For The Love Of Port

David, It has been a big pleasure to read your thoughts about Port Wine here in :ftlop: . I have been enjoying and learning a lot from your comments and I will take this opportunity to ask for your opinion about Port aging. Traditionally Port uses to age in the lodges located in Gaia. As until 1986...

David, I have a two part question; 1- Since you mentioned the Trade is now able to source better quality brandy can you explain how it is made, where it comes from, and without giving away any trade secrets, the process you use to select which brandies you use in which products? For example, I was ...

David, I have a son that was born in 2005, a vintage that was not generally declared. What are your picks for the most age-worthy port of that vintage (whether within the TFP or outside)? Marco, 2005 was a hot and dry year, but there is one Vintage I particularly recomend, and that is the Quinta da...

Perhaps the Port in my cellar that is most difficult to judge is the 1985 Taylor, of which I bought a case on release. It has always been a very fine wine, but never has seemed to have the clarity of flavor, force, and focus of others of its stable that I've tasted, although it has seen some improve...

David, When I was on Roy's Harvest tour in 2007, the 2000 Taylor was the wine of the trip for me. As anyone who has been on Roy's trips can attest to, there are incredible wines sampled every day -- to pick a favorite is high praise indeed. The fact that a TVVV was also made that year is proof that...

Which year of Taylor Fladgate's Vinha Velha Vintage Port do you recommend investing in? Do you think they'll see Nacional prices 20-30 years from now? 2000 Vargellas Vinha Velha is one to bet on at the moment. Quantities are limited, and their Quality are trully something special, where they go to ...

I still consider the Taylor 1992 to be one of the greatest Vintage Ports of the last 40 years, at least. David, I have not yet had the oportunity to taste the Taylor 1992 but will certainly make an effort to do so soon following this glowing recommendation. Would you rank the Taylor 1992 above thos...

Pre-1995 - the Fonseca 1963 is a bench-mark for me. 1948 Taylor is also something I intend to repeat. David '48 Taylor is epic. How you would know if any vintage will hold up against it? Do you go back to the 50's and compare tasting notes to a more recent vintage? Moses, I do not have tasting note...

I'm really enjoying reading all of the questions and your answers. Thanks again for coming to visit us! As the regulars here know, I tend to prefer tawny Port over ruby Port. I do have a collection of Vintage Ports, but in my cellar it is rivaled in size by my collection of Colheitas. I guess I jus...

Congratulations on the 2003 Croft. Your hard work in Q. d. Roeda has indeed paid off. Is there a decision to only use Roeda fruit in Croft from now on, or is this a vintage by vintage decision? Marco, as you have seen Croft 2003 means a lot to me. Quinta da Roeda is a very large property in Pinhão ...

David: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions and be part of this forum: it's much appreciated. I have two questions that I will hope will be fun to answer: 1) Of all the ports that you've personally made, is there one (or two) of which you are especially proud? (I recognize this is a...

David, Thank you for your answer regarding Bin 27. Since we're talking about declared vintages, 2000 vs. 2003 is often talked about with some people leaning toward 2000's being the overall better year for VP and some people leaning toward 2003. The years were characterized by very different growing...

David, Have any decisions been made about the future of Quinta de Eira Velha as a source of Single Quinta Vintage Ports and, if so, under which of the TFP shippers would it operate? Thanks Derek Derek, Quinta de Eira Velha has produced some outstanding Ports, but we still have nothing to anounce re...

For example at Fonseca we have always focused on Bin 27 as our flagship Port for every day consumption, making it the leader of its segment both for quality and sales. At Taylor's we very much focus on our LBV, resulting in its magnificent quality. At the retail outlets and on-trade these sit very ...

David: General Motors ran into trouble with having so many lines competing with each other. How does TFP deal with Fonseca, Taylor and Croft competing for the same buyer? How do you decide how much and how to promote each brand? How do you guide the consumer to pick one over the other? They are sim...

David, Thank you for your response. I have to confess that I have not tasted many wines from the 1992 vintage but do have fairly wide experience of 1991. From your response above I obviously need to redress the balance as a matter of some urgency :wink: I think many of the 91's, including some of t...

David, The following two questions for you got posted in a different thread so I have copied them here so you can easily see them and reply. Hello David. Thank you for being our guest. What is it that differentiates the Fonseca Guimaraens Vintage Port from the regular Vintage Port? and Hi David, wh...

The above post was slightly "tongue-in cheek" but I would be interested to know your views now, almost a generation on, as to the respective merits of the 1991 v 1992 vintages. Much has been written about whether or not TFP declared 92 rather than 91 for reasons other than purely the quali...

[quote="Roy Hersh"]David, Thanks for the excellent dissertation on the merits of the various Port grapes as well as mentioning co-fermentation vs. fermenting varieties separately and then blending. As you mentioned, this makes for a big difference in the outcome of the Ports. Along the sam...

Hi David, The 1985 vintage at some houses, according to various reports, seems to perhaps not have stood the test of time as well as initially hoped (although I must say the 1985 Fonseca remains one of my favorite ports of all time). Do you have any thoughts on this? Do you think there is anything ...