was a bad purchase because... a) It made me realise, sadly, that I wasn't going to even get close to living long enough to truly appreciate my stash of 2011s b) It made me realise that my taste for "decent" VP exceeded my (...

Andy Velebil wrote: IIRC, TFP owns a good part of the company now.

Sorry, I don't know what either of those acronyms stand for.

Very cool. I see a lot of Messias in stores when I've been in Portugal, and almost none anywhere else. I'm curious if Portugal is their largest market for the Special Category Ports or if not what country is. Perhaps we like to keep the really good stuff for ourselves? Or perhaps it's something to ...

Just back from a little holiday in the north of Portugal, where a few small shops had, amongst the fruit and veg, some bottles of Port, amongst them... 1998 Graham Porto Vintage Malvedos 2000 Niepoort Porto Vintage * 2 2003 Warre Porto Bottle Matured Late Bottled Vintage 1997 Quinta de la Rosa Porto...

A week ago I wrote to Grahams, in Portuguese (perhaps that was my mistake), asking if this offer was available in Portugal and, if so, how much it cost and how I might go about buying it.

No response.

Way to inspire confidence!

Just finished off a Cálem 2011.

Quinta do Crasto 2011 Vintage D+0: Chewy and hot. D+6: Heavy nose on alcohol, bilberries, violet, licorice - mouth is gentle power - thick, smooth, gentle heat, rich - long long finish. D+ 30: Nose is calmer now - long legs, purple, glass-staining - nice balance of black fruit, alcohol - slight chew...

Cálem 2000 VP. Double-decanted. This was OK at first pop, but very hot, somewhat thin and with a lot of grip in the mouth. At D+2 it was starting to gain some meat, and lose some of the grip. At D+6 it still wasn't all that special, but very big in the flavour department. Now, at D+24 (I'm taking it...

1996 Warre - Quinta da Cavadinha VP I've not heard much about '96 but have a couple that were left over from a friend moving, how was it? Well, my notes say... (86) I've had several Warres, and this, like many of the others, is kind of "goopy" - there's a strong background note of honey, ...

Whilst you may not, strictly speaking, call it a "type", I seem to prefer young Vintage Port. I've had a few somewhat "older" ports - Martinez '63, Quinta da Roeda '67, Graham's '85, Warre's '85 - which, yes, I've enjoyed. But I'm not sure I haven't enjoyed some of the more recen...

1996 Warre - Quinta da Cavadinha VP

Case de Santa Eufémia LBV 2009

Really rather nice, and a lot better than some other LBVs I've had at this end of the price scale (I paid 11.38 euros)