At what age did you start drinking Port?

[Kurt Wieneke]

I was about 30 years old in Mesa, AZ, my wife and I were poured a glass of Vintage Port at the end of a wine tasting. We did not like sweet wines, but tried it anyway and that started things off.

[Roy Hersh]

Great stories here ... keep it going, and share your experience!

[Allan Engelsted Laurents]

A great story Allan. Do you remember anything about that Port? 1908 is not one that is seen much, if ever nowadays!

Sorry, I didnt see You question Roy.

You know Roy, that I am a Niepoort guy. So my Best references compares wines from that great Porthouse.
For that specific New Year's, my girlfriend Helle just had one glass, my friend had a small cold, so he just enjoyed watching me drink the entire bottle... And no spitting

Up till that time in my Portlife, I had only had great ports at my friends house, it was after his passing, when I started to collect, and drink old Colheitas in my own home.

One night prior to the New Year's he had two bottles opend, and he asked me if I could taste which one was the older Bottle. He told me I was right, when I pointed out the Niepoort VV to the Vintage from 1955.
Well back to the Ni 1908.

The bottle was absolutely perfect! Unfortunately I was not trained in tasting old Ports in those days. Now after more than 100 bottles or more under my belt, I am more able to taste and to evaluate.
I remember the 1908 being somewhat thicker and rounder than the 35er I had in October 2014. But still kicking and very much alive. Luckily My Friend gave me a bottle from 1908 to remember him by, so that specific bottle will be waiting for Mr. Hersh, if he one Day will come back to the Oldest kingdom in the World.....

[Roy Hersh]

It may be a few years, but I will certainly be back in DK this decade for sure!

[Edward J]

My Great Grandfather kept a bottle of Port under the sink out on the back porch. He was born in France and as a child it took me a couple of years to understand what he was saying. He told stories about his school days here in America and that the French families all sent wine in their lunches. The only problem was the kids fell asleep after lunch so they stopped that. I must have been 6 or 7 when I got my first glass and I fondly remember four generations sitting together enjoying time together. As an apprentice chef I studied under a wine orientated owner who also traveled as the exec for the 49'ers during their glory years. This allowed me to taste some really great Ports, including a few '63's and 66's , though at the time they were still a few years from their peak.

[Andy Velebil]

My Great Grandfather kept a bottle of Port under the sink out on the back porch. He was born in France and as a child it took me a couple of years to understand what he was saying. He told stories about his school days here in America and that the French families all sent wine in their lunches. The only problem was the kids fell asleep after lunch so they stopped that. I must have been 6 or 7 when I got my first glass and I fondly remember four generations sitting together enjoying time together. As an apprentice chef I studied under a wine orientated owner who also traveled as the exec for the 49'ers during their glory years. This allowed me to taste some really great Ports, including a few '63's and 66's , though at the time they were still a few years from their peak.

Cool story and can't go wrong with 63/66's

[Roy Hersh]

Edward,

Early exposure is the best predictor of future Port drinking fanaticism. My daughter fell into the same boat. Lucky for both of you!

[Allan Engelsted Laurents]

My daughter turns 18 next march. And she has been my trustworthy Portdrinker for 3 years....

I bought the most expensive Port in the grocerystore when she was born. Took it to the hospital, to serve a glass for the visitors. Only to discover, that the Port had a real cork.....I didnt know back then, that You could find Ports You just couldnt opend without tools.....

Now I know

[terrance creighton]

Just started about a year ago at 33 after watching an episode of .. ahem... Columbo randomly that dealt with a guy who loved port. That got me intrigued, which led me to trying a few, which has led down the rabbit hole I'm currently in. Thanks columbo!

[Andy Velebil]

Just started about a year ago at 33 after watching an episode of .. ahem... Columbo randomly that dealt with a guy who loved port. That got me intrigued, which led me to trying a few, which has led down the rabbit hole I'm currently in. Thanks columbo!

Whatever works is all that matters. Welcome to the Port Drinkers club hahahaha.


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[Al B.]

My first memorable port experience was on my 21st birthday in 1984 when we shared a bottle of Taylor 1963 at a family dinner. When I said that I enjoyed it, I was given the rest of my birthday present by my grandparents - an unopened case of Taylor 1963. I'm sure I drank port before that dinner, but I have no memory of doing so.

For the next few years I opened a bottle from the case to celebrate my birthday each year, but bought very little and what I did buy tended to be drunk soon after purchase - maybe 2-3 bottles per year. I do recall that around the end of this time John Lewis offered Vesuvio 1989 in single bottle gift boxes as their Christmas port. That was my Christmas port for 3 years or so in the early or mid '90s until their stocks ran out.

The next phase in my port life came in 1993 when my wife and I went on one of the inaugural Douro river cruises. That was my first visit to the Douro and I was stunned by the beauty of this wine producing region, captivated by the history and the stories associated with the producers, and fell in love with Oporto and Vila Nova de Gaia. We only visited one quinta (I forget which) and one port lodge (Grahams) and I recall that at the end of cruise dinner I opened a bottle of Malvedos 1979 to share with my wife and the friends we had made on the vacation. We also took a couple of bottles of port back home with us.

But still during the '90s I only bought the occasional bottle. At the time I was in a job which had me travelling quite widely in Europe and every now and then I had to visit customers in the Lisbon area. Inevitably I would buy a bottle as I came through the airport and that is when I first encountered colheita port. I was browsing the store at Lisbon airport when I came across a bottle of Burmester 1937 colheita for sale. I forget the price, but it was quite reasonable for a 60 year old port, so I bought it. I opened it and drank it soon after the trip and recall enjoying it, but not as much as I was enjoying my dwindling stocks of Taylor 1963.

I was doing quite well in my work in the mid 90's and despite the arrival of children, had enough disposable income to be able to start buying wine to build a cellar for the future - and to start keeping records! The earliest purchase I have in my records was buying a 6 pack of Chateau Margaux 1983 at £50 per bottle in March of 1992 (4 of them are still in my cellar) but I was still mostly buying to drink immediately. My port buying didn't really start until 1994, after our trip to the Douro, and was kick-started by a wealthy investor at Lloyds Insurers having to liquidate some of his investments in order to pay losses his syndicate had accumulated. Suddenly in the wine shop round the corner from my office appeared a large bin full of half bottles of Warre 1983 being sold at £2.50 each. I bought and drank so many of these that I became a regular customer, but didn't keep many. Other purchases in 1994 were:

• Warre 1983 (bought for £16)
• Vesuvio 1990 (£20)
• Vesuvio 1991 (£21)
• Vesuvio 1989 (£25)
• Niepoort 1991 (£16)
• Noval Nacional 1987 (from Jean-Michel Cazes's cellar £65)

The bottle of Vesuvio 1991 bought in July 1994 from Oddbins in Farringdon is the longest owned bottle of port still in my cellar.

My cellar slowly built up over the next few years, being mostly focused on port even in those days. The first vintage I tasted widely on release was 1994 and I bought en-primeur cases of Taylor and Vesuvio. For the next decade, until the mid-noughties, I bought more wine and port than I consumed by 0-4 cases per year. My cellar built up steadily, but not dramatically from opportunistic purchases often made on a whim.

It was in 2006 when a conversation with Tom Archer made me stop and think about my buying strategy - that I didn't have one. With Tom's help I took a look at what I enjoyed drinking (vintage port with an age of 20-50 years and the occasional older or younger bottle) and looked at how my existing stocks would mature over the next 30-40 years. I realised that some big gaps would develop if I didn't change my buying strategy and so I started to focus. I bought port from the '60s, '70s and '80s and now have a cellar that is balanced, needs only 2-3 cases per year of the current vintage and should last me the rest of my life if my tastes don't change!

[A dschus]

My first memorable port experience was on my 21st birthday in 1984 when we shared a bottle of Taylor 1963 at a family dinner. When I said that I enjoyed it, I was given the rest of my birthday present by my grandparents - an unopened case of Taylor 1963. I'm sure I drank port before that dinner, but I have no memory of doing so.

For the next few years I opened a bottle from the case to celebrate my birthday each year, but bought very little and what I did buy tended to be drunk soon after purchase - maybe 2-3 bottles per year. I do recall that around the end of this time John Lewis offered Vesuvio 1989 in single bottle gift boxes as their Christmas port. That was my Christmas port for 3 years or so in the early or mid '90s until their stocks ran out.

The next phase in my port life came in 1993 when my wife and I went on one of the inaugural Douro river cruises. That was my first visit to the Douro and I was stunned by the beauty of this wine producing region, captivated by the history and the stories associated with the producers, and fell in love with Oporto and Vila Nova de Gaia. We only visited one quinta (I forget which) and one port lodge (Grahams) and I recall that at the end of cruise dinner I opened a bottle of Malvedos 1979 to share with my wife and the friends we had made on the vacation. We also took a couple of bottles of port back home with us.

But still during the '90s I only bought the occasional bottle. At the time I was in a job which had me travelling quite widely in Europe and every now and then I had to visit customers in the Lisbon area. Inevitably I would buy a bottle as I came through the airport and that is when I first encountered colheita port. I was browsing the store at Lisbon airport when I came across a bottle of Burmester 1937 colheita for sale. I forget the price, but it was quite reasonable for a 60 year old port, so I bought it. I opened it and drank it soon after the trip and recall enjoying it, but not as much as I was enjoying my dwindling stocks of Taylor 1963.

I was doing quite well in my work in the mid 90's and despite the arrival of children, had enough disposable income to be able to start buying wine to build a cellar for the future - and to start keeping records! The earliest purchase I have in my records was buying a 6 pack of Chateau Margaux 1983 at £50 per bottle in March of 1992 (4 of them are still in my cellar) but I was still mostly buying to drink immediately. My port buying didn't really start until 1994, after our trip to the Douro, and was kick-started by a wealthy investor at Lloyds Insurers having to liquidate some of his investments in order to pay losses his syndicate had accumulated. Suddenly in the wine shop round the corner from my office appeared a large bin full of half bottles of Warre 1983 being sold at £2.50 each. I bought and drank so many of these that I became a regular customer, but didn't keep many. Other purchases in 1994 were:

• Warre 1983 (bought for £16)
• Vesuvio 1990 (£20)
• Vesuvio 1991 (£21)
• Vesuvio 1989 (£25)
• Niepoort 1991 (£16)
• Noval Nacional 1987 (from Jean-Michel Cazes's cellar £65)

The bottle of Vesuvio 1991 bought in July 1994 from Oddbins in Farringdon is the longest owned bottle of port still in my cellar.

My cellar slowly built up over the next few years, being mostly focused on port even in those days. The first vintage I tasted widely on release was 1994 and I bought en-primeur cases of Taylor and Vesuvio. For the next decade, until the mid-noughties, I bought more wine and port than I consumed by 0-4 cases per year. My cellar built up steadily, but not dramatically from opportunistic purchases often made on a whim.

It was in 2006 when a conversation with Tom Archer made me stop and think about my buying strategy - that I didn't have one. With Tom's help I took a look at what I enjoyed drinking (vintage port with an age of 20-50 years and the occasional older or younger bottle) and looked at how my existing stocks would mature over the next 30-40 years. I realised that some big gaps would develop if I didn't change my buying strategy and so I started to focus. I bought port from the '60s, '70s and '80s and now have a cellar that is balanced, needs only 2-3 cases per year of the current vintage and should last me the rest of my life if my tastes don't change!

Fascinating info and recollection, thank you!

As someone who is literally just getting started buying port with the intent to purchase more than I consume (for cellaring), I'm curious about the type of advice you received from Tom. Did he suggest you to focus only on vintages from 60s-80s? Seems that his advice was matching your preferences of what you enjoyed drinking to what you should then be buying. Is that correct? Any other info to share?

[Al B.]

Tom's advice led me to figure out what kind of port I most enjoyed drinking and how old I liked it to be. Once I'd figured that out I was able to build an excel model that had me drawing a certain number of bottles out of my cellar that matched my preferred drinking profile. As each year went by, the bottles left behind aged a year and then I take out another year's drinking.

In this way I was able to build up a picture of what I needed to buy today for drinking over the rest of my life. Surprisingly, the biggest gaps were from the 1980s and given that these are probably the cheapest mature ports that we're likely to see I a long time, I bought heavily - I have several cases of Fonseca 1985, for example, and love the way this port has changed over the last decade.

[jeff t.]

I first was exposed to port at 70.I am in a wine club with 40 members and two invited me to drink port with them.I immediately really enjoyed it and have started to build port inventory.I am now 74,a little late unfortunately,and I have close to 50 vintage ports with about 30 more being held by WineBid and Cellar Raider for cooler weather since I live in Florida.

[Glenn E.]

I first was exposed to port at 70.I am in a wine club with 40 members and two invited me to drink port with them.I immediately really enjoyed it and have started to build port inventory.I am now 74,a little late unfortunately,and I have close to 50 vintage ports with about 30 more being held by WineBid and Cellar Raider for cooler weather since I live in Florida.

It's never too late to start!

Welcome!

[Andy Velebil]

I first was exposed to port at 70.I am in a wine club with 40 members and two invited me to drink port with them.I immediately really enjoyed it and have started to build port inventory.I am now 74,a little late unfortunately,and I have close to 50 vintage ports with about 30 more being held by WineBid and Cellar Raider for cooler weather since I live in Florida.

Yup, never to late to start. Welcome to the forum!

[Andy Goatie]

First start taste a port at 26 in a port club that my boss invited me to. Been hooked since then.

[Stewart T.]

18. As a Freshman in college, I would drink a glass of Port while studying. I knew really nothing about Port, other that I really enjoyed drinking it, and It seemed like an appropriate thing for college English Major. I think the brand was Old Benson (not even Portuguese - gasp!). It wasn't until about 10 years ago when I met this guy named Roy Hersh that I actually start to learn "a little bit" about Port.

[Roy Hersh]

Andy G., do you remember what Port you first tried?

[Andy Goatie]

Sorry Roy, can't even remember a glimpse of it.. Maybe because i drank to much of it..


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