For The Love Of Port

It was alright. It definitely seemed like it underwent accelerated aging, but I don't have enough experience with small bottle sizes to say more than that. Could just be bottle variation. If you have a 375ml, I would suggest opening one to try - I don't think it will be "early" by any mean...

Tried an older bottling of Graham's Six Grapes I picked up at auction. While it's not bad per se, I decided I don't really like it - it's a bit too "dirty." It also needs a ton of air - a couple days of decanting even. The newer bottling with the fatter bottle is a bit better but has this ...

If I can keep snagging good VP at auction for $25, even if only occasionally, I might even abandon my goal of trying virtually every LBV recently produced to figure out which one to buy in bulk. This party is sure to not last forever.

Wow, some rare and plentiful stuff in here. '51 Feist '52 Malvedos Crusted 3x '70 Santos Magnums A full case of '67 Martinez '70 Coreira Nine '88-bottled Churchill Crusteds. A bunch of '80s LBVs, including Warre's and RP As well as full cases of all kinds of good stuff. I'm tapped out for the year b...

I purchased two 2016 Quinta dos Eirados some months ago (along with two SW16).

But after opening the auction lot today, it actually contained two 2016 Q. do Vesuvio instead of the Eirados.

Considering I paid $100 in final total for the four bottles, I suppose I've made out like a bandit.

Finally got around to trying the 2011 Pocas LBV, as praised by MikeJW. It it is in fact very good and has the kind of raspberry character that I like, its very clean, medium body, ideal sweetness and acidity. Tannins are well rounded, my only quibble is that it does have a too much kick, especially ...

I think he's probably referring to the fact that the buyer has little or no control over when the seller decides to sell. If a high-value property suddenly pops onto the market for whatever reason, potential buyers have to act quickly whether or not the timing is ideal for them. I agree and this re...

Sometimes you just want the stock and not the flow.

I do wonder how TFP ever got into the situation where they didn't have enough tawny in barrel in the first place.

They should have learned long ago from Dona Antonia!

That's useful to know, thank you Eric.

Snagged some hard-to-come-by LBVs 1997 Croft LBV 2002 Warre's LBV x2 Lucas: Mike W and I have a conceptual plan to have a tasting event of pre-2000 LBVs. We are over 15 but welcome more! Cool, I could certainly bring the Croft. That's the only 90s LBV I have atm. Let me know two weeks ahead of time...

Snagged some hard-to-come-by LBVs
1997 Croft LBV
2002 Warre's LBV x2

This month's bargains, 2016 Noble & Murat VP 2014 Noble & Murat LBV (very rare in the states I believe) 2014 Sandeman LBV 2000 Q. do Infantado LBV (dirt cheap and rare, save this for a horizontal probably) 2001 Quinta Vale D. Maria Sarzedinho VP x2 (3 bottles left on WB right now, watched th...

2011 Q. do Portal LBV Pretty darn good LBV, certainly above average. Has a "light yet concentrated" character. Had some not-ideal volatile aromas that cleared up after a good long decant. Some spices, nice woodyness, and heat. Neither red fruit or dark fruit, but more in-between. Tannins a...

Those are some sweet photos. There is probably some value in there too, could probably sell a lot with some of those 19th century empties to the right museum for a few grand. I haven't kept many bottles, but this has inspired me to start keeping select ones. It also makes me reconsider getting port ...

That's quite the Who's Who of signatories.

It does seem that the beneficio system is there more out of Byzantine tradition, rather than some powerful entrenched interest.

I will not confirm at this juncture. In part, because I would prefer to know the Ports we will be drinking for such a long trip. The flights have gotten even cheaper wow. I found a $138 round trip from Newark on Oct 27-30, that sure is tempting. As far as what I can bring, it's all in my posts in th...

Quinta do Crasto Finest Reserve with some fondue. An excellent reserve, great balance and QPR here. Raspberry jam, bit on the sweeter side in what seems to be Crasto's recent style. I would give it top marks if it was not a little too hot/spirity. This might be my number 2 ranked reserve now, but I ...

1977 Smith Woodhouse for my father's birthday. It was well-received and a great bottle, aside from a slight cork breakage.

1938 Niepoort Garrafeira x2 Whoa. That's seems like an incredibly rare find. 2011 Quevedo VP, magnum I was monitoring that one for a few weeks, but wasn't sure I wanted a magnum I wouldn't open for a while. I'm glad it went to a good home, was tremendous deal. According to Roy's forecast, there is ...

2003 Broadbent
2005 Fonseca Q. do Panascal
Some bargain bin pickups, if it's a $25 VP and doesn't have a bad rep, I'll give it a try.