A new article on the basics of Port wine

This section is for those who have basics questions about, or are new to, Port. There are no "dumb" questions here - just those wanting to learn more!

Moderators: Glenn E., Roy Hersh, Andy Velebil

Post Reply
User avatar
Roy Hersh
Site Admin
Posts: 21427
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 1:27 am
Location: Sammamish, WA
Contact:

A new article on the basics of Port wine

Post by Roy Hersh »

Some controversial points, but certainly worthy of reading and discussion, this article does tick off many of the boxes:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/h ... -wine.html


Your thoughts? [shrug.gif]
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com
User avatar
Glenn E.
Posts: 8162
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:49 am
Location: Sammamish, Washington, United States of America - USA
Contact:

Re: A new article on the basics of Port wine

Post by Glenn E. »

Saying "FYI: There is no reason to ever say, “Let's open a second bottle of port.”" right before listing 6 options under "There are 4 main styles of Port" sort of threw me off the rest of the article. ;-)
Glenn Elliott
User avatar
Mike K.
Posts: 360
Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2013 6:49 pm
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Re: A new article on the basics of Port wine

Post by Mike K. »

They kept mentioning it being served chilled. Do any of you folks do that? I would think it would mute the flavors.

At a recent port tasting a lot of the tables had the bottles on ice. I was puzzled.
User avatar
Andy Velebil
Posts: 16613
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 4:49 pm
Location: Los Angeles, California, United States of America - USA
Contact:

Re: A new article on the basics of Port wine

Post by Andy Velebil »

What is "Tino Roriz"? Can he check his work please?

"Port is a sweet wine. You wouldn’t serve it with a steak." He's part of the reason why Port is still an afterthought.

"Port can give you a colossal hangover the next morning! FYI: There is no reason to ever say, “Let's open a second bottle of port.” This guy writing this is an idiot. Perhaps the cocktails, then two bottles of wine before that one last glass of Port gave you a hangover. And with this crew, it's more like do we open another Mag or double mag? :lol:

"It ‘throws sediment,” meaning there’s dirt in the bottom of the bottle." I can't tell if he's kidding or really just an idiot at this point.

I just figured why the author of this article is an idiot....Bryce Sanders is president of Perceptive Business Solutions and has provided training for the financial services industry on high net worth client acquisition since 2001. Sanders spent 20 years with a leading financial services firm as a successful financial advisor, district sales manager, and home office manager. He is the author of "Captivating the Wealthy Investor," available on Amazon. In other words, he has no significant wine experience and he obviously knows nothing about Port other than a few things he's read on the internet, which he still managed to get wrong.
Andy Velebil Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used. William Shakespeare http://www.fortheloveofport.com
User avatar
Roy Hersh
Site Admin
Posts: 21427
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 1:27 am
Location: Sammamish, WA
Contact:

Re: A new article on the basics of Port wine

Post by Roy Hersh »

Yes, there were several things that bugged me too. The biggest one was the "dirt" comment for sediment. Aggravating and a real turn off when people read this who are being introduced to Port, possibly for the first time. Not only factually inaccurate, but offensive to use the word dirt, there. No reason for a 2nd bottle? Never with a steak? Yep, you guys caught the things that made me think what the heck.

The "Tino" typo should not be there, but maybe he's like me and has no real editor beyond himself. So I can easily overlook that one. It is the ONE thing I wish I had access to for newsletters and articles. Even triple takes prior to release do not catch all of my own mistakes. Yet, when editing other people's articles I am very precise. [shrug.gif]

Also agree with you Andy about the hangover comment. You'd think this guy is trying to promote Port and not turn people off before they even try it. I didn't want to slam the article before others had a chance to read it, but this is the type of shoddy journalism, that has given wine writer's, bloggers, journalists in general ... a bad name. Do your homework, edit your work as much as possible and if your mission is to promote something, be positive. If you are critiquing, well, that is totally a different perspective.

Now to answer Mike K's question about chilling Port. I like to serve my bottle-aged Ports at room temp or at most, a couple of degrees cooler ... say 65-68 degrees is optimal. But for wood-aged Ports, like Tawny / Colheita ... there is nothing wrong with chilling down these types of Ports. I have no issue with letting them start out that way and warming up in the glass. I typically prefer to bring them out of the cellar (55 degrees) and allow them to be served at that temp and then continue to reach room temperature. The room where I evaluate Ports is in a cool downstairs area, where temps are 10-15 degrees (F.) lower than my main floor at all times of the year.

I am sure others have varying opinions and that is a good question. [cheers.gif]
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com
Post Reply