For The Love Of Port

Thank you gentlemen for your replies. I have a slab of bottle wax (complients of Tom) and a baked bean can at the ready.

Paul , I would also recommend Smith Woodhouse and Gould Campbell in 1983. Both are drinking very well now but have the stuffing to make it over the long-term. If I had to choose just one, I'd go for the Gould Campbell which I would think will make the next twenty years with ease and tends (in the U...

I have several bottles of Madeira with chipped capsules. Should I rewax them or leave them as they are? My intention is to drink all of my Madeira in my lifetime so from an aesthetic point of view, I'm not really concerned if one capsule is a different colour from another. However, let's just suppos...

UK Madeira lovers note that waitrosewine.com are selling D'Oliveiras Reserva 1977 Terrantez at £40.85 a bottle (including VAT) which is a very reasonable price for this wine which is becoming increasingly scarce. The product code to enter on their website is 59793. Note that you do have to buy a cas...

Dave, You will no doubt get some very well qualified and well reasoned responses to your question from palates far more experienced and developed than mine, explaining why the 1985 vintage is not as good as 1983, 1980, perhaps even the generally 'undeclared' 1987. I have to admit to being somewhat b...

One of my New Year's resolutions is to explore the red (table) wines of Portugal, and especially the Douro.

Can anyone give me some recommendations for some mid price range reds to make a start on. If they are easily available in the UK, so much the better.

Thanks.

The last post makes a good point. I would prefer to see a good range of wines from one or two houses rather than a real pick 'n' mix of names and styles. "If you liked so-and-so's ruby, you should try their LBV/crusted/tawny...". You get the drift. Also, Madeira is a good idea. It lasts (a...

Alex I had one of these as part of my Christmas Port frenzy and although I did make detailed notes at the time, I seem to have misplaced them, so no post. However, having tasted one, I do recall feeling pretty pleased with my 24 bottle purchase at Christies in November at around £12 a bottle. I agre...

Roy,

Did the vintage chart make it to the new site, and if so, where did it end up? Also, what did you think of the suggestion of adding somerecommendations for each year, perhaps along the lines of say

Best Wine
Best Value
Best avoided

Or something like that?

I think the new format is fine - lets go with it. And anyway, why go back? Just because we got used to the old one and felt comfortable with it? Using that rationale, nothing would ever change, anywhere, ever.

And my favorite, attributed to Robert Benchley:

"I know I'm drinking myself to a slow death, but then I'm in no hurry."

Derek I popped a Dow's crusted the other day (again 2000 bottling) to compare with the Graham's 2000 I bought from Sainsbury's. Although I generally prefer the drier Dow style, I think the Graham's was the nicer crusted for my taste. It sometimes find that the oaky tones from a couple of years in ba...

While decanting my bottle of Dow 1997 this morning ahead of tonight's celebrations, I got to wondering... 1. Should I incline the decanter and let the magic juice pour gently down the glass on the inside, or should I hold the decanter vertically and let it have a good splash as it hits the glass at ...

By the way Roy, what did you think of the Flaccianello 1998? Did you make a tasting note? I bought a case of the (fabled) 2001 but probably will not broach one for another couple of years.

Tomorrow, it'll be ten years years to the day that I gave up smoking - 5th January 1997. My wife and I moved to New York for a couple of years back then and as it's virtually impossible to smoke anywhere in the Big Apple, it was easier to just quit. So anyway, looking through my notes and doing a fe...

Note also that Berry's are offering Quinta do Noval 20yr Tawny (under their own "William Pickering" label) at £18.95 a bottle including VAT for unsplit orders of six. Again, a very good deal.

Thanks for the heads up Tom. I bought a case in bond for £168 which as you say equates to £18.75 a bottle all taxes paid. :) I bought a case of SW94 in halves a couple of years ago and paid £220 in bond which I was pretty pleased with at the time, so today's price is a steal. This is really lovely w...

Alex

Sadly, I think you're right. Fortunately, she failed to mention the other insider's secret which happened to the same house six years later. And that I do have plenty of.

Agreed, great topic. I have had a great time this year buying and drinking ports from lesser years (eg 1980, 1982 etc) and have had some very pleasant surprises - Ferreira 1982 sticks in my mind - and has served as a reminder of the maxim that 'there's no such thing as a bad vintage port'.

I note also that HRH makes another gaffe in paragraph 2, repeating the common misconception that our old friend Gould Campbell '77 is a top value and underrated vintage port. I think we need to make it perfectly clear that this is of course complete nonsense and anyone wishing to try this elixir... ...