RICHARD MAYSON VISITS FTLOP

[Richard Mayson]

Richard,

Thanks for taking the time to do this, it is very much appreciated

There is a thread HERE that asked a great question.

The question was, Is the Port industry over regulated? I am curious to get your take on this question.

Yes Andy it is. It is not just the Port industry but the whole of Portugal that is over-regulated, a throwback to the Salazar days with EU regulation now piled on top.

As I said in an answer to an earlier question there is a need for a reform and simplification of the beneficio system but I think the principle needs to be maintained. The IVDP (Port and Douro Wine Institute) under Jorge Monteiro have taken tentative steps to reform it but there are so many vested interests and they have not been able to move very far in any direction.

With Best Wishes

Richard

[Richard Mayson]

In answer to those questions about the regulation of Port and the benefício I am posting an editorial that I wrote for a publication called the Wine Report in 2008. It is in response to a number of attacks on the beneficio from senior member of the Port trade. I am sure it will bring up some more questions (I have posted the news story here now as well).

Benefício Attacked.

The complex system of licensing and production rights that underpins the Port industry has come under unprecedented criticism from two major shippers. The benefício, as it is known in Portuguese, originated in response to overproduction in the 1930s. However Adrian Bridge, Managing Director of the Fladgate Partnership, which includes Taylor, Fonseca, Croft and Delaforce, believes that the benefício is now ‘illogical and outdated’. In an article for Portugal’s Revista de Vinhos he adds ‘this system which sets the amount of must that can be made into Port in any one year and is distributed by means of production rights to thousands of small growers, does not pay attention to the quality of the grapes’. He describes the benefício as a ‘structural constraint’ creating an ‘artificial market’ in which the Port industry is effectively ‘cross-subsidising the production of Douro wine’ (i.e. unfortified wine). This is reflected in grape prices. Grapes with the licence to produce Port fetch around €1,000 a ton whereas the same grapes, without benefício, are sold for just €200. ‘In my view’ says Bridge, ‘it is urgent that we eliminate the distortion and asymmetry caused by this antiquated system’. His solution is either that the benefício is applied to Douro wine or it is ‘abandoned completely, creating a free market in which each producer chooses a strategy according to their economic needs’.

Rupert Symington, a Director of Symington Family Estates which include Dow, Graham and Warre, agrees that the production of low quality grapes has to be drastically reduced to keep the Port industry healthy. Symington argues for reform of the present system where owners of A grade vineyards with excess production are able to buy-up the production rights from producers of low quality grapes. This, he advocates, could be done through an auction and would be beneficial to the entire region.

At 125,000 pipes, the 2007 benefício represents a 1% increase on 2006.



Opinion

The attack on the benefício system (main news story) is well-timed. Some radical initiatives are needed to correct the structural imbalances that have grown up in the Port trade. With 88% of the Douro’s growers still owning less than two hectares, the complicated system of production rights devised by Alvaro Moreira da Fonseca in the 1940s has become little more than a social subsidy for small farmers. The problem for the government is that these small farmers, excluding family and dependants, represent nearly 35,000 votes. Although the larger farmers may have a louder voice, growers with over 8 hectares represent just 810 votes at election time.

The free market alternative to the benefício advocated by Adrian Bridge would be a catastrophe for the region. With the Casa do Douro debacle still fresh in everyone’s minds and not yet resolved, self-regulation would bring anarchy to the Douro, not to mention immediate hardship for thousands of small growers. Despite its contradictions, the benefício has served the Port region reasonably well, keeping supply and demand in check and preventing the ‘boom and bust’ crises that have befallen the sherry industry. There is an excess of regulation in the Port industry but gradual reform from within would serve the trade industry much better than the overthrow of the entire system.

The government must start by incentivising the uprooting of vineyards and the merger of small, uneconomic vineyard holdings. Over the past ten years there has been a 24% increase in the area of vineyard with the right to benefício whilst global sales of Port have been virtually static. Port sales currently represent 10.3 million cases a year, sales of Douro wine 3 million, yet the entire region is can produce the equivalent of 20 million cases. This excess represents a potential flood of Port and has to be reduced before the benefício can be radically reformed, let alone abolished.

[Eric Menchen]

You have been prolific this morning Richard. Thank you so much for your time and thoughts.

[Gerwin de Graaf]

Dear Gerwin,

It is a pleasure to share this forum with you. I am much enjoying your questions.

2005 was a hot, dry year in the Douro and you might have expected the style of the wines to be jammy and unbalanced. A few undoubtedly were but there were some really good Single Quinta wines and Niepoort, Barros, Kopke, Burmester opted for a full declaration. Looking back at my notes my favourites roughly in order were Dow's Senhora da Ribeira, Taylor's Terra Feita, Quinta do Vesuvio, Niepoort, Fonseca Guimaraens, Fonseca Panascal, Quinta do Roriz, Croft Roeda, Quinta do Crasto. I marked all these wines for being really to drink in 10 -15 years but there is no reason why some of them should not last thirty years or more.

Hope that helps

Richard

Dear Richard,

Thanks so much for your reaction and insights !

As it turns out, I have had some luck in choosing my 2005 VP's, since this was actually my first step in buying a large number of bottles (on release) of Vp, which turned me from a mere port (and wine) enthousiast to something of a port collector. The 2005 VP's I bought are: Burmester, Kopke, Taylor's (both Vargellas and Terra Feita), Roeda, Senhora di Ribeira, Roriz, Panascal and Noval Silval (6, 12 of 18 bottles of each).

I will be trying to leave some of the bottles/cases lying in our cellar to fully mature and hopefully enjoy someday with my son(s) (my other boy's from 2007 ).

Furthermore, I have a weak spot for Portugese table wines as well, even though I've not had that many in my glass yet. Mainly because of the use of many domestic grape varieties which give the wines a truly authentic character (of course only when the producer has heart and passion for his wines). Some of wines I really liked, are Quinta de Chocapalha tinto (estremadoura), Meandro (2nd wine from Q. Vale Meao), Lusitano Branco (Alentejo) and some of the wines from Paulo Laureano.

Do you perhaps know or tasted any of these wines? If so, what's your opinion of them.

Best regards,
Gerwin

[Richard Mayson]

Dear Richard,

Thanks so much for your reaction and insights !

As it turns out, I have had some luck in choosing my 2005 VP's, since this was actually my first step in buying a large number of bottles (on release) of Vp, which turned me from a mere port (and wine) enthousiast to something of a port collector. The 2005 VP's I bought are: Burmester, Kopke, Taylor's (both Vargellas and Terra Feita), Roeda, Senhora di Ribeira, Roriz, Panascal and Noval Silval (6, 12 of 18 bottles of each).

I will be trying to leave some of the bottles/cases lying in our cellar to fully mature and hopefully enjoy someday with my son(s) (my other boy's from 2007 ).

Furthermore, I have a weak spot for Portugese table wines as well, even though I've not had that many in my glass yet. Mainly because of the use of many domestic grape varieties which give the wines a truly authentic character (of course only when the producer has heart and passion for his wines). Some of wines I really liked, are Quinta de Chocapalha tinto (estremadoura), Meandro (2nd wine from Q. Vale Meao), Lusitano Branco (Alentejo) and some of the wines from Paulo Laureano.

Do you perhaps know or tasted any of these wines? If so, what's your opinion of them.

Best regards,
Gerwin[/quote]

Dear Gerwin,

Yes, I have tasted most of the wines that you mention plus many more. In fact I have a whole tasting that I need to post on my website in the next few days. All the wines you mention are good though I don't know Lusitano Branco. I taste Portuguese wines regularly both to asses the competition (I am a wine producer myself see http://www.sonholusitano.pt) and for my own research. Perhaps because I taste so many Portuguese winew I mostly drink French, Claret, some Burgundy, red Rhone, Loire etc). I am an old world fan at heart and Portugal is still very much old world although perhaps the Alentejo bridges the gap between old and new in style. I am a great fan of Portuguese grapes but not to the exclusion of using foreign varieties in a blend. I have recently planted Syrah on my property in the northern Alentejo though i have no idea how I am going to blend it yet, our first harvest will be this year. So I digress, I think Portugal produces some great wines although some of the top ones have got rather pricey - so called 'icon wines' from the Douro (mostly). Outside the Douro I love the wines of Quinta do Mouro in the Alentejo these are true to their terroir, old fashioned alcoholic reds but well belanced and with the capacity to age. Do try them.

Hope that answers your question.

Best wishes

Richard

[Gerwin de Graaf]

Dear Richard,

Thanks so much for your reaction and insights !

As it turns out, I have had some luck in choosing my 2005 VP's, since this was actually my first step in buying a large number of bottles (on release) of Vp, which turned me from a mere port (and wine) enthousiast to something of a port collector. The 2005 VP's I bought are: Burmester, Kopke, Taylor's (both Vargellas and Terra Feita), Roeda, Senhora di Ribeira, Roriz, Panascal and Noval Silval (6, 12 of 18 bottles of each).

I will be trying to leave some of the bottles/cases lying in our cellar to fully mature and hopefully enjoy someday with my son(s) (my other boy's from 2007 ).

Furthermore, I have a weak spot for Portugese table wines as well, even though I've not had that many in my glass yet. Mainly because of the use of many domestic grape varieties which give the wines a truly authentic character (of course only when the producer has heart and passion for his wines). Some of wines I really liked, are Quinta de Chocapalha tinto (estremadoura), Meandro (2nd wine from Q. Vale Meao), Lusitano Branco (Alentejo) and some of the wines from Paulo Laureano.

Do you perhaps know or tasted any of these wines? If so, what's your opinion of them.

Best regards,
Gerwin

Dear Gerwin,

Yes, I have tasted most of the wines that you mention plus many more. In fact I have a whole tasting that I need to post on my website in the next few days. All the wines you mention are good though I don't know Lusitano Branco. I taste Portuguese wines regularly both to asses the competition (I am a wine producer myself see http://www.sonholusitano.pt) and for my own research. Perhaps because I taste so many Portuguese winew I mostly drink French, Claret, some Burgundy, red Rhone, Loire etc). I am an old world fan at heart and Portugal is still very much old world although perhaps the Alentejo bridges the gap between old and new in style. I am a great fan of Portuguese grapes but not to the exclusion of using foreign varieties in a blend. I have recently planted Syrah on my property in the northern Alentejo though i have no idea how I am going to blend it yet, our first harvest will be this year. So I digress, I think Portugal produces some great wines although some of the top ones have got rather pricey - so called 'icon wines' from the Douro (mostly). Outside the Douro I love the wines of Quinta do Mouro in the Alentejo these are true to their terroir, old fashioned alcoholic reds but well belanced and with the capacity to age. Do try them.

Hope that answers your question.

Best wishes

Richard[/quote]

Dear Richard,

Thanks a lot for your quick reply! It does answers my question indeed !

I will certainly go and look out for the wins of Quinta do Mouro and see if I can try some of them! And of course I will be veryh interested in your wines as well (if they are or become available in The Netherlands). As you, I too am a typical "old-world" wine man (mostly French wines -Bordeaux, Rhone, Loire-, some Italian, Austrian, German and Spanish wines, besides Portuguese ones).
Of course I am not against the use of non-domestic grape varieties in the wine blends (some of the best wines have been produced in this way), but the use of domestic varieties can give the wines just that little extra. With, on the other side, winemakers trying to copy certain wine styles (eg bordeaux of burgundy) by using specific grape varieties (which is sometimes found in new-world wines), which is something that I don't like too much.

So, please enjoy the rest of your time here on the FTLOP forum (hope you can find the time to return sometimes)! Hopefully you will be able to get around to the new editon of your book Port and the Douro (and to get it published)!

Best regards,

Gerwin

[Andy Velebil]

Dear Richard,

In the last newsletter there was a very insightful article with responses from several producers about the roll of topping off Colheita's and how it is done, while they are still in barrel. The responses were quite varied in what methods were used. Some used the same vintage, some used a younger vintage of Port, some rack once or twice a year, etc.

What are your thoughts about this and can you shed some light as to what, if any, regulations the IVDP has regarding topping off of Colheita's?

Thank you

[Eric Ifune]

Dear Richard,
Hello and welcome!
In the most recent edition of "The World of Fine Wine," your short bio in the beginning of the magazine stated you are working on a book about Madeira. Any idea when it would be published and any previews?
Thank you.

[Roy Hersh]

Richard,

I must commend you on your excellent and balanced op/ed piece on the Beneficio Rights, something I have spent a great deal of time researching, but this is not the venue for that discussion between us. I look forward to drinking some fine Port together again and having a great conversation on the possibilities.

I can't help buy ask you ... as a neutral party ... your opinion on another topic. Beyond the efforts of the companies that have launched Pink and Rose Port to hopefully attract the next generation of Port enthusiasts, what do you feel that the Port trade or the representative quasi-governmental groups can do better, to promote and educate consumers in emerging and existing markets alike?

Thanks in advance!

[Richard Mayson]

Dear Richard,

In the last newsletter there was a very insightful article with responses from several producers about the roll of topping off Colheita's and how it is done, while they are still in barrel. The responses were quite varied in what methods were used. Some used the same vintage, some used a younger vintage of Port, some rack once or twice a year, etc.

What are your thoughts about this and can you shed some light as to what, if any, regulations the IVDP has regarding topping off of Colheita's?

Thank you

Dear Andy,

Colheitas are something of a grey area. I have not read the Newsletter article yet but I will. I will admit at the outset that I am not a great fan of Colheita. I prefer a Twenty Year Old for the flexibility that it gives the shipper to blend older and younger wines to create a more complex style. For me Colheitas are of academic interest and from time to time I come across Colheitas with incredible poise and freshness (akin to good 20 year old) and I always wonder how this have been achieved. I have alwys chosen the praise the wine rather than ask too many questions! If you use younger surely it becomes a blended tawny in everything but name? As I understand the legislation, Colheitas should be topped off with the same wine but I can see how this would lead to a wine that was more oxidative in style and looking more tired as a result. I do not like these rather soupy, rich, slightly volatile (vinagrinho) old Colheitas which are wines to admire rather than drink - so what's the point? The same applies to many (but not all) 30 and 40 year old tawnies.

I hope that explains my standpoint - I will read the Newsletter with some interest now.

Best Wishes

Richard

[Richard Mayson]

Dear Richard,
Hello and welcome!
In the most recent edition of "The World of Fine Wine," your short bio in the beginning of the magazine stated you are working on a book about Madeira. Any idea when it would be published and any previews?
Thank you.

Dear Eric,

Thank you for the welcome. My Madeira book is currently stuck with the publishers in Lisbon but i hope to get it moving again this summer /autumn. The publishers are Chaves Ferreira and the book will be published in Portuguese and English so watch this space!

Best Wishes

Richard

[Richard Mayson]

Richard,

I must commend you on your excellent and balanced op/ed piece on the Beneficio Rights, something I have spent a great deal of time researching, but this is not the venue for that discussion between us. I look forward to drinking some fine Port together again and having a great conversation on the possibilities.

I can't help buy ask you ... as a neutral party ... your opinion on another topic. Beyond the efforts of the companies that have launched Pink and Rose Port to hopefully attract the next generation of Port enthusiasts, what do you feel that the Port trade or the representative quasi-governmental groups can do better, to promote and educate consumers in emerging and existing markets alike?

Thanks in advance!

Dear Roy,

That's a big question that you ask (nearly as big as the benefício question) and one that requires a lot of thought. It is easier to say where things are going wrong with the promotion and marketing of Port than where they are going right. Most of the big shippers have their own strategies and it is easy to see who is getting it right by their presence in the market. There are plenty getting it wrong but I won´t name names here. Of course every market is different and I can´t speak with much detailed experience about markets other than the UK.

From a UK perspective the IVDP (the main quasi-governmental group) are in a difficult position as they have to play neutral with the shippers. They are often criticised but it is also easy to criticise the shippers too who have opened a huge can of worms by discounting Reserve and LBV wines at Christmas (when sales are at their greatest) thereby threatening the premium image of these wines across the board. The shippers blame the retailers but I fear the shippers (or one shipper in particular) started it and cannot now put the worms back in the can so to speak. I don´t know if you have the same problems in the US or this is just localised.

But as you infer education is crucial than this is an area where the IVDP can do more. Port needs simplifying, de-mystifying, both in terms of the categories and serving. All this nonsense about using Port tongs for decanting acts against Port - decanting is so simple yet people fear doing it! So the campaign need to focus on getting Port into the right type of glass, serving it at the right temperature, de-seasonalising Port by serving tawny cool in summer, not serving wines that are oxidised in the on trade i.e. making Port a pleasure to drink. In the UK where we are supposed to like Port, all too often it is badly served and in poor condition so rather than order Port you order something else that is fool proof. Vodka and tonic, horrible sweet liqueurs like Bailey's...the list goes on!

In the big volume markets like France, Holland Belgium etc. education is fundamental in getting consumers to trade up from the bottom-dollar wines that have no margin and little future.

There is so much to do here and so much more to say but those are my thoughts for now. I would really welcome a debate on this.

Best Wishes and thanks for giving me the chance to voice my opinions this week. I will keep checking into the forum until Monday when I really have to get back to some of my other work.

Best Wishes

Richard

[Michael M.]

Dear Richard,
First of all: Great to have you here!
My questions:

Will there ever be a hype on Port like on top notch Bordeaux? If not, why not?

Do you think that global heating will cause serious problems in medium term on producing top notch Port?

Which producers of Port are at present the most underrated?

Thank you.
Michael

Richard, it would be great if you could respond to my questions.
Thanks a lot.
Michael

[Richard Mayson]

Dear Richard,
First of all: Great to have you here!
My questions:

Will there ever be a hype on Port like on top notch Bordeaux? If not, why not?

Do you think that global heating will cause serious problems in medium term on producing top notch Port?

Which producers of Port are at present the most underrated?

Thank you.
Michael

Richard, it would be great if you could respond to my questions.


Thanks a lot.


Michael

Dear Michael,

I am so sorry - I did respond to your questions earlier in the week but the response doesn't seem to have been posted. I must have pressed the wrong button so here goes again:

I would like the think that Vintage Port can equal top Bordeaux but at the moment it falls short in both hype and price (good for us Port consumers). Port certainly deserves to compete with Bordeaux,especially as there is far less of it around. In 2007 the production of the entire declared vintage from sixty producers equates to that of about four Medoc classed growths! Fortified wines have been considered unfashionable for some time, more especially in these alcohol conscious times. I hope that Port will recover (although I would hate to see the same sort of speculation surrounding it as there is around First Growth Claret) but I can't say how or when. It's a fashion thing!

Re. the impact of global warming, drought is the greatest threat to the Douro. 2005 was one of the worst droughts in living memory but some good single quinta Ports were made in 2005 nonetheless. 2006 was another hot year but the summer of 2007 (a universally declared vintage) was unusually cool as was 2008. Certainly if droughts were to become more severe and regular then growers in the Douro would have to change their approach. Irrigation would become the norm. I am a grower in the south of Portugal where the threat from global warming is potentially more accute. We have witnessed some strange weather patterns in recent years I am still not fully convinced that global warming is a real medium to long term threat and not overhyped by Al Gore and the media! The climate has been changing for thousands of years, long before the first fossil fuels were burnt. Having said that I am all in favour of reducing carbon emissions and finding alternative sources of energy as we all tend to waste far to much of our energy at the moment and fossil fuels are a finite resource. So I am happy to go along with the global warming thesis for now even though I am sceptical and would like to see more proof.

Underrated producers: Poças have been producing some very good vintage Port in recent years, Gould Campbell 2007 came top in a blind tasting recently and is very reasonably priced, likewise Smith Woodhouse. Calem have produced some excellent wines in the past. But I can't think of one shipper that is consistently underrated.

Hope that answers your questions

Best Wishes

Richard

[Moses Botbol]

Underrated producers: Poças have been producing some very good vintage Port in recent years, Gould Campbell 2007 came top in a blind tasting recently and is very reasonably priced, likewise Smith Woodhouse. Calem have produced some excellent wines in the past. But I can't think of one shipper that is consistently underrated.

Hope that answers your questions

Best Wishes

Richard

Richard:

What about Offley and Kopke? From an American market perspective, they fly way under the radar at both retail and at auction. What are your views on both producers?

[oscarquevedo]

But as you infer education is crucial than this is an area where the IVDP can do more. Port needs simplifying, de-mystifying, both in terms of the categories and serving. All this nonsense about using Port tongs for decanting acts against Port - decanting is so simple yet people fear doing it! So the campaign need to focus on getting Port into the right type of glass, serving it at the right temperature, de-seasonalising Port by serving tawny cool in summer, not serving wines that are oxidised in the on trade i.e. making Port a pleasure to drink. In the UK where we are supposed to like Port, all too often it is badly served and in poor condition so rather than order Port you order something else that is fool proof. Vodka and tonic, horrible sweet liqueurs like Bailey's...the list goes on!

In the big volume markets like France, Holland Belgium etc. education is fundamental in getting consumers to trade up from the bottom-dollar wines that have no margin and little future.

There is so much to do here and so much more to say but those are my thoughts for now. I would really welcome a debate on this.

Best Wishes and thanks for giving me the chance to voice my opinions this week. I will keep checking into the forum until Monday when I really have to get back to some of my other work.

Best Wishes

Richard

Dear Richard,

Good to know you had talked about our Rose Port. If you don't have yet opportunity to taste it, please come to our winery and we share a glass of it! The high temperatures we have now in the Douro ask for something chilled!

Regarding the question of education, some years ago the IVDP and the producers have dedicated some marketing efforts into the promotion of new cocktails made from Dry White Port. I'm referring to the use of tonic, making the Portonic but there are some others cocktails made with strawberry or lemon juice.

The arrival of the Rose Port to the market opens more possibilities to make other cocktails out of Port. It also passes on a more relaxed, youth and fresh idea of what Port is.

But is cocktailing a way to go for Port Wine? Should we spend more time and money promoting it and trying to bring red Port to this game?

[Moses Botbol]

But is cocktailing a way to go for Port Wine? Should we spend more time and money promoting it and trying to bring red Port to this game?

Sorry, I am not Richard, but had to comment on this...

I sure it is not

Port cocktails are certainly a nice feather in the cap of how port can be enjoyed, but port is good enough on its own and that is what has to be educated to the consumers/retailers/restaurants.

[Richard Mayson]

Underrated producers: Poças have been producing some very good vintage Port in recent years, Gould Campbell 2007 came top in a blind tasting recently and is very reasonably priced, likewise Smith Woodhouse. Calem have produced some excellent wines in the past. But I can't think of one shipper that is consistently underrated.

Hope that answers your questions

Best Wishes

Richard

Richard:

What about Offley and Kopke? From an American market perspective, they fly way under the radar at both retail and at auction. What are your views on both producers?

Good point Moses. We don't see much of either Offley or Kopke over here. I have never been enamoured by Vintage Ports from either shipper but I have had some excellent tawnies from both and from Kopke colheitas.

Richard

[Richard Mayson]

Dear Richard,

Good to know you had talked about our Rose Port. If you don't have yet opportunity to taste it, please come to our winery and we share a glass of it! The high temperatures we have now in the Douro ask for something chilled!

Regarding the question of education, some years ago the IVDP and the producers have dedicated some marketing efforts into the promotion of new cocktails made from Dry White Port. I'm referring to the use of tonic, making the Portonic but there are some others cocktails made with strawberry or lemon juice.

The arrival of the Rose Port to the market opens more possibilities to make other cocktails out of Port. It also passes on a more relaxed, youth and fresh idea of what Port is.

But is cocktailing a way to go for Port Wine? Should we spend more time and money promoting it and trying to bring red Port to this game?[/quote]

Dear Oscar,

I am something of a purist when it comes to Port so I don't believe that cocktails are the way forward. They might work in Portugal but I think that in this market (and probably most others) they are the way backwards! We used to have a drink here (popular with the ladies in pubs) called Port and Lemon which was a shot of cheap ruby mixed with lemonade and served with ice and lemon. It was at its most popular between the First and Second World Wars and has largely died out with that generation.

White Port and tonic in the bigger scheme of things is a boring drink. OK in the Douro at the end of a hot day but I would perfer a Super Bock (beer for those not in the know). Most White Port is incredibly dull anyway. For me it needs some wood age to work at all and a glass of fino Sherry is usually preferable (at the Factory house where both are offered the fino is in my experience more popular than the white Port!)

I am not against rosé Port if it brings in new Port consumers but, thanks the the offer, it is not a drink I will be drinking on a regular basis.

I think education needs to focus on serving good Port correctly rather than bastardising indifferent or bad Port with other drinks.

Sorry if that is a bit blunt Oscar but that's how I feel about most drinks with any heritage - what is the point in diluting a long and fine tradition for short term gain? Usually these things backfire (like Harvey's Bristol Cream which ultimately ruined the image of Sherry - last time I was in Jerez they were advocating drinking it with orange: disguting!)

I look forward to meeting you in the Douro one day soon.

Best Wishes

Richard

[Richard Mayson]

But is cocktailing a way to go for Port Wine? Should we spend more time and money promoting it and trying to bring red Port to this game?

Sorry, I am not Richard, but had to comment on this...

I sure it is not

Port cocktails are certainly a nice feather in the cap of how port can be enjoyed, but port is good enough on its own and that is what has to be educated to the consumers/retailers/restaurants.

Thanks for chipping in. I agree Moses - see my reply.