Lots of new faces ... please introduce yourself

[aldukes]

Roy-

Its been a pleasure emailing with you over the last two days- thanks again for the copy of your newsletter. This board is a wealth of knowledge that I'm looking to take advantage of. The offline planner and marketplace seem like great sections.

I recently took the intro exam for The Court of Master Sommeliers, and will try for the Certified exam in '09. Due to apt. size I have a small collection of mostly CA pinots and cabs- but I'm looking to collect a few bottles of vintage port to sit down for some years to come.

--matt

[Andy Velebil]

Matt,

Welcome to its great to have you join us. Congrats on your exam and good luck on the upcoming one in '09. Have no fear, this group will have you buying lots of Port in no time flat Again, welcome and I look forward to your continuing involvment with us.

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Matt,

I hope you enjoyed the read. Good to see you here too! I could not believe the number of responses I received over there to have a copy of the newsletter.

BTW, I come to NY quite often as I am a native NYer and my parents still live there. I host Port and especially Madeira tastings there from time to time as well. I meet up with a group of wine guys, a few of whom are here on for offlines when I am in town. I look forward to meeting you when I next come to the big apple!

Please feel free to ask questions by starting your own threads (yeah, I know you are adept at the wine forum stuff ) and look forward to sharing our knowledge with you.

(P.S. I'm originally from Bayside)

Best regards,

Roy

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Hello!
Sorry for not seeing you here earlier . But I just seen this section.
My name is Carlos and I live in Valencia (Spain). I start to drink Port, while I was living in Lodon in early 90's. Since then I love it. I did work in wine business some years ago. But now is the time, just to enjoy it. I'm a wine lover and Port wine is always been my weakness.

[Andy Velebil]

Carlos,

Thanks for the introduction and glad to have you as a regular poster already. I look forward to continuing to read your posts and your involvement at

[Brian C.]

Hello,

I am Brian, from Chicago. My wife and I discovered port about two years ago when my in-laws went to Portugal and brought us back a little gift box of Graham's. The next year we went on a Globus tour of Portugal and it included a visit to the Ramos Pinto lodge. It's too bad they had a limit on what we can bring back on the plane.

Anyway, since then, I have tried to learn what I can about port. There is a lot for me to learn, and I'm still pretty new to port, as I have seen just from reading a sampling of the posts on this forum. The first vintage bottle I bought and decanted (using the Hersh method I found online, of course) was a 1992 Martinez Quinta da Eira Velha (something I have yet to find a review of anywhere online [did I miss it here?]), for $30. I try to get stuff on sale, anyway. I'm not one to get through a bottle of a VP in time before it starts to go, so I don't like to spend too much especially if I can't finish it in time. As a result, I usually settle for LBV's. The best one I found was a '94 Rozes, for only $14. With my half of our Costco rebate, I recently got a 2005 Taylor Fladgate Vargellas that I'll try to keep for awhile. That's a start, anyway, though I have no idea how that one is going to hold up. I have tried some other VPs, most notably a '55 Dow and an '83 Cockburn.

I look forward to discussing all things port and I look forward to learning from everyone. Thanks in advance.

Brian

[Roy Hersh]

Carlos,

I have been following and enjoying your posts but finally get to officially welcome you to our Forum. It is a pleasure to read your very interesting posts so far and I hope that we can meet up on one of my trips to Portugal. I have friends over in Spain and keep promising that I will get over there to visit. I enjoy Rioja including older white ones, but my true love in Spanish wine is the Priorat region. But back to Port ... thank you for joining us and I really hope you will continue to learn along with us and also sharing your great knowledge.

[Roy Hersh]

Brian,

You've come to the right place. We have a lot of fun around here and are very welcoming to our new friends. Good to hear that you and your wife both have already been to Portugal.

I don't get to Chitown as often as I'd like but hope to do so again in 2009. Thanks for your really nice intro post and we will look forward to your posts and answering any questions you may have. It seems you are already well on your way to having a nice collection of Ports. Let us know if there is anything we can help with and I am sure that many folks here will be happy to provide their opinions!

One of these days our paths are likely to cross and we shall enjoy some great Port together!



Roy

[Eric Menchen]

It's too bad they had a limit on what we can bring back on the plane.

What limit is that? My wife and I brought back a ridiculous amount of port. Yes, there is a customs limit on what you can bring back to the U.S. duty-free, but I was prepared to pay duty and declared all that we had. The customs agent looked at my declaration and I guess didn't want to be bothered with the paperwork. Now the difficulty is that as I understand it, there is no official customs limit--it is left to the customs agent to judge if you are importing a commercial quantity for resale.
-Eric

[Andy Velebil]

Brian,

Welcome to I'm glad you found us and you are definitely in the right spot. Have no worries about just starting out, this group will have you well on your way to a nice cellar in no time flat. Although your pocket book may not like it Haven't had the '92 you mentioned, but the '05 Vargellas is a very nice Port. Again welcome and I look forward to your future involvement here.

[Glenn E.]

It's too bad they had a limit on what we can bring back on the plane.

What limit is that? My wife and I brought back a ridiculous amount of port. Yes, there is a customs limit on what you can bring back to the U.S. duty-free, but I was prepared to pay duty and declared all that we had. The customs agent looked at my declaration and I guess didn't want to be bothered with the paperwork. Now the difficulty is that as I understand it, there is no official customs limit--it is left to the customs agent to judge if you are importing a commercial quantity for resale.

Correct. There's a duty free limit, which is probably what Brian was talking about, but there's no hard limit on personal use importing that I know of.

From what I've seen, if you go over the duty free limit it totally depends on the mood of the customs agent as to whether or not you'll have to pay duty. Most of the time they don't want to do the paperwork, so even if you're bringing back 3-4 (or sometimes even more) bottles you'll probably still get through free. I've never brought back more than 4 bottles at a time, but I've heard many stories of people bringing through cases without having to pay duty.

Just make sure that your declaration sheet is correct and you should be fine - even if you have to pay duty it's not that much. 10% of declared value as I recall, but since I've never had to pay it I'm not at all sure.

[Eric Menchen]

3% plus some IRS tax. Since I've never had to pay it, I don't know what the IRS tax might be.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacat ... g_duty.xml
We didn't bring back a case, but came close :)

[Roy Hersh]

I have brought home 2 cases several times, almost always 1 and from Italy, 3 in total. I have never had to pay duty ... except when flying up into Canada.

The key is to declare your bottles on the US Customs form accurately. If you do so, the odds of you having to pay duty are much less than 10%. They are concerned with resale and not folks who are going to consume their own purchases. They are also looking for high alcohol beverages like Scotch, Vodka, Tequila etc. and have much less concern about wine and don't know Port from table wine ... unless they inspect your bottles up close.

[Brian C.]

Thanks for the info about customs, everyone. Next time I'll be ready.

Brian

[Ray Barnes]

Hello from Surrey BC Canada, a suburb of Vancouver. It is a pleasure to be here. I have been a serious wine lover for about 22 years. My tastes gravitate strongly towards the so-called Old World, specifically France (every region except Champagne, too headache prone) and Germany, but I like any fine wine made well. I am very fond of late bottled vintage and tawny port, and enjoy the classic vintage port as well on the very few occasions I have tried it. In my area it is very expensive. I also like fine sherry (dry and sweet), and especially, what little I have had of it, madeira. It is this last category that I am very interested in learning as much as possible.

I find it very ironic, at least in my local area, that the quality and quantity of information about madeira, not to mention the availability of the drink itself, appears to be very much in inverse proportion to its true quality and longevity. In a local government wine store, granted Signature/specialty status, one can find several outstanding table and dessert wines from every major wine region, including a Bordeaux First Growth (Mouton). This store also carries a wide range of fine sherries and ports...and only 5 madeira labels, none of which carry any vintage or solera pedigee of any kind. I found it ironic that one of the employees had not even heard of madeira. Yet what little second-rate madeira I have been able to find has been very good. In fact, the BC Liquor Distribution Board officially has no vintage madeira in inventory. A few specialty stores might have the odd bottle.

While sharing a lovely Aussie verdelho table wine tonight I told my friend and client that it was possible to get two 1968 madeiras for about the price of one bottle of 2005 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou. I like claret as much as the next person, but this seems like a better deal.

The best vintage port I have been privileged to drink is the 1970 Burmester. That is also the oldest wine I have ever tasted, but some 1959 Johann Glockner Biebelsheimer Kieselberg Riesling Auslese continues to age in my garage (climate controlled). It is being saved for my 50th birthday in late 2011. I am hoping also to uncork some much older wine than that.

Many thanks, and I look forward very much to learning from you,
Ray Barnes

[Roy Hersh]

Ray,

I am very happy that you have joined us here at to learn about Port and Madeira of course.

There are a couple of books on Madeira in the marketplace, but they are not easy to find, but you may be more successful by checking Amazon.com to see what they have available.

As we've discussed, I am looking forward to being up there in January to MC a Port event at a Vancouver retailer. Hopefully we can hook up while I am up there, maybe for an offline that I will arrange if this all works out.

Anyway, there is a great group of guys and gals here (a lot of new folks lately too :hello: ) from rank beginner to expert. I am sure you will find us a friendly group and with our "collective Port & Madeira wisdom" we're eager to share and learn together. On the Maderia Forum on this site, there are some extremely brilliant Madeira minds from No. America and Europe and as you'll see, we have a unique shared Madeira Forum with a friend of mine who runs the greatest Madeira website in the world ... MadeiraWineGuide.com which you must check out if you haven't already. Our two websites share the Madeira Forum which is a collaboration which benefits the participants of each site.

The 1968 D'Oliveiras Bual you mention is a beauty and to think that two bottles of this would equate to one of the 2005 First Growth Bdx. in BC, is a sad commentary on monopolistic practic, but let's avoid that here ... and instead, just welcome you again and look forward to your wisdom and future participation here.

[Ray Barnes]

Hello Roy, I have bookmarked the other site you referenced. I neglected to mention, there is scant little discussion of madeira among the mainstream wine press. Robert Parker does not consider any madeira estate as worthy of inclusion among the great wine estates of the world. A typical madeira chapter of a large coffee table wine book will be maybe 3 pages. The only writer I have seen thus far who appears to have much real passion for this varietal is Hugh Johnson in The Wine Companion and Wine - A Life Uncorked. I suspect the rest of them like it a lot more than they are letting on in print, and if so, they are doing the wine loving public, I feel, a disservice. Granted, consumer neglect may have a relatively depressing effect on price, all other things being equal, so I have mixed emotions about the whole scenario.

Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou in St. Julien is a Second Growth but would likely be a strong candidate for promotion to First if the 1855 Classification is ever updated - something I feel is long past due. For the price of a bottle of 2005 Chateau Haut-Brion, one could almost swing a 200 year old bottle of madeira, or a half case of the 1968 with plenty of change.

[Roy Hersh]

Ray,

I pen at least 3 articles a year on Madeira topics and tastings. In addition, every May, we take a group to enjoy Port and especially Madeira on our infamous FORTIFICATION TOURS. Look at the website's article archives for lots of Madeira articles and the trips, if you'd like.

Madeira gets little play because there is so little of it and because there are so few worthy tastings held in No. America which are dedicated to Madeira.

[Ray Barnes]

Thank you Roy...just to correct the ambiguity in my prior post, I was referring to the off-line mainstream press.

After thoroughly enjoying your November newsletter, I am eagerly awaiting your December issue. I also wish I had been able to attend the grand Madeira tasting in Seattle last January. That line-up was breathtaking!

[Jim Butler]

Hi everyone,
I'm Jim and live in Central Massachusetts, just a bit East of Worcester.
I was introduced to port about 5yrs ago by an evil friend that was looking for an accomplice, and after the first taste, I was pretty much hooked. My wife and I had been drinking red wines for approx. 20yrs. Don't know a lot about them, but know what we like, and we enjoy trying new things. The same fiendish friend introduced me to Malbec wines around the same time as my intro to port, and I've been pretty much hooked on those for some time now.

I enjoy tawnies, and as mentioned in another post, had an opportunity to taste both the Barros 30 and Barros 40 yr old tawnies with dinner a week or so ago at a wonderful Portugeuse restaurant in Cambridge, Ma, Casa Portugal. I had ordered the 30yr old after dinner, and the woman came back to the table with a port glass with maybe an inch of port in it...I was about to comment on the quantity of the pour, but before I could say anything she explained that what was in the glass was the very last of her 30yr old, so it was on the house, and would I like either the 20 or the 40yr old instead?...so I thoroughly enjoyed the 40yr as well, though it seemed to have a much stronger scent of alcohol. My assumption was that it was just opened, so had not blossomed as much as the 30 had.

In any case...I have 3-4 bottles of vintage in the basement, over in the cool corner ...and am looking to expand both my collection and my knowledge. I usually have a bottle of Taylor 20 "in progress", and a Burmeister 20 as well.

Speaking of expanding the collection, I'd like to pose a question while I'm here. If one were to suddenly come up with an extra $1,000 in their "wine budget"...say maybe a lucky lotto ticket? :)...what bottles would you buy to start a collection with?

Jim