For The Love Of Port

Andy Velebil wrote:What was up with the plastic cup? They didn't trust you with the fine china

Something to do with health department regulations. Not sure what the deal with that is though since every other wine shop I've been to provides a decent wine glass for tasting.

If things aren't hectic at work I'll be there.

I've now tasted several producers from 2007 in bottle, Taylor, Fonseca, Croft, Smith Woodhouse, Warre, Vesuvio, Dow, and Grahams. I'm curious to hear peoples thoughts on how the 2007 vintage compares to the 2003 vintage. When tasting the 2003's four years ago, I remember massive wines, fully body, u...

Pete's wine shop in Bellevue, WA hosted Dominic Symington to sample the 2007 Vintage Ports plus a nice selection of older vintages from the Symington stable. This was a slightly traumatic experience for me since I had to drink from a plastic cup (so take these with a grain of salt) but it was fun to...

Well, I was going to post a detailed write up but somebody washed my notes so I'll offer a few brief impressions. After dinner we tasted three LBV's. The Fonseca Terra Bella was nice enough but seemed a little harsh and unbalanced. The 2003 Taylor LBV was my favorite of the flight, showing firm stru...

Also tasted was a Portugese table wine. Three days of turkey in a row gets old so on Sunday I got Greek food for takeout and enjoyed the food with a bottle of 2000 Quinta dos Roques Touriga Nacional Dão . Touriga Nacional makes a very nice table wine. The nose has some similarities with port. There ...

1998 Ramos-Pinto LBV I used this mostly to make cranberry sauce. Put 10 ounces of cranberries, 1.5 cups of port, and 2 tablespoons of grand marnier in a sauce pan. If necessary, add enough water to cover the cranberries. Bring to a boil and simmer until the cranberries are broken up. Add 0.5 to 1 c...

1983 Cockburn 2 or 3 months ago I had a glass of this at a restaurant and thought it was an excellent vintage port. I decided I had to have a bottle of this for thanksgiving and tracked one down. The bottle I opened was not as good as the one I had a few months ago but it was a respectable showing....

I opened a bottle of this just a few days ago. Here's my note: 2003 Quinta de Roriz Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto (1/16/2006) The color is intensely dark purple. Opaque even at the very edge of the glass. A nose of very ripe fruit, raspberry, blackberry, grape, blueberry. A slight hint of c...

Bottled in 2004. The nose is lovely with some dried cherry, caramel, and praline. Smooth on the palate, full of elegance and finesse. Great balance. A hint of orange peel on the finish. 24 hours later this shows very well. Great mouth feel with very nice acidity. There is some tannin showing on the ...

This was bottled in 2005. A darker mahogany color with a tinge of ruby red to it. The nose is dirty and funky with a strong essence of beef stock. Sweet and simple on the palate, could use a bit more acidity. 24 hours later, the nose has cleaned up some but still seems "off". 87 last night...

This was bottled in 2005. The color is a dark copper, kind of like a penny from 1983. The nose is deep, and enticing. It's got dried cherries, baking spices, coffee, dates, caramel, and pralines. Good balance on the palate with nice big acidity and even some very subtle tannin. Long finish with a sl...

This was bottled in 1998 so it's kind of like a 60 year tawny. A light mahogany color with some sediment. The nose is full of beef bouillon, some coffee and has a madeira-ish / oxidised feel to it. On the palate the wine is round, lush, and sweet. There is noticeable spirit that gets in the way on t...

A nicely dark red color. The nose seems closed offering subtle hints of raspberry, cinnamon, and alcohol. The palate is wonderfully full and rich with firm tannin and good acidity. At this point the wine has seen little air but is drinking well. I suspect it will improve with extended decanting. Rig...

The first was the consistently good 1985 Fonseca from a couple weeks ago. Impressively dark and concentrated color. The nose is wild with dates, plums, cherry, and cinnamon. Even after decanting for 9 hours the nose was noticeably alcoholic. 30 hours later as I sip this the alcohol is still noticeab...

Hi Everyone,

I'll be in London August 28th (my birthday!) and 29th. I have a suspicion that there are a few people here from London who like to drink Port. Let me know if something can be setup, otherwise I'll be drinking very good Vintage Port alone.

The only review I've seen on this is the 89 - 92 from Wine Spectator in which they call it "a little disappointing". I certainly wouldn't call it disappointing. It's a solid port. It didn't have the massive structure of the Taylor but there's still alot going for it. I didn't assign points...

Hi Goncalo,

Well, even after nearly four years, I still have not tasted a Moscatel de Setubal. I will try to search that one out.

6/9/2009

Dark red. Blue - dark fruit profile on the nose. Firm big tannin and a warm finish. (90 pts.)

This showed nicely and exactly as described. Enjoyable, not great, but solid.

6/9/2009

Very dark. Plum and smoke on the nose. Very well balanced with a big structure. Long warm finish. (93 pts.)