burmester port

[dave leach]

after reading about the 85 burmester in the tasting notes section, i got to thinking. why is so little time and space devoted to this port house? at one time, 20 or so years ago, i thought this was a solid, second or third tier house with some good years and bottlings. but i hardly ever see mention of it here. is burmester considered a "stiff" or a non-player? just curious, as i rarely see there product at auction or listed in the online merchants.

dave

[Jason Brandt Lewis]

First of all, for many years Burmester was not imported into the United States. Then, after the release of and the later attention gained by and for the 1985 Vintage Porto (cheifly as a result of its high rating by Decanter magazine in the U.K.), a small number of cases were brought into the U.S.

I know, because I brought them in.

My first shipment was sourced via London, and then I was able to buy one order direct from Burmester itself -- "straight" Ruby and Tawny; some 10- and 20-Year Tawny Ports; LBV; 1992, 1985 and 1970 VP; plus a tiny amount of 1963 and 1937 Colheita.

Much more so than the UK, the US is a vintage-driven market. No one wanted to buy low-end Ruby or Tawny; neither did they want to buy the LBV -- especially from what it regarded by all but the most American Porto drinkers as "Who?!?!? Huh?!?!?"

Again, the 1985 vintage, based on the strength of the Decanter write-up and its remarkable price sold out first . . . again. Burmester would not sell me more of the 1985 without selling me more "straight" Ruby and Tawny, exactly what we didn't need. (But it's had to explain that to people via trans-Atlantic telephone calls.) So -- being a small $2.5-$3 million dollar Porto importer/wholesaler in Northern California, we did what we do best -- sourced it again elsewhere.

One common saying in the wine trade is, "Do you know what it means when a producer says you have an exclusive? It means it's yours until the next guy comes along."

So, someone based about 45 miles away from us and a native of Portugal, called up Burmester and all of a sudden it was theirs exclusively! C'est la vie (or should I perhaps say É a vida?)

I think you have it right: Burmester is a solid third-tier producer with occasional flashes of excellence -- the 1985 Vintage Porto, for one obvious example, and the 1937 Colheita. Their 20-Year Old Tawny Porto is not, IMHO, as good as Ferreira's "Duque de Bragança" for instance (my favorite) or the 20-Year Old from Barros, but it's close to the Barros in quality and if the price is right . . .

But therein lies the rub, in orderfor a third-tier producer to sell well, price is much more of a consideration. And if the price isn't right, it's not going to sell . . .

Just my 2¢, and probably worth far less . . .

Jason

[Richard Henderson]

Some of the 1963 Burmester made it into the Fort Worth Texas market in the late 1980's at King's Liquors. I bought several bottles and drank it all years ago. one bottle of that 63 was drunk on a family sailboat ride in Copano Bay near Rockport Texas. We had stilton and walnuts on board, a 30 mph beam reach winds and a stunning sunset.Have not seen it much since.....Thanks to Jason for the info.

[Shawn Denkler]

Bermester has changed ownership a number of times recently, which has not helped them improve their reputation. It takes a long time to build a brand, and of course it takes a big financial commitment. I have had some great tawny ports from Bermester over the years. But as Jason said, the reputation of a port shipper is usually based on vintage port.

[Ronald Wortel]

Hopefully the most recent takeover by Sogevinus will improve things again for Burmester. They used to make some fair quality, especially in the tawny styles, but also in the traditional LBV's. The recent VP's have been way off though, 2000 and 2003 both being far below par.