For The Love Of Port

For me, Niepoort 1997 for the oldest (Oliver) & some Niepoort 2003 futures for the youngest (Katie, she’ll love it!) but sadly 1999 wasn’t a declared year for our middle child (George) so he only has a 6 pack of 100PP Rene Rostaing Cote Blonde!

Which VPs have you laid down for your children?

I don't have kids yet but I'm the godfather of my brother's child. He is born in 2002 :? Some decent single Quinta where produced, Casthelino and Ramos Pinto that I have tasted so far but none are available on the Quebec's market. But he has the choice of Mission-Haut Brion, Pape Clement and Chateau Lafleur sor far but I don't know if they'll hold well until his 18 birthday. Maybe I'll make him chose when he'll be 16

1999 was not such a bad Port year as people think. The best 3 I have tasted are:

Quinta do Noval Nacional
Quinta do Portal - still my favorite Portal VP of all, up until 2003.
Quinta do Vesuvio - shimber me timbers, Popeye!

I'm just a novice when it comes to VP, but I couldn't resist ordering some 2003 - the birth year of our elder daughter, Lucy.

I found the En Primeur section of the Majestic Wine web site very helpful. It was a simple process to order a half case of 2003 Quinta do Vesuvio (£165 now + duty and VAT when it arrives early next year), and I can avoid delivery charges by collecting it from my local branch.

Our second daughter, Alice, was born in 2004. Does anyone have any info about the likely quality of the 2004 vintage?

Lots of 2000 for #1 one son!

Dom A.

Please look here on the Port Forum as we recently had an extensive discussion of the upcoming 2004 harvest and likely "split declaration."

Hi!

I bought a 6 bottle case of Niepoort VP 1997 Magnum for my wedding anniversary and a case of Niepoort VP 2000 for my eldest daughter's birth year. Unfortunately there was no vintage declaration for my son's birth year in 2001 so I opted for Sauternes and got him a case of Chateau Rieussec 2001. The hardest part now is to get them shipped from London to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in good condition and for me to lay my hands off them!

My plan is to open a bottle of the Niepoort VP 1997 for my 21st wedding anniversary and to give the kids their collections for their 21st birthday. Must fight them mighty temptations..fight on!

Cheers,
Henn

Not planned, and no doubt a sign of mental instability, I do have a 1996 Malvedos I am planning on opening next January for the 10 year birthday of my dog.


Over the past few years having a birthday for my dog, which started as a joke, has turned into an annual event where he gets more presents than I ever did!

Noticed a while back that I had a '96 Malvedos so planning on serving it when he hits the big one zero in January for Jordanpalooza 2006. Of course I'll also serve some Cote de Bone de Rhones and maybe some PETS petite Sirah.

Some Warre 94 for my son (heaving a sigh of relief as he is now of the opinion that all wine does NOT taste the same) and nothing as yet for my daughter 98) any suggestions welcome of course.
Few bottles of bordeaux and C9dP put away for her.

?? why does the eight come up as a smiley ??

My son (90) and daughter (93) had the misfortune to be born in off vintages, so they have no Ports set aside. They'll just have to settle for N+1 bottlings

Regards,
Alan

Number one son has a great collection of the 92's including mags and 375's of Taylor ( RP 100) , 750's of Niepoort, and Quinto da Passadouro.

Number two son has some Quinto da Vargellas Taylor 1998 and some Graham's Malvedos 1998. Not a declared year but at least some bottles that I believe willl age well and have been reasonably priced.

Jay Woodruff wrote:Not planned, and no doubt a sign of mental instability, I do have a 1996 Malvedos I am planning on opening next January for the 10 year birthday of my dog.

Jay,
my dog doesn't seem to like Port, although he has been known to spill and lick up beer. Glad I didn't buy him any Port.

Holding out hope for the kids!

Ted

Last year, I finally connected and purchased an OWC of 2002 Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas Vintage Ports. While my daughter's birth year was not great, she will have this 12 pack and some other Ports from her birth year to enjoy. Lots of older Ports and Madeira too, but this one case of Vargellas will be very special, not just her birth year, but her actual name.

Have you begun to lay down any Ports for your children?

Roy Hersh wrote:Last year, I finally connected and purchased an OWC of 2002 Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas Vintage Ports. While my daughter's birth year was not great, she will have this 12 pack and some other Ports from her birth year to enjoy. Lots of older Ports and Madeira too, but this one case of Vargellas will be very special, not just her birth year, but her actual name.

Have you begun to lay down any Ports for your children?

I have no children except my fellow "Port nerds" who stand to inherit some of my cellar if I pass on earlier than them. Otherwise, you all can fight over who gets what when I'm gone. Just raise a glass in my honor is all I ask.

I have a daughter born in late 1993 and a son in 1999. Since 1993 is a "dead" year, I used 1994 for her. For my son I use 1999 and 2000 since the latter is generally declared. I have some for each, but so far neither is a nut about it---mainly so they can have a few bottles to remember me by or maybe drink them with them at milestones.

We have no children either, and we each have "collections" that will need to be dealt with after we pass on. My wife's is a room full of yarn, and I really have no idea how I'll figure out what to do with it!

I have a lot of old MtG cards, and then of course there's my Port cellar. At the moment the MtG cards are more valuable, but that gets closer and closer every year. We have a nephew who has shown some interest in Port, but he's not "one of us"... yet. I'll have to keep working on him. If he doesn't convert, then Kari (or my estate) may need to liquidate!

#1 Daughter 1982, she has no interest in Port, so no problem.
#2,3 Sons 1983, We opened a Dow's on their 21st birthday that I had laid down upon release. I have enough '83's to open on their birthday for quite a while.
#4 Daughter 1986, she likes sweeter whites anyways, but my cellar has more '85's than any other vintage.
Rerun Daughter/Grand-daughter 2008 I have a case of Fonseca Quinta do Panascal that we hope to enjoy with her in a few years.

Roy Hersh wrote:Dom A.

Please look here on the Port Forum as we recently had an extensive discussion of the upcoming 2004 harvest and likely "split declaration."

Roy
I think you mean 2014.

Dom,
2004 was an ok year, but not a classic declaration. There are some decent SQVP's that you can get, like Bomfim, Malvedos, Vargellas, and Noval.

Edward J wrote:#1 Daughter 1982, she has no interest in Port, so no problem.
#2,3 Sons 1983, We opened a Dow's on their 21st birthday that I had laid down upon release. I have enough '83's to open on their birthday for quite a while.
#4 Daughter 1986, she likes sweeter whites anyways, but my cellar has more '85's than any other vintage.
Rerun Daughter/Grand-daughter 2008 I have a case of Fonseca Quinta do Panascal that we hope to enjoy with her in a few years.

Did I read that correctly, 3 sons in 1983? That's a lot of 1983 you needed to buy

1986 has some really nice VP's (mostly SQVP's). Hard to find now-a-days, but generally worth getting if you run across them.

Andy Velebil wrote:
Did I read that correctly, 3 sons in 1983? That's a lot of 1983 you needed to buy

1986 has some really nice VP's (mostly SQVP's). Hard to find now-a-days, but generally worth getting if you run across them.

We only had twins in '83, they were children #2 & 3, to clarify. Having two was surprise enough (we found out the day they were born).

I have gone over to the idea of thinking a Colheita is a proper substitution for the lack of a VP for your birth year, as it is doubtful I will find a '57 Khrohn before July however for the kids, I got it covered.