ROY'S TRAVEL BLOG - WHILE IN PORTUGAL

[Roy Hersh]

I am setting this up now, so I have a place to put all of the info on various aspects of the trip, along the way. This will also serve to allow my wife to check up on my activities whilst overseas and save me from being bogged down by emails which I will be trying to avoid.

I leave tomorow morning and arrive on Friday a.m. so this will start to be filled in along the way and you can feel free to comment as often as you'd like. Just wanted to do this to save time while over there.

Behave yourselves.

[Roy Hersh]

The computer where I am staying is pathetic on a dial up and it is a dinosaur.

Anyway, I typed for 1.5 hours yesterday and my missive was lost when I hit enter. On a brighter note, how are you all doing? The weather has been great here. Landed to find my baggage all waiting for me, NICE! Did a Seattle-Philly-Madrid-Porto flight. Ouch, but no customs on this end ... just minor hassle of exta paperwork due to the Flu Virus the EU is freaking out over. I did manage to drink some 2003 Graham's LBV on the last flight.

First day we visited AVEPOD and had a few nice Ports but mostly just to say hello to Maria Teresa. We each had a glass of 30 year old S. Leonardo and the 30 year old Casa Sta. Eufemia which is also quite good but the S. Leonardo is fantastic.

Porto was all in full party mode due to a fantastic sound stage set up literally on the Douro, right next to the Pestana hotel. A day of dance and music and incredible crowds. We went into the Pestana and listened to the tunes while sipping on Duque de Braganca 20 year old, Niepoort 20 year old, and then the Ferreira Quinta do Porto 10 year old Tawny. The 20 year olds at 6.85 Euros per glass and double pours at that. The 10 y.o. was at 5.10 Euros, while we did not have the more expensive 7.0 Euro per glass of Graham's Six Grapes.

David and I had dinner at a brand new and fine restaurant here in town. We enjoyed a fantastic white ... 2nd only to the 2005 Niepoort Redoma Branco Reserva. It was a 2007 Esperao Branco Reserva. Stunningly good, although it is from the Alentejo region, nevertheless, a really great wine.

Next was Vinologia:

[Roy Hersh]

Ooops, I left out our grand lunch at Cafe Majestic, because I wanted to introduce David S. to not only one of the coolest local places in Porto, but also his very first Francesinha dish. Over the top great meal. See the Food-Offline Forum below for more details on Francesinha if you don't know what I am refererring to here. This one had been placed over steak which was tender and delish, making it still my best "go-to place" to experience this great invention.

Gustavo met up with us and spoiled us for three hours while we joked with many a Frenchmen-woman in Vinologia. Too many Ports to mention but if I had to say which was the very best we tried it was undoubtedly the 2006 Quinta do Portal which really is fantastic and every bit as good as the 2006 Vesuvio. I'd love to have them side-by-side someday.

Saturday:
Eric Ifune arrived today and we brought him over to the Pestana to relax and enjoy great pours of Noval 40 year old Tawny at 13 euros, Sandeman 20 year old at 6.85 Euros and Romariz 10 year old Tawny at 5.1 Euros. Since we generously tipped the bartender yesterday, he poured 4-5 oz. for each of our glasses today. So after about 13+ ounces of tawny, is was time to go eat.

We stopped in to see Maria Teresa again, to get another great restaurant reco of which she is one of the most knowledgeable people in the city. I strongly would suggest anybody visiting to check this place out. ARTEMISIA which coincidentally is a couple of blocks walk from the Solar do Vinho do Porto which came in very handy. Fabulous food -- as good as DOC and far less pretentious, imo. Better service too! Not cheap but worth the big bucks. We had a fabulous 2005 Morgadio da Torre, Alvarinho which was one of the finest VVs I have ever tasted and although a bit apprehensive buying a VV with four years of age on it, it was a great coup for 17 euros. Almost bought a 2nd bottle but went red instead. 2002 Callabriga by Ferreirinha. Also very sold even though a miserable vintage, but they nailed this one.

Today we are doing some crazy amount of Port at Graham's and then Vinologia after some roast Suckling pig. Speaking of which, we nearly ran into James Suckling who is over here to do the 2007s too.

Gotta run. Take care!

[Andy Velebil]

Sounds like fun already and the trip hasn't even started yet. Have fun tonight at Vinologia, I know you will

[Eric Menchen]

I warned you about Suckling :hello:
http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... f=1&t=6935

Sounds like you are off to great start. I'll have to make it over with you some time.

[Roy Hersh]

Sunday, still pre-beginning of the tour, we went to Graham's and had a fun little tasting. We started with Grahams 10, 20, 30, 40 year old Tawny Ports (Glenn you'd have been enjoying yourself) and then went on to taste the Dow's 30 and 40 year olds. Six beauties. Then a mini horizontal of 1998 Symington VPs was fun and a 1989 Cavadinha VP which everyone loved. It was time for some bigger guns, one from each of three decades: 1985 Dow which you all know well, the 1994 Vesuvio which is always a welcome treat and showed impeccably; and then a 2000 Graham's VP, followed by a 20 year old Otima. A nice casual Sunday afternoon. The rest of our guests had all arrived this a.m. so it was nice to have the entire group together, minus Mario who will be joining us in time for the official beginning of the Tour tomorrow a.m.

Then it was time for the little Roast Suckling Pig in honor of James' visit to Porto. This was the first of many fine meals together and the chef nailed the pig, cooking it perfectly.

Off to Vinologia for a night of sheer decadence. Our group with Gustavo taking charge -- was in awe of the lineup and it was fun to be there with little distraction after they closed at 9 p.m.

Monday:
Today was a visit to The Fladgate Partnership where I had set up another Tawny lineup. Croft, Taylor and Fonseca side-by-side with 10-20-30-40s for us to taste. Nice! We then had a warmup before the cask samples with 2005 Quinta de Vargellas VP. The word "wow" was abused as a descriptor by some in the group who had not had such youngsters before. This '05 was so well balanced and tasted really good right now.

Than it was on to their lineup of 2007 cask samples. Tough not to enjoy these. Everyone did, although not quite in the same realm as 2000 and 2003, but snapshots mean very little at this point. It was still a fun learning experience for the group and just the beginning of our tasting the 2007s. The Croft was not on a par with the Fonseca and Taylor but I think these had only been opened a couple of hours in advance.

After lunch at The Baron Fladgate restaurant where we were joined by the ever-charming Natasha Bridge, we headed over to Weise & Krohn to what David Spriggs called, "the greatest single stop during our week of the Fortification Tour." Considering what was to come ... that was quite a mouthful.

We had their lineup of Tawnies and then a stunning Colheita tasting of some mighy fun old and young ones. Then the owner took us to a rarely visited part of his own private Idaho. We were then given generous pours directly from barrel, of a 1896 White Colheita (my previous oldest White Colheita was 1917) and I must say that this makes the 1952 Dalva seem like Churchill's White Port. If that did not win the hearts and minds of our group we then were given the equivalent version of red grape 1896 old field blend Colheita from another barrel sample. Holy "#$%&/()* Absolutely amazing!

Not done yet, we then had what was likely to be the greatest Colheita any of us had ever tasted and I've had a few before from the same vintage, all of which were good to great; but none of the other 1863's were this mind blowing or directly from barrel where the freshness and wood-aging was simply perfect, as was the 100 point score it deserved. Only the 4th one I have ever annointed on any wine, (one Port and one Madeira in the past and a 1978 HOG).

I forgot to mention that earlier in the afternoon session we had a 2007 SQVP from this house which actually blew away their main 2007 cask sample, although I do like both.

At the end of today our first official day of the 2009 Fortification Tour (including a small handful of Douro wines) our tally of total wines so far is 74. We are on par to set a new record at this pace.

[Glenn E.]

Wow, I'm so jealous!

Sounds like a truely fabulous day... I wish I could have been there with you.

[Roy Hersh]

Today we headed up to the Douro and spent lunch at the Douro In after a fun visit to the new Port Museum in Regua. A great exhibition on JJ Forrester and I got to meet David Eley while there. But the lunch was one of the best ever meals, certainly the finest lunch here ... as the Douro In has a new and very talented chef.

Then it was off to Quinta da Pacheca for a fine tasting of Ports as we had a huge lineup of their steadily improving Douro wines with lunch. Fortunately the DOC wines have continued an upswing in quality, quite dramatically from just 3 years ago. Some were fantastic and I had my first Sauvignon Blanc from the Douro and this rivals anything I've ever tasted out of CA or WA. The reds were also markedly improved. Now to figure out how to get a case or two of that Sauvignon Blanc into the USA.

Tasting all VPs up through the 2007 was a lot of fun, but the 2008 was a truly unique VP experience. Everyone really liked this particular Port.

We then headed to Quinta do Portal and their armazem which we saw in Oct. is now stocked with wine and it is two floors, both the equivalent size of NFL football fields. Wow, I did not think anything would make Quinta da Napoles look small. Absolutely beyond belief to see in person, with Port pipes, Toneis and Balseiros. Then came tastings and dinner and Ports galore and Moscatel and then more Ports. We just finished at 2 a.m. and a handful of us hung to the end. We're only at 98 wines after 2 days of the official tour. But tomorrow is the really wild day!

Time for some well-deserved sleep.

[Roy Hersh]

We ventured up to the Douro to experience growing season 2009 and also to visit some new properties and old friends too.

In March, temperatures reached into the low 30 degree range, with lots of rain and cold weather throughout the month of April. It is now in the 30 degree range in both the Baixo and Cima Corgo area and in the Douro Superior we experienced 32-33 degrees C. It will certainly be a smaller yielding vintage and flowering is quite late and should be somewhere in the range of May 20th (+/- 5 days) in the majority of areas in the Douro.

We spent some time in the brand new Museum of the Douro and the group stayed with Mario as I had two appointments set up, one to meet the Director of the Museum to discuss a possible project and then to meet David Eley from A Good Nose.

Afterwards, we went to the Douro In for a fabulous lunch and most of our guests wanted a nap after that fantastic meal which included many wines from the ever improving hands of Maria Serpa Pimentel of Quinta da Pacheca fame. Every year her Douro wines get better and better, after a somewhat shaky start.

We headed to visit Pacheca which was close by. Lots of renovations going on as they're in the final stages of having their hotel built and it was nice to see how much progress has taken place since our last visit. We had a wonderful tasting of many Ports including both the 2007 VP cask sample and the 2008 as well. It is way too early to be drinking the 2008, that is for sure ... wow!

Next on our list was a visit to Quinta do Portal and although we saw their new and enormous Armazem last Oct., it was now filled with wine. Each of the two main floors is the size of a soccer field, seriously, and filled with casks, balseiros, toneis and unbelievable amounts of finished bottles. Impressive to say the least and the only place larger than the gigantic Q d Napoles, considering this is only one of the Portal buildings and is only for wine storage. We also went through their ultra modern wine/Port making facility next door which is all gravity fed and interesting to see.

Dinner was filled with fine wines paired with each of their dishes, they have a new and fabulous chef who is incredibly just 19 years old. By far the best meal we've had in the Douro EVER. This kid can cook! We had many other wines from a really terrific 5 Euro white wine called (2008) Relato to a Late Harvest blend of Moscatel and Viosinho which was stunning. The best DOC wine of this trip was a 2000 Quinta do Portal Grande Reserva Tinto which was sexy, smoky and texturally perfect, with a remarkably long and delicious aftertaste. Then it was onto sweet Moscatel and then finally onto a slew of Port wine. This was a tremendously fun visit and a great way to end our first day in the Douro.

On Wednesday a.m. we had the great opportunity to meet the famous Oscar Quevedo of fame. He is a regular poster and also won 5th prize in the 2008 For The Love Of Port PORTraits photo contest. I will do a much more extensive view into this visit including a segment on his own Blog, but let's just say that it was like coming home to visit family, yet it was our first time ever meeting one another. We got to see the entire property and walked the vineyards for a bit, getting a better feel for the fabulous Quinta Senhora do Rosario that is the actual name of Quevedo's quinta. We learned the history and about the viticulture and I was thrilled to meet Oscar (only 25!!!) and his lovely winemaker, who just happens to be his sister, Claudia who has been a key part of recent questions in the newsletter aimed at the Port trade. We also met their parents who own the entire operation. It is a true family affair.

The tasting was complete and we had a chance to experience many LBVs and Vintage Ports before heading to lunch. Delicious Cabrito and more, accompanied by very good Douro wines and then it was back to trying some cask samples and finally some young and old Colheitas from their property and last but not least Tawny with an indication of age. Even though we had spent five hours with the Quevedo family, it was hard saying goodbye with our new friends and I promised Oscar that we would be back to visit him in the Douro Superior ... they're quite close to Vargellas actually.

To wrap up our time in the Douro we went to Quinta do Panascal for a redux of our recent visit a year or so ago, but this time ... no headphones! We did have a great comparative tasting of 1977 Taylor vs. Fonseca, 1987 Vargellas vs. Panascal SQVPs and finally, the 1997 Taylor vs. Fonseca. We all agreed, that recent reports that 1997 T & F were maturing early ... were way off the mark as these are young and lively Vintage Ports with MANY years ahead of them. The Vargellas is still killer, but the Panascal was (not) surprisingly very very good too. The 1977 Fonseca was a lighter to medium version of what many of us have experienced lately, albeit these were only opened an hour before our arrival. I still found this on the upswing when we finally had to depart, but it was opening up very nicely. Like the majority of the group, I preferred the 1977 Taylor to the Fonseca and this was a really glorious and extremely youthful bottle of this benchmark VP.

Well that almost brings you up to date. We arrived in Madeira yesterday and had one great visit and then a Fado-infused dining experience which everyone loved, before a much needed long walk back to the hotel. More on that visit in my next segment.

[Roy Hersh]

Let me first say that the group dynamic on this tour has been absolutely wonderful. That does not always happen and although it has on the vast majority of our trips, I can remember one where it just never really materialized. It is like a bunch of friends going to drink and dine together and we all are enjoying each other's company! I have learned how important that can be to make for a truly great experience (or vice versa) ... so it should be noted this was one of the finest in that regard, of any Fortification Tour!

As we had arrived earlier in the day, the entire group had the whole afternoon to do as they saw fit. Some went Madeira shopping, others went to relax poolside and at least one couple headed to the spa for some pampering.

Thanks to the recommendation by FTLOP'er extraordinaire and friend, Heather Hathwell, we visited the brothers at Barros e Sousa (some know this company as ABSL) in Funchal. It was one of my favorite visits of the trip so far. It is an old and anachronistic, quaint lodge right smack in the middle of town. Charming and at the same time seemingly stuck in the early 20th century. I loved it there. We had some fabulous barrel samples and as would be expected some much older examples of the ABSL bottlings, including one sourced from juice from Faja dos Padres. Simply a fantastic visit with enough great wines that we were really hungry for dinner.

Dinner included a marvelous meal of Churrascaria in that old fashioned Brazilian "rodizio style", this on the grill rather than heated directly in the old wood pit. Although the food was the highlight and wines very good too, with a 2005 Pinalta as our fine red for the night and the outstanding 2007 Esperao Reserva, yet again ... there was a stellar live Fado band playing in the back ground which we absolutely loved. Quite dramatic with various singers on stage and a couple who owned or managed the restaurant got up on stage to participate in a song or two as well.

The next day we headed off to Justino's and hung out with Juan Texeira their fabulous winemaker. We had old and young but many serious Madeiras going way back in time to the oldest wine on the property. Twenty samples in all and a great way to start the day ... three hours of drinking amazing Madeiras and without being rushed at all. Our guests were blown away and this was one of the greatest tastings we've done on the island ... and very much appreciated. One of the fun things to do, was to dispel the myth that the Justino's 10 year old Malvasia is the same as the Broadbent 10 year old Malmsey, which they produce. Both samples were from unopened bottles, I can now say for certain, that these are not the same wines. Color, nose and flavor profile are definitely different. Juan joined us for lunch at a superb seafood restaurant where we had 8 different types of seafood during the meal, including one half of a monster sized lobster. Whew ... all this in just less than 1/2 a day. A nap would have been good but we had one more appointment this afternoon, a memorable visit too. But thanks to Juan and his generosity!


Now it was time to head on to the Madeira Wine Company. Here we had a great tour by the great winemaker Francisco Albuquerque. As you probably know from reading the recent newsletter, he won "FORTIFIED WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR" for the 3rd consecutive year at the International Wine Challenge in London. Impressive to say the least. We toured the armazem, adega and then over to the Old Blandy's Lodge. This was a phenomenal historical visit for our guests. We had two tastings, one was younger and progressively sweeter wines through Colheitas and 15 year olds. Then down at the Lodge in lower Funchal we did a tasting of some very fine Vintage Madeiras, including barrel sampling too, culminating with a fine sample from 1920. What a day this had been!

Dinner was a more formal event at a special seaside Club and we walked back to our hotel. I stayed up with one of our guests and went to a nearby Irish Pub for late night cigars and beer until 3 a.m. as the following day we did not have to wake up until 10:30 before departing. Although I enjoyed the scenery, I probably could have used the extra few hours of sleep. Note to self! :type:

Saturday was much more relaxed as we visited some scenic vineyards in Camara de Lobos. We traveled through the South Coast and checked out other fun sites like the 2nd highest sea cliff in the world at 580 meters. Very cool indeed. Afterwards we then headed to the rugged North Coast and made our way to visit the Fernandes Brothers. We are still the only Americans to ever visit them, which is kind of remarkable. The cask samples and barrel tasting that ensued was surreal and then we had a bunch of bottles to make our way through, along with one of the greatest single Serra de Estrela cheeses I've ever tasted. "Perfection" only begins to describe this beauty which rivaled and made better our Madeira tasting.

Off to lunch of fresh grilled tuna and black Espada (my favorite of all Portuguese fish) in a unique preparation with Batada fritas of course. One last bottle of Madeira and then it was off to explore more of the North Coast. We went to see not only Seixal and San Vincente but the gorgeous Porto Moniz, an area that will boggle the mind. I think I took over 100 photos in a couple of hours spent there, hiking and working up an appetite.

Last year we never got to take Heather up on her fine suggestion for a restaurant for dinner and I promised that I would not miss it this time. We fixed that "mistake" this year and had a truly memorable, albeit somewhat casual dinner and my sincere thanks to Ms. Hathwell for her great taste in restaurants. This will become a staple on some of our next few trips!

Today is my day of leisure while still at the resort, all guests have departed and I am just catching up on mail, my sleep, and this blog. I am off later, heading back to Porto for some adventures this week including tasting dozens of 2007 VPs which are awaiting me.

For those who are serious about Madeira, this is always a great way to see the island, but in 2010 we are doing a BEST of MADEIRA. I've already received a few reservations by just mentioning this and hope you will come along and join us for what will be the greatest trip we've ever done.


More to come ....

[Roy Hersh]

Last night I arrived back in Porto after the rest of the group departed for home. Eric Ifune from the Forum, headed to Porto too, where he had a layover overnight. We met up for dinner and went to a really fun place with live music and it is the 2nd best place that I know of for having Francesinha "Especial" and it was really very good. We split one as an appetizer, typically enough for 1 person as a meal.

I am sure that many will now jump on the Francesinha bandwagon when they head to Portugal, as they really need to start discovering just how good this local dish is, when ordered in the right restaurant. Still none has surpassed that of Cafe Majestik but that restaurant is not open on Sunday. I brought along a bottle of Madeira to share with Eric and a few young Russian wine lovers who seemed to really enjoy this bottle ... no surprise. I left about 1/4 of the bottle for our server and wound up not paying corkage which was appreciated.

Today was my first day of tasting the 2007 Vintage Ports from samples I had requested of the trade. There are about 50 to do over the course of this week and I will be trying them many times each, 100% double blind and set up for me, so I am literally clueless which I will be tasting. I even refused to see the list of who did and who did not ship bottles, as I'd rather not know until afterwards. Until proven wrong, I believe I am the only major Port journalist who tastes these 100% blind for their report, no less a minimum of 4x over 2-3 days.

Anyway, I will admit that spending over 10 hours today drinking 16 VPs several times really tore up my mouth due to the tannins, especially after a week of Ports and high acid Madeiras. Ouch! I am not complaining, but for those that think "oh what fun that must be" ... it is purely hard work and I do not view this as the fun part of the trip, albeit very educational. The fun was during the Fortification Tour!

Tomorrow I review the same bottles a couple more times and Wed. start another 16, although I may reserve a few bottles to have on the third day too. Other cool events to report on, but will wait until after the fact.

Surprised there's been nary a comment.

[Glenn E.]

I'm just living vicariously through your blog and wishing I was there with you. :)

[Chris G]

Roy

Thanks for posting the tour updates, having gone on the Fortification Tour last year the posts bring back many wonderful memories.

I am pleased you got to try Heather's recommendation and it turned out to be excellent. I still have a bottle of the excellent Madiera from the Fernandes brothers, it really is a legendary visit.

Please keep us updated on the 2007 tastings, pleased to hear it is blind! We have a small blind tasting in London next week so can make a fool of myself then! Very much looking forward to seeing your review of the 2007's which will justify the subscription cost to FTLOP in one go.

[Roy Hersh]

I am just back to my hotel after a brutal day in Gaia. Mind you, I am not complaining or seeking sympathy, this is just the plain truth! :help:

I started day two, round 3 of the first 16 of the nearly 50 VPs I will try this week at just 9:00 this a.m. I made it through all 16 (blind as a bat) in my own private Idaho. Nice and quiet, windows open with very cool breeze and bright sun to emit very clear light for evaluating coloration. It took just over 3 hours to make this pass over the Ports. The first two took over four hours each, having broken the 16 into four groups of four has made it easier for me at about 15 minutes per bottle. Sounds long, but I am typing this directly into my computer and have 12 specific areas to evaluate on each Port.

Once done with round 3, I met up with a friend, Dan Carbon who works at SFE as their Marketing Manager and went over for a complete component tasting of all Symington 2007s. This was fantastic because all of these wines are already in my blind lineup and now I was getting to try each component ... like I needed to taste an addtional 20 something Vintage Ports on top of the 16 before having a bite to eat today. Anyway, listening to father and son, Peter and Charles Symington give me a private tutorial on each component was very cool and this will be Peter's last harvest (2009) before retiring after many decades (45 harvests) as the chief winemaker and blender for all Symington properties while preparing his son to take over the reigns.

I had not seen Charles in nearly a decade when he was making his first ever visit to Seattle, although I actually did see him at lunch in October 2005, during the very first Harvest Tour, but that was very brief.

Anyway, close to 25 VPs later, we sat down for lunch and then Dominic and Rupert Symington surprised me and joined in what turned out to be a swell afternoon. Dan, who was the first Port Personality in Focus, two months ago was also with us, as was the Malvedos winemaker (who some of you met two years ago on one of my tours) Henry Shotton. We had a fun lunch and I lobbed some controversial questions about the law of thirds and beneficio rights and whether or not these are still worth having these days.

It made for a very fun discussion by all. By the time this was all wrapped up and a few other Ports tasted including the mystery Port, a gorgeous fresh Warre's 1966, I checked out Dan's office which was loaded with Port and Madeira bottles from their new ventures.

At lunch I also got to try the very first commercial launch of the 2007 Vesuvio DOC wine as well as the Vesuvio Pombal. What a great treat and I felt honored to be one of the early people to get to try it. I also was shown some of the new projects which are coming down the pike, including a fun one by Dow and a few others I was asked not to mention. One that I can talk about is the coolest Vesuvio box I have ever seen. It holds a dozen bottles in various drawers and is much bigger than the footlockers we all own. This is a monster sized box with bottles and lots of those cool bin markers and lots more. I took pics and when I get a chance I'll post them.

Well amazingly, I got back to my tasting room a few blocks away, in Gaia, and by the time I had my computer set up and the room reorganized for round four of the first 16 bottles, it was 7 p.m. I decided that I was going to make this my last tasting of these 16 and around 11:30 tore off all the silver foil to find exactly what I had been tasting the past couple of days. Some very nice surprises indeed. When I find more energy, I'll list what these 16 were.

I am very concerned about my palate. Today with 2x 16 VPs, plus another 2 dozen cask sample component parts ... I tasted well over 50 of the 2007 VPs today. I don't know if any of you have ever tried a dozen in a day, but that is brutal on the mouth due to both acidity and monster tannins. Talk about teeth staining, cheek and tongue tanning ... you really have to stay so focused and spit every drop to be able to survive a day like this. Fortunately, it came after the Fortification Tour, so I was in prime condition for the assault of the alcohol which you ingest even when spitting no matter what anybody says. I was still quite sober, but I could sure use a new mouth about now. I had to brush my teeth 3 times after my morning and evening sessions. Dinner was enjoyed at nearly midnight, at my favorite late night joint in Porto.

Tomorrow I begin with a new 16 bottles and have two events also planned, so it should be a great day into evening. Gnite all.

[Andy Velebil]

Sounds fun I want to echo what Roy said, and for those who have tried cask samples before, it is no easy task and it completely tears up your palate by the end. And since you're not drinking them, it really is work....lots of work. Glad you took your computer along to type them into, that makes it far easier. I;ve thought about getting a small lap top just to take to tasting to do this, just so I don't have to retype them later. One day maybe.

I love the sound of that Vesuvio foot locker...please do post pics soon. Do you know how to get a hold of one? or will the 2007's be released a 12 packs in them?

I look forward to seeing the bottles you tasted and some preliminary impressions...I know the full monte will come later in what will sure to be a massive report.

Have fun tomorrow

[Eric Ifune]

Roy,
I can't believe you left out mention of the street celebration on Sunday night after FC Oporto won their match!
Hope you're surviving your 07 Vintage marathon.

[Glenn E.]

Glad you took your computer along to type them into, that makes it far easier. I;ve thought about getting a small lap top just to take to tasting to do this, just so I don't have to retype them later. One day maybe.

Sounds like just the perfect job for a "nettop" or "netbook" - those new little 7" to 10" computers powered by the Intel Atom (or similar low-end processor). They run full versions of all your favorite software, but the screens are pretty small (usually just 1024 x 600) and the keyboards are cramped. Roy wouldn't want to try to write an entire newsletter on one, but for taking tasting notes they'd be fine. And their tiny size makes them easily portable.

[Andy Velebil]

As long as they are Apple compatible, as I love my Mac and dread PC's now.

[Glenn E.]

Sadly, Apple doesn't make one. Yet. There are rumors, though...

[Andy Velebil]

Sadly, Apple doesn't make one. Yet. There are rumors, though...

I know, I'll have to wait. Maybe we can get the Symingtons to come out with one. Pre-loaded with a list of every Port they've ever made, full tasting notes on all their Ports, tons of pics of all their quintas and Lodges, and technical details about each vintage and VP to boot...that would be cool Ok, I can dream can't I