Lots of new faces ... please introduce yourself

[Bob Krzeszkiewicz]

Just about anything except an older Vintage Port will have no issue holding up for an entire week.

You missed the humor, my friend. A bottle never lasts more than an hour once we open it!

[Eric Menchen]

O.k., Bob, with all those photos on the wall behind the ports, I have to ask: Are you on the Adventure Rider forum?
-Eric

[Glenn E.]

Just about anything except an older Vintage Port will have no issue holding up for an entire week.

You missed the humor, my friend. A bottle never lasts more than an hour once we open it!

I have a bottle of Ramos Pinto Quinta do Bom Retiro 20-yr Old Tawny Port that's taking one for the team in order to make this experiment possible. Because otherwise... no, not anymore. It used to take me about a week to drink a bottle once opened, but these days I polish 'em off (solo) in 3-4 days.

[Bob Krzeszkiewicz]

O.k., Bob, with all those photos on the wall behind the ports, I have to ask: Are you on the Adventure Rider forum?
-Eric

Yeah, I'm on Advrider. I go by X1Glider. I pretty much just lurk in the ride report forum and dream to the excellent pics and not actually post anything. The ride reports take forever to read, there's no time left to post. I don't have a GS anymore. It was an 1150 not the 1200 on the poster collage I plotted out. I'm down to a R1100S, HD FXDX and a CRF450X which I sometimes DS, but mostly I hit the trails. If employment holds up this year, I'll be looking into the F800GS and getting rid of the HD.

More than happy to talk bikes and trips with you in the OT section, which I haven't visited yet. Ridden to Longmont plenty of times over the years. I have a few friends in Berthoud, Boulder and Ft. Collins.

[Eric Menchen]

Yeah, I'm on Advrider. I go by X1Glider ...

Look us up next time you're in this neck of the woods. My wife is flygirl on ADV, and rides a Ducati Elefant. I'm still on a cruiser and she's trying to convert me. -Eric

[Philippe S.]

Hello, I'm happy to announce that FTLOP has a new member from the best place on earth : Quebec !

First of all, as you know, we speak french, I'm sorry for my english !

I'm studying business administration at University of Trois-Rivières, which you probably don't know ! I'm 20 years old and I drink port since I was 15 I think. I don't know how it all started, but my interest comes from my father. He likes wine more than port and introduced me to wine about 5 years ago. He was buying port every 2 months or about, mostly LBVs. I liked that much more than wine. I liked the fact that it was easy to acquire knowledge about port compared to wine, since there are less types and brands.

The first port I bought was a 1988 Warre's Cavadinha, a half-bottle. I bought half-bottles for a long time for the only reason that it's cheaper and that I didn't have much money when I was 15 ! I began to buy some young vintages, mostly unique bottles, to avoid paying the big price for mature vintages. I drink more and more port since this time, but not as much as some of you. I open a bottle of port every week or about. I drink it over 3-4 days with my father or with some friends around a poker table !

After a hard summer of work, I needed a break of school and I moved to Europe with a friend for 2 months. We spent the last 5 days in Gaia, and it was great ! I had the pleasure to visit Vinologia, Taylor's cellar and restaurant and some nice wine shops. I also had the best port of my young life : Taylor's 40-yr tawny. I usually prefer ruby port, but this one was just incredible !

I think you have an idea of who I am now ! As a new member, I have a gift for you. I give you the link of my actual wallpaper. I did it from a picture I took of my own bottles. Feel free to use it !

http://img16.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image2rwt.png

Bottles shown, in order, are :
97 Taylor
94 Warre
03 Graham
00 Dow
00 SW
00 Offley
00 Ferreira
00 Castelinho
97 Pocas
94 Martinez



Phil

[Eric Menchen]

Welcome Phil! Nice photo too. 15 and now 20? I'm glad I didn't discover port at that age. I would have been broke, or out of school, or both! On the other hand, I wish I would have discovered it much sooner. -Eric

[Andy Velebil]

Phil,
Welcome to I am glad you found our site and our crazy little hobby...ok, addiction in some cases I wish I would have discovered Port at such a young age, so consider yourself lucky! You're English is just fine, so don't worry. And you're not the only one from Quebec here, we've managed to rope in some others as well over the years. Hopefully one day you can meet up with them to share some Port, they are very nice guys.

I see you discovered Vinologia in Portugal...this is a regular for many of us that go over there. We know the owner and his son (Gustavo) who posts here from time to time, quite well. A very cool place to hang out and drink at in Oporto.

Good luck on your studies and I look forward to reading more posts from you. Please chime in often as you've already got quite some expereince drinking Port.

[Luc Gauthier]

Hello, I'm happy to announce that FTLOP has a new member from the best place on earth : Quebec !

First of all, as you know, we speak french, I'm sorry for my english !

I'm studying business administration at University of Trois-Rivières, which you probably don't know ! I'm 20 years old and I drink port since I was 15 I think. I don't know how it all started, but my interest comes from my father. He likes wine more than port and introduced me to wine about 5 years ago. He was buying port every 2 months or about, mostly LBVs. I liked that much more than wine. I liked the fact that it was easy to acquire knowledge about port compared to wine, since there are less types and brands.

The first port I bought was a 1988 Warre's Cavadinha, a half-bottle. I bought half-bottles for a long time for the only reason that it's cheaper and that I didn't have much money when I was 15 ! I began to buy some young vintages, mostly unique bottles, to avoid paying the big price for mature vintages. I drink more and more port since this time, but not as much as some of you. I open a bottle of port every week or about. I drink it over 3-4 days with my father or with some friends around a poker table !

After a hard summer of work, I needed a break of school and I moved to Europe with a friend for 2 months. We spent the last 5 days in Gaia, and it was great ! I had the pleasure to visit Vinologia, Taylor's cellar and restaurant and some nice wine shops. I also had the best port of my young life : Taylor's 40-yr tawny. I usually prefer ruby port, but this one was just incredible !

I think you have an idea of who I am now ! As a new member, I have a gift for you. I give you the link of my actual wallpaper. I did it from a picture I took of my own bottles. Feel free to use it !

http://img16.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image2rwt.png

Bottles shown, in order, are :
97 Taylor
94 Warre
03 Graham
00 Dow
00 SW
00 Offley
00 Ferreira
00 Castelinho
97 Pocas
94 Martinez



Phil

Salut Phillipe et bienvenue !!
Pose tes questions , ne soit pas gêné . . .
There's a wealth of port knowledge

[Roy Hersh]

Phil,

Thanks for the great introduction. I really hope that you find a fun place to hang out on occasion. Lots of nice folks to meet and drink with too. Welcome aboard!

[Carlos Gandiaga]

Hello all:

My name is Carlos Gandiaga and I live in Charlotte, NC. I've always had a taste for Port, but for some reason have not indulged my curiosity (and taste buds) as much as I've liked to, sticking to Bordeaux and Rhone wines for the most part. I do have some port in my cellar (Warre 2000 VP, Niepoort 2005 VP, Quinta de Roriz 2004), and I know what I like, but it was great to find this site (via Roy on the ERP board) and dig in. I'm looking forward to learning more about Port and share thoughts with others..

Obrigado..

[Andy Velebil]

Carlos,

It's a pleasure to have you join us here at Yuo've got a nice little Port collection started and those are some very nice VP's too. Oh, and have no fear this group will get that little Port collection of yours to grow by leaps and bounds in no time. Just look at Todd P. I remember when he had only a couple bottles....over 100 bottles later I look forward to reading your posts and don't be shy about asking questions, our motto is no question is too small....although you may get a longer answer than you wanted

[Eric Menchen]

Welcome Carlos. I look forward to your impressions on those ports and others.

[Roy Hersh]

Carlos,

Welcome aboard the SS !

Thanks for posting here and taking the leap of faith. I hope you will share your Port wisdom with us and learn right along with the rest of us. If you pay close attention, we have another occasional guest poster that comes here to share his knowledge from your area in NC. I was in Charlotte in Feb. for a very brief time on both legs of a trip to Atlanta, and I must say the airport is first class with some great restaurants considering the size. Good to hear that a Rhone and Bdx lover also has found a soft spot for Port wine too. We look forward to many more posts in the future and are glad to have you join us!

[Luc Gauthier]

Carlos , If you get the chance , get a hold of some colheitas .
Colheitas in the 30+ yrs are what colheitas are about .

Also , bienvenue !!

[Anthea W]

:hello: I'm Anthea and I live in Australia. I've just discovered FTLOP although I have been passionate about port for YEARS! I am an author and Im currently writing a small book about port basics. Not as in the serious detail on your website, but about what to eat with it, how to cook with it, and (purists, beware..!!) making cocktails from it!! It is a dying industry and product and port has to adapt to survive. My book also has this objective. How can we let a 450 year old uniquely fabulous product just fizzle??

However, could we have a web page (or at least links) about the dreary but necessary topics of names? When does the US have to stop using the word port, and can it still use tawny, etc. And what is being done about it?

I would also love to hear from anyone interested in publishing my book - in the US and/or Europe and/or Australia.

[Luc Gauthier]

Salut Anthea , et bienvenue .
Hope you stick around .
Don't be afraid of the purists , they mean well .
I used to enjoy port an' peanut butter 'till Roy showed me the way . . .
I think the overwhelming majority would dislike the term " dying industry " and prefer working hard at reinventing itself

[Anthea W]

Luc hi
Thanks for the encouragement. I hear what you say about a 'dying industry' but sadly you only have to look at the stats. Production and export volumes from Portugal have declined drastically over the last 10 years and this has to have been the trigger for the advent of pink port. Same problem here in Australia although the decline has been slower. You are right though, many people I'm sure are working hard to reverse the trend. I just hope it isn't too little too late.

[*Neendaorbinia]

Hello everyone,

I'm Eric and I live in Florida. We have beautiful weather, but it's not that great as a state to ship wine to most of the year. I've been a lurker for too long, so here goes for the intro.

I got into port years ago starting with the first port I ever had that was a 16 year old port, and started out with the LBVs and some Tawnys, and then a couple years ago a friend with much much more wine experience than me introduced me to Vintage Ports with Gould Campbell's 2003 VP, and that got me hooked on vintage ports. I haven't had any very old ports. I think the oldest I've had is from the 80's, maybe the 70's. So I've been trying many other vintage ports since then, mostly newer stuff, but I'm building up a small collection in case there's another hurricane or two or three.

Also, I was interested in trying Madeira's a little over a year ago so I started with the Rare Wine Co Historic offerings and branched out from there. I currently have 9 bottles open at my house (all 15 years or younger open). My current daily drinker is Barbeito's 10 y.o. Boal. The best Madeira I ever had was a small taste of a Lomelino's that was over 140 years old. The trouble I've found is that most places around here don't carry Madeira, but they can order it through the Rare Wine Co for you.

I think that's some of the basics. I love port and Madeira. Oh and I've decided to go on the Fortification Tour this year to learn a lot more than what I've been exposed to so far. I'm going to try to be a more productive member, less lurking.

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Anthea,

Welcome to and your first post was certainly captivating!

I am a reformed purist, kind of like all the new born libertarians we have seen here in the USA in the past six months.

In all seriousness, it is nice to have you join us and we are looking forward to more impressions of what goes on with the real Ports down under. I have consumed my share of Australian versions from ancient Para port to great Muscat based knock offs and tawny too (e.g. Jonesy). Tasty stuff. to say the least.

In the USA, we also have lots of Port-wannabe producers. There is an ongoing movement in Napa in conjunction with the EU to protect the nomenclature of Port wine and others like it. You can find various threads (topics) here on FTLOP that delve into this dynamic if you search around, as it has been discussed a number of times here.

As to you writing a book on Port, I hope you will do so. I started a thread sometime in 2008 about Port cocktails being a great way to reinvigorate the Port trade. I must say that I am not one who agrees with the assessment that the Port trade is dying off. Actually just the opposite, but I am probably in a minorty and for that you can call me a "purist" if you'd like.

My take on that is:

In the 1990s there was a tremendous jump start here in the USA to understanding and consuming Vintage Port. It commenced, not coincidentally, but as a result of the intense explosion of the "cigar craze" which brought Vintage Port into focus and back in style in America. This country had never been a major consumer of Vintage Port, or Port overall, truth be told. So with prices quadrupling on benchmark VPs such as the 1977 Fonseca which was to be had for <$50 for the first few years of the 1990s, the price skyrocketed to a peak of $229 in around 1996/1997 before dipping back to $199 and later, $179 just a few short years later after the cigar mania had greatly subsided.

The craze with the 2000 vintage and excitement tied in with the duality of Bordeaux and Vintage Port en primeur campaigns and the maelstrom of Millennium madness renewed America's interest in Port circa 2002/3. By the time the 2003s came to market the price increases seemingly turned off some buyers who scurried to grab hold of older bottles that were priced at similar levels to the current release. I would agree with your assessment that Port sales have been decreasing, but you have to remember this is compared to the 1990s ... the all time peak here in the USA ... and that was never going to be a sustainable level, imho.

Moreover, it should not be overlooked that the Port trade, as well as interest in Port wine, ebbs and flows in cycles throughout history. There has been downsizing and consolidation in the Port industry for centuries. This is not new and the same can be said for the popularity in the UK. There are historical works that show the volumes of Port sold worldwide and especially in the UK for past generations and those graphs appear like the peaks and valleys of the Yarra region in your country.

If you wait to see what a 2007 Vintage Port release will do to worldwide sales of Port two or three years from now, I think it may seem as if there will be a rebirth in the industry and I hope I am right. We don't know yet, but certainly there are already indications that the consolidation had brought about strengthening of the trade and here are some examples to support that:

a. "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" - the Port trade's weakest links have been absorbed by companies that are more solvent. This is not new. Look back to the 1960s and through the 1970s to see that history is just repeating itself, once again. Obviously the same took place in the 1940s into the early 1950s. Many more simliar epochs should you be interested in the valleys. Even the mighty Taylor Fladgate went through challenging times in the 1980s ... and I am not referring to their VPs (Dain, Bull et al.)

b. Consolidation doesn't always equate to "less is more" - but in this case it has become a self fulfilling prophecy, so to speak. When the Port industry started to seriously go into consolidation mode again around towards the end of the 1990s and especially from 2001-2006, something unique happened. It brought on a slew of new players in the Port trade. Over the past ten to fifiteen years (where you mention declining sales) there may be more new start ups in the Port trade than any other time in recent history! That coupled with the investment of the EU and World Bank has begun a tremendous grass roots movement in the Douro to get serious about production of table wines. This should not be overlooked and will forever be intertwined with the Port business. But the main point here is the new crop of niche players who went from a lifetime of growing grapes to entrepreneurial producers.

c. There is a new generation of college educated winemakers and viticulturists who have made a significant impact in the Port trade. A great example is David Guimaraens of The Fladgate Partnership. I use him as an example, as you will be able to relate since he went to the fabulous wine school at Roseworthy in Australia. There are others from Australia (I can think of two who've worked at Crasto) but others have come from France and even the USA to take on prominent winemaking positions. This influx of new talent and younger family members who have taken over where their father's left off ... will yield great results in the coming decades.

So, I just don't share the same doom and gloom viewpoint of the Port trade which you've expressed. However, I am very happy to have you join us and no one will say that your viewpoint is not as important or even more widely accepted than mine or anyone else's.

I look for many more great posts in your future here and someday, to lift a glass together!

I'll also make this offer ... should you ever write a Port book and have it published, I will do everything in my power to help you promote it!

Again, welcome to