For The Love Of Port

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...

Hi Justin, The vendor is asking around a 35% premium for the Kassab wines. The 'explanation' for this is that the core of the collection actually came from the Reid hotel cellar (this would be about 80 years ago) and so they were 'assumed' to have been of excellent quality, plus were stored in good ...

Hi Peter, Great minds think alike - I also went back to my book sources and found the Liddell notes. But I was searching for the specific bottle I was offered, so missed the Mayson reference. [Sorry to be vague, but I want the wine safely in my hands before I reveal the actual wine; I only have a ph...

Thanks, Peter. I'll probably buy one just to try it. However, I find it particularly strange that Broadbent doesn't seem to have notes in his book(s) - yet the collection was sold under his tenure as Head Of Wine at Christie's. I didn't start buying until after the Kassab collection sale, so don't k...

Reviving this as I have been offered a couple of Kassab bottles (at high prices relative to non-Kassab bottles of the same era). Certainly the 'storage' seems good, but I'm similarly confused/concerned as to whether these were solid wines originally - storage is irrelevant if they weren't good in th...

A bit more information here:

http://www.decanter.com/wine-news/centu ... r-20170713

Hi John, My 'speculation' has been that the Colheita category was more a case of clumsy legislation/administration rather than intentional misleading - at least initially! So, oversimplifying, it was an omission or oversight, which 'somebody' noticed in due course, and called Colheita because it was...

Thanks Andy,

IIRC there is a neck tie-on tag.
That may also contain information.
I also recall that this came in a cardboard box - not at all conducive to storage.

Indeed, the oldest Colheita I had in my cellar was the 86 Cossart Gordon Bual. However, prior to that I 'recall' (recollection doesn't seem to be as accurate lately) some others that I probably recorded as vintage as, at the time, the 'Colheita' category wasn't known to me. For example (neither of t...

Just a comment that the 1977 is a magnum. so price is reasonable for retail.

Prices very high - I only got 1 lot (bid on 14).

I've long suspected that the Colheita category was not so much 'created' as 'discovered'. After Portugal joined the EEC, its wine regulations had to be 'rationalized' with those of EEC - which led to the elimination (for practical purposes) of the Solera category (I know it legally still exists but ...

A friend just alerted me to this article
https://drinkup.london/features/7805/th ... -consomme/

It's a restaurant (although they do have occasional 'reserve' tastings). No membership required - although they use the 'Tock reservation system' (pioneered by Alinea in Chicago, and now commercialized) which you must join separately (no joining fee). BUT it's essentially a ticketing system (just li...

I almost posted on this after a lunch visit early last year - an early 20C vintage madeira available by the tasting portion (IIRC it was a 1913 Bual at £40 a serving including taxes). And above the bar were around 20 empty bottles of comparable age. Sufficiently impressive that I returned this year ...

1911 Bual - Blandy's (old bottling - no selo strip).
Perfect now - or in another 50 years.
Exploded from the glass filling the room and perfectly balanced.
Served with a roasted chestnut soup containing foie gras on a large crouton.

OK I was sloppy here - although it seems (to me) unlikely that I exceeded 'fair use' (Section 107 of copyright act) https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107 Certainly not commercial use (unless somebody wants to send me money!). And a fair claim (IMO) that I was doing 'research' to establi...

Actually I got it from google images. Not sure where it originated, but indeed I've now checked Cellartracker and they have the identical picture.
No copyright infringement intended.

1851 solera.jpg I also struck out - not even close! But, at least, the bottles seemed genuine - whereas I offer for consideration this current offering at Christie's London on-line (can't figure out how to copy the image, but link is below - allows one to zoom in on the bottle to reveal a T-cork an...

Indeed - but not to me! I bid on 7 lots and historically get 25-30% success rate. 1 lot I was nowhere close. 1 lot successful 1 lot - price realized equalled my high bid - but someone else could have been first past the post 4 lots - I was second highest bidder! So either 1 or 2 lots - now I have to...