For The Love Of Port

Mystery solved.
I contacted the Importer who confirms it's (mainly) Tinta Negra.
Merely a 'mistake' by the people who regulate the sale of alcohol in our province.
Maybe they've been smoking too much legal agricultural product.

Our Government controlled liquor monopoly (LCBO) has just released a selection of madeiras including the following: Barbeito 5 Year Old Rainwater Reserva Medium Dry Madeira Tinta Fina I know the tempranillo grape is called Tinta Fina in Portugal - but I am NOT aware that this is an approved varietal...

Isn't this fun - even though we still don't know what the Sainsbury port is (or was). My 'recollection' is that prior to 86 (Portugal joining EEC) the rules were quite 'flexible'! I recall having a 1970 'Vintage Port', bottled in January1974! (guessed it was an Engish bottling (of Fonseca) from a ba...

As for BOB's and the like. It is quite normal for any wine company to have a customer request a "private label" blended just for them. Often, their wine person will help come up with the blend or taste various trial blends and pick which they want. Those blends are like any other Port, th...

Is 'Symington Family Estates' even accurate? We know the major houses generally have contracts with multiple growers. Is it realistic to expect that 'Family Estates' would be crushed (trodden?, Lagared?) separately from 'non-Family' estates? Plus we are told that, from the start, 'Vintage' ports hav...

Without getting too sidetracked, most BOB's are offered under the name of the retailer, rather than the 'House' who produced it. This is clearly identified as Symington - although it seems apparent that it was only sold at Sainsbury's. And, of course, the 'bottling' would have to be in 2005 - substa...

I have managed to get a copy of the Jancis note linked. However, it doesn't give any details of origin - just the note itself. It further references that the Sainsbury 'Taste The Differnce (TTD)' line of products are what Sainsbury claim to be "superior bottlings" (which I interpret TTD to...

To emphasize – I’m looking for information on the 2003 Vintage Port, bottled under the ‘Symington’ label (not their usual house names). This is listed on Cellar Tracker as 2003 Symington Family Porto Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Vintage – but there are no tasting notes by members (or anywhere in...

You might want to check out this Madeira wine bar that offers a minimum of 100 selections - all by the glass or bottle. http://www.kinoshita-intl.co.jp/madeiraentrada/index.html?utm_source=tripadvisor&utm_medium=referral For those whose Japanese is rusty, here's a link to the latest on-line list...

Thanks, Eric, for answering the underlying enquiry. And John, my Tee corks have the Justinho name embossed on top of the Tee portion of the closure (although I've just opened the Broadbent Terrantez 'Old Reserve'). Maybe they've now switched to a blank (unstamped) closure, so as not to confuse the '...

Hi John,

Was the T-cork 'branded'?

Typically, my Broadbent's have had a Justino T-cork. I'm still trying to figure out whether they are 'special bottlings' or just labelled Broadbent for the North American market.

Thanks for all the good work Peter. But, nothing ever really disappears on the web (as many people have found out to their cost). Many/most websites are archived irregularly by what is affectionately known as 'The Wayback Machine' (or more formally the Internet Archive). The Madeira Wine Guide site ...

Not to gild the lily, but my favourite this year was the 1802 Acciaioly Terrantez. This was the finest bottling of this wine so far (for me) - my third sample. The first (when originally 'released') was disappointing, so I didn't buy more. The second, at a Terrantez tasting several years back,was a ...

Hi Michael,
Certainly I'm aware of possible fakes - but not (so far) among the Kassab wines.
I've sent a 'Personal Message' following up (rather than speculate in a public forum).

Alan

Hi Gary, The Julio Barros Moscatel (1950) is well known (at least documented) - but, to date I haven't found anything else from 'Julio' (except possibly these under discussion - except it would be a huge time (from 1892 or 1907) between these wines - is it possible that 'JB' would not have 'saved' a...

Thanks Michael, Neither of mine have the strip covering the cork, but both are consistent with a 90's bottling date. The stencilling is also consistent with other Barbeito bottlings (without the JB identifier). So the trail has shown more clues - but without definitive proof. Alan PS I re searched u...

I recently tripped over a couple of partially identified Madeira in my cellar. These are Malvazia 1907 JB Madeira Malvazia 1892 JB Madeira Both were 'Imported by Vieux Vins Inc,' but all other markings are generic (including the standard US Government Warning). My recollection is that these might ha...

Stewart, No contest on the VINTAGE ports. 1966 far ahead for me. But it's the (recent) release of wood-aged ports from both vintages (by Taylor, Fladgate) that hasn't been well-covered. I missed the 1966 (tawny) but the 67 features very high acidity which gives it an impressive balance (I rate it hi...

However: 1 bottle of my 1966 Taylor VP went live recently, too, besides Fairchild Stones 2013 #1 and #2. Funny thing is that they sell a 1966 Taylor Tawny at the same time (mine is auctioned) but I was astounded by the 270 bucks for the Tawny...anyone having any thoughts about this one? Hi Andreas,...

Agree entirely - except that resale isn't an issue for us. We have two madeira groups here, in Toronto, with a total of almost 40 madeira enthusiasts. We 'never' sell (so far) - we consume! Demand exceeds supply - our issue is sourcing. One of our group has just inspected the bottles and considers t...