For The Love Of Port

It is said that air travel was once glamorous; films set in the 1960s would certainly suggest as much. They show passengers ensconced in wide seats, barely within spitting distance of fellow passengers to the front and back. And everybody appears well turned out, chatting amiably to their neighbours...

Dow '63 - early release OB with pink wax capsules. Glorious wine - arguably the best volume '63, still tannic enough to hold out the promise of better things to come. Score 9-10 I opened (what turned out to be) a poor bottle of same a month ago. It looked lovely in the glass, though it became appar...

Should it be helpful, I would note that I get the same error message when using both Google Chrome and Internet Explorer after having cleared the caches of both. On Chrome (though not IE), I get a different error message when avoiding the search function and attempting to open Roy's and Members' TNs...

Fetching tndb_tn_entry failed!!!
Table 'oporto_phpb1.wp_users' doesn't exist

Is the TN database working? I get some sort of error message when trying to access same both at home and at the office.

Purchased out of curiosity at auction in Portugal some time ago, this bottle was recently rediscovered in the cellar and taken to Canada to share with friends in the country who are unfamiliar with Portuguese wines. To the eye, the appearance was typical of older wines – akin to that of deoxygenated...

Purchased as a cellar defender at auction, this colheita, bottled in 1987, did not disappoint at the price. Decanted for three hours, in light of the long repose in the bottle – or, truth be told, because your correspondent and his associates were busy swilling Portuguese still wines - the appearanc...

The Petre's label is found commonly around Europe on younger tawnies; I see it frequently in the Netherlands (as Andy notes), Belgium, France and Portugal. I have never bothered with the tawnies though have consumed a couple of VPs from the 1990s, both of which were inexpensive as well as decent for...

Do you think it’s losing something as it gets longer in bottle? Sounds as though the price is still good regardless. Buy them all now before someone else finds them. A good question, Andy. I believe that I have consumed eight of the 2016 bottlings over the last six or eight months; there may be a h...

About four years ago, the Lamelas 30 Year Old was one of the first quality tawnies that your correspondent ever tried, alongside a Lamelas 40 Year Old at Portologia. At that tasting, the 30 Year Old seemed – despite one knowing even less about port wine at that point than today – to be slightly supe...

Tasted from the barrel on 09 July 2019, this colheita evidenced a green rim and the colour of strong tea, aged as it has been on the Douro property. The nose proffered hints of caramelised sugar and mineral tones redolent of a younger vintage port. ‘Twas an unusual mix of sensations which worked won...

Quaffed from the barrel on 09 July 2019, the wine presented in the glass like well-brewed tea, with the appearance of lime on the rim. The nose was tart, with hints of minerality, pointing to a certain youth – in spirit, if not in years. As with its older cousin, a 1968, the mouth was confronted wit...

Bottled in 2018 and consumed on 09 July 2019, without decanting, this white port offered a very pleasing amber hue with a green rim. The nose, whilst not terribly complex, was suggestive of caramelised sugar with hints of prune, honey and a scent redolent of peat or perhaps moss-covered bark. So far...

Based on the color comment, I would almost say the Port got slowly cooked (exposed to heat) over a long period of time. Speculation, of course. An interesting point. Perhaps what I shall do is find another bottle of the '85 Borges VP to determine whether the colour of that in the case to which I re...

Borges VPs are ubiquitous on the Portuguese market, though I gather (reading this thread) that they do not often make their way to America. They are certainly not regarded by the cognoscenti as being top-drawer, in terms of their quality. At any rate, I bought a case of 1985 VP, a couple of years ag...

Borges VPs are ubiquitous on the Portuguese market, though I gather (reading this thread) that they do not often make their way to America. They are certainly not regarded by the cognoscenti as being top-drawer, in terms of their quality. At any rate, I bought a case of 1985 VP, a couple of years ag...

The last time I was along that street, a couple of years ago, it was about 35C in the blazing sun and there were two middle-aged American fellows sat on a bench in said sun smoking impressively-sized cigars and drinking a RCV '82 directly from the bottle.

VP: Quinta do Sibio 1902 Colheita: Burmeester 1890 Tawny: 100 Year Old Sao Leonardo (purchased through a FTLOP buying op) I see from my cellar list that I have a few garrafeiras particulares dated between 1863 and 1900, with a few more dating to prior to the Second World War. Older GPs appear regula...

Graham's 1970 VP and Dow's 1970 VP, purchased privately at the same time.

My apologies, David, for the tardy response. Indeed, 'tis just as Eric characterises the place: well organised (user friendly, if one will); the wines tend towards the lower-end, though that is no bad thing in Portugal; and the set-up will afford you the possibility to try different regions, styles ...