Visiting the UK

[Al B.]

I've read on FTLOP a few times how poorly served our North American cousins are with the availability and price of mature vintage port. Those living in the Canada seem to be especially badly affected.

And, of course, those of us on this side of the pond by contrast live on an island filled with endless college cellars, venerable wine merchants and old country houses with hidden cellars filled to their brims with cheap and ancient port :?

So, for a bit of fun, assume for a moment that you are a North American and you are travelling to the UK for the first time since you discovered vintage port. You know your port-drinking buddies from the forum will be delighted to see you and will pull out all the stops to welcome you with your favourite purple sunshine. If you could choose just one bottle that we should pull out of our cellars to welcome you with, what would you like that bottle to be and why?

(NB: Noval Nacional 1931 is not an acceptable answer!)

Alex

[Roy Hersh]

Come on folks, Al B. is making a very kind and generous offer. Don't be shy, put up your wish list for uncle Al. Then when you can afford to head to London, (who will be the President when that happens? ) you too may be greeted by some of the most gregarious "hollow legged" Port lovers in the world. I strongly recommend doing so, as it is much easier to understand those blokes when you are face to face. :help:

In all seriousness now, this should be a great thread and thanks to the inimitable Mr. B. for his wisdom and thought provoking topics.

As to my response, it is no secret: 1927 Fonseca ... my last remaining Port "holy grail" even though Forum member Shawn Denkler who has had this several times swears that it is a lackluster experience compared to many other '27s. I'd like to judge for myself just once, thank you.

[Andy Velebil]

Can I second that F27

Actually, just about anything really as I'm not too picky and spending time with other Port lovers is more important than what we drink. But since you asked....


1927 Graham's Vintage Port - I have always been a fan of their Ports. Year in and year out they have always produced a solid line up, from their six-grapes to their VP's. As for why the 1927? I've never had a Graham's from pre-WW2 and have always wanted to try it from this vintage...my holy grail (behind the NN31)

[Glenn E.]

For me, it would be any of the legendary Colheitas. They're so far out of my price bracket though that I can't actually name one off the top of my head!

I'd probably go with a Niepoort, and if I recall correctly isn't the 1937 supposed to be one of the best ever?

[Moses Botbol]

For me, it's not a special vintage as it seems like there's only a handful that I really want to try, but bottles that were stored without being moved from release until consumption. I want to try the best possible cellared ports.

[Frederick Blais]

I'm not very demanding One top tier port from 1963 should do the trick for me. I never had any of these. While I've started reading about Port, 1963 was the absolute reference of quality for an old port at the moment. Unfortunately I have to visit Seattle before London

[Roy Hersh]

True that. Your bottle will remain hostage otherwise. :devil:


And Andy: my holy grail (behind the NN31)

Slow down bucko, you have never even had the regular 1931 yet ... have you?

[Andy Velebil]

And Andy: my holy grail (behind the NN31)

Slow down bucko, you have never even had the regular 1931 yet ... have you?

Figure at that point I'll have them both side by side...Its nice to dream

[Derek T.]

I'm not very demanding One top tier port from 1963 should do the trick for me. I never had any of these. While I've started reading about Port, 1963 was the absolute reference of quality for an old port at the moment. Unfortunately I have to visit Seattle before London

Frederick,

I think if Tom, Al B and I pooled resources from our cellars could probably create your dream Off-line between us. I know for certain that my stash of 63s is insignificant compared to Tom and Al-Bs but from memory I think I have Graham's, Fonseca, Croft, Burmester and Borges 63s sitting about 20 yards from where I am right now.

When are you coming over

Derek

As it started into the planning stages, I split the post and the remaineder is in the Offline Planning section. I do hope more people can add to this thread with their favorite "dream" bottle. Andy

[Alan C.]

I know I'm over here (UK) to begin with, but I'll chip in anyway...

I'd love to go to a Tasting where there were loads of 40's and 50's, particularly the Big Guns, Fonseca, Cockburn, Graham, Taylor, etc.
Although I love to selfishly appreciate a bottle or two, on my own, or with a friend, I feel you learn so much more from a group tasting.
I once said somewhere else that I hadn't tasted a 50's Port, only to be reminded by friends I'd had a handful on lots of seperate occasions, in their company. That must be the old Al Johnsons Disease kicking in.
What I think I can say, without fear of contradiction, is I've never been lucky enough to sit down with a room full of 40's and 50's Ports, to indulge and compare.

Even with our slightly cheaper prices, I suspect that may be a very costly occasion as well. Ah well, one can dream....

Alan

[Luc Gauthier]

I figure , If my 1st Colheita started with a 5 and ended with a 7 , my next Colheita should start with a 3 and also end with a 7 . . . Niepoort comes to mind . . .

[Todd Pettinger]

I will dredge up this "older" thread as I missed out on it while I was 'away' for a period of time...

This is the kind of offer that I seriously would not know how to deal with in a fashion that would not make me seem a greedy Canadian... In order for me to answer this properly, I have to add the assumption that I win the lottery and can assist in providing some kind of financial contribution towards said "dream offline" as what I have to offer (from Canada anyway) would likely be considered cheap trash (or would be too young for Derek, Alan C and Uncle Tom to partake in )

So, with the assumption that I could afford to pad your cellars with some new bottles to replace the ones you would bring out for the dubious honour of meeting me in person, here are a couple of random thoughts of things I have always wanted to try:

-Noval from 63 or any Noval with age (side by side of any year NN with it's partner Noval would be educational and fun, but keeping it on the realistic side, any older Noval would be great - I have only been able to try the 2003)
-Taylor or Fonseca or Graham from 1963, 1966, 1970
-Croft 45
-Really, anything from the 40's / 50's / 60's / 70's with great bottle provenance. Like Moses, I'd love to find out just how these things are SUPPOSED to be like with amazing storage provenance and a bundle of age in a proper cellar.

I could not in good conscience ask for anyone to open up in my presence something from 1927 or 31, but if you did I would not say no. Nor would I ever ASK for the aforementioned Nacionals... I just could not bring myself to REQUEST such a thing unless I were paying for it. But aside from NN31, any year will do. Maybe if I won the lottery I could afford such an indulgence, but recent NN offerings are so foolishly priced in my market ($900 Cdn for the NN2000 and NN2003) that it puts it out of reach.

The problem is there are so many VPs I have NOT tried, that anything at all would be a special treat for me. I'm easy!

[Al B.]

Todd,

You really should try and get yourself over to the UK for a visit sometime. Around half of what you are suggesting would make your dream come true, we can - and would be happy to have an excuse for - get our hands on.

So far this year we have drunk between us Noval, Taylor and Fonseca from 1963 and 1966. We have also had the Nacional from 1966 alongside the regular Noval. The only 1970 I've had in the UK this year was from Taylor.

I haven't had a Croft '45 since I took one over to Boston in February, but if you make it over to the UK then we might be persuaded to open another one.

We've also opened ports from 1955, 1967 and 1977.

But if you do make it over to the UK, try and make it over in December and come to the Christmas offline. These tend to be based on "Pot Luck" wines where all identification marks on the bottles have been lost. Last year all the wines were able to be identified from the corks, and they included Sandeman 1970, Taylor 1970, Smith Woodhouse 1950, Taylor 1948, Warre 1927, Fonseca 1920, Taylor 1920 and Cockburn 1912.
Alex

[Luc Gauthier]

Alex , your are truly making my dillema harder .
When I turn 50 : 1. Visit the "Holy Grail"
or
2. Attend a U.K. Christmas offline

[Todd Pettinger]

No brainer Luc, there is likely more special VP in the UK than in Portugal!!! :)

[Luc Gauthier]

True Todd ,
But there's still something to be said about tredding grapes in a legares . . .