2009 Port Harvest Tour "Blog"

[Roy Hersh]

Preparing for my flight to Porto that departs Seattle early tomorrow morning. I will be meeting Mr. Andy Velebil in Newark (purely by coincidence ) for the direct overnight flight to Porto. The fun ensues on Friday and continues for more than a week and a half.

Along with David Spriggs, both of them joining for their 4th tour -- we'll keep you posted as to what we see, hear, taste and experience.

I have never slept during my flight to Portugal and have always worked, but this time ... I have a feeling that my eyes will remain closed. I can not wait to retry some of the 2007s and of course, a few samples of some older bottlings.

More to come ...

[Andy Velebil]

I am sitting in the Newark airport waiting for Roy to arrive from his flight, enjoying a nice pint of beer. Soon it will be port and Douro wines that pass my lips. I can't wait to retry many of the 2007's. There are some winners for sure. Not to mention seeing some familiar faces in the coming days.

More later

[Derek T.]

Have a great trip guys - see you soon

[Frederick Blais]

Have a good one guys! Please give us some reports from the main land!

[David Spriggs]

I'll be leaving for Porto tomorrow and will hook up with Roy and Andy on Saturday. The itinerary looks great with a nice break to visit a Vinho Verde producer. I won't give any more of it away

-Dave-

[Eric Ifune]

Waiting for all your notes; and your photos!

[Andy Velebil]

Well Roy and I made it to Oporto with no lost luggage between us, which is no small feet. We both managed a little sleep on the plane over and arrived at 0630 local time. Needless to say we were a bit tired and grabbed a couple hours nap as we had some time to kill. Soon we´ll be meeting up with Oscar Quevedo for lunch and I must say it will be good to see him and have time to talk outside the normal tasting arena.

Today has not been without it´s challenges...this key board is a bit different than US ones and I had to ask to figure out where the "@" was, as it´s not listed on the keys. As you can see I figured it out with some help. Time to run Oscar just arrived

[Roy Hersh]

What Andy didn't know was that Oscar and Goncalo from Vinologia and I have been planning a Francesinha tour of Porto and Gaia which was to include Cafe Majestic and many others. Andy lost his Francesinha virginity and then some, having had at least 7 unique experiences with the special sandwich over an 11 hour period. I have a feeling neither of us will go near one for at least a year!

Gustavo also joined us for the insanity. We rated each one we tasted and took many photos (an article will be forthcoming) and told each restaurant that the best one we try will receive an award presented by FTLOP. We have a clear winner, to be announced in the article.

We also spent a couple of hours at Vinologia today and tried some Port from a new property that we never even had heard of. I believe the name was Quinta das Lamelas, but I'll check on that to make sure. Mid-to high 80 point range Ports from this producer but still interesting to try.

Lots of beer (Sagres & Super Bock) as well as a few bottles of Vinho Verde were part of the feeding frenzy. A ton of fun even if our Port intake was fairly light today.

More anon ...

[Glenn E.]

Say 'hi' to Goncalo and Oscar for me!

Goncalo had mentioned the Lamelas 10y white tawny while we were emailing back and forth about my recent order, so I've heard of them. Which of their Ports did you guys try?

[Andy Velebil]

Man, what a great time yesterday...Roy is right, no more of those tasty sandwiches for at least a year. But boy were some of them really good. I was glad we donºt have an early start and was able to get a solid night sleep which will prbably be the last one for a while. We´ll see where the day takes us today, but I´m sure there will be at least a little Port drinking in our future

Glenn,
We had some of their tawny´s and the 10 year white Port you mentioned. More notes later.


Eric,
Photos huh? I can barily figure out this key board, LOL! I promise to get some up when I get back though.

[Chris G]

Andy/Roy/David

Have a great trip, very much looking forward to following your progress, any posts are much appreciated! Wonder of you will beat the record for the number of wines and ports drunk.

Best wishes

Christopher

[goncalo devesas]

It was amazing, normally I enjoy having a "francesinha" like once a week, but it was explosive , now it´s time to ., only next year I suppose that I´ll try again a "francesinha".
We went to the downtown and the suburbs of Oporto and we tasted some nice "francesinhas", we missed one nice spot in a small village "Canelas" because in the front door, when he arrived there was an enormous queue, they use a different method, they prepare the "francesinha" in a wooden oven.
I´m oblige to give my testimony because it was wonderful and hilarious, sooner I´m shure that Roy and Andy will upload some nice photos from our "francesinha tour", Andy tasted a bunch of "francesinha" for the first time and I´ve to say that he was a .

[Andy Velebil]

Yesterday was a nice relaxing day. While Roy was enjoying some extra sleep I walked down to Gaia and stopped in at the Calem Lodge and ended up tasting their basic Ruby (which is quite nice) and their 10 Year Old Tawny Port (which is very good). Then A little walking around and then Roy and I headed out. Stopped by a really nice wine shop on the river front. I donºt have thier card with me, but will post it later. The place has the best selection of Ports and wines Iºve seen on the OPorto side. Miguel there is also very knowleable and helpful.

After a quick bite David Spriggs met up with us as the Pestana and we enjoyed some very nice glasses of 20 Year Sandeman and Ferreira, and a 40 year old Quinta do Noval. Pedro the bartender looked after us quite nicely...many thanks Pedro!

Then over to Vinalogia to visit Gonçalo and Jean-Peirre again. Some Port drinking into the late hours then some much needed rest. Now it's time for the fun to begin anew today. more later

[Eric Menchen]

Calem Lodge ... their 10 Year Old Tawny Port (which is very good).

Thank you for this confirmation, as I've been telling people for a year now it is a wonderful 10, and at $22/bottle in the US, a great QPR. Come to think of it, maybe I should buy some for winter drinking.

[Eric Ifune]

I just wish there was a place like the Pestana close to where I live. That 40 year old Noval is certainly nice!

[Moses Botbol]

Calem Lodge ... their 10 Year Old Tawny Port (which is very good).

Thank you for this confirmation, as I've been telling people for a year now it is a wonderful 10, and at $22/bottle in the US, a great QPR. Come to think of it, maybe I should buy some for winter drinking.

The Calem 10 is quite impressive as a value. $22, how can you go wrong!

[Roy Hersh]

Eric,

Didn't you buy in the 40 year old Noval Tawny at under $90 per bottle on the subscriber's buying opportunity ... given it is normally $150-btl?


A steal of a deal no matter where you live or buy Port!

[Roy Hersh]

Yesterday was a lot of fun as Andy and I went to a shop that I found last May and introduced him to. Great Ports, many fine Colheitas and everything from Serra de Estrela queijo to Presunto and amazing nuts and olives etc. I love that place and at 76 Euros for a 1980 Niepoort Colheita, what's not to love?

Andy mentioned the rest, although we spent a lot of time at Vinologia at night and had a fun time with a couple from Ireland who were just learning about Port. We opened the Niepoort blind for Goncalo and Jean-Phillipe and had fun watching them try to guess what it was. We shared it around with others in the bar too. Lots of fun.

Today was a better day. We started off the Sunday "Unofficial first day" of the Port Harvest Tour by bringing our group for the very first time to Churchill-Graham's Port lodge. I had been in touch with Johnny Graham for awhile, although we had not seen one another for a decade (since his last visit to Seattle for a grand tasting!) but today's visit was remarkable and our group was all abuzz afterwards having had a marvelous time. Johnny was a generous host and shared some fabulous DOC red wines with lunch, 3 to be exact and I'll write more about these awesome Douro reds when time permits.

We also tasted a wide selection of Ports from Crusted, to VP ... the 2007 was a stand out as was the 2007 Quinta da Gricha ... which I loved back in May too. The 1991 VP was probably my favorite of the day but the 20 year old Tawny was just a point or so behind.

Roy's tip - Load up on the 1991!

After a great tour and many hours together we bid a fond farewell. A stellar visit to say the least.

I led the group on an hour long walk back to Porto and up the stairs through back alleys to the Se. Along the way we passed a dozen brides walking through one of the alleys and that was quite a site to see.
We finally landed at the restaurant for dinner and the roast suckling pig hit the spot, along with many a bottle of various 2006 and 2007 Vinho Verde bottlings.

Then we meandered back to Vinologia for a "night cap" with all 10 of us, which lasted for hours and they were cleaned out of all their bottles of 1952 Dalva. Our guests liked it that much. A dozen other asst'd Colheitas, a few VPs and oddities, all made for a perfect night. Mario joining us for a very rare Sunday night Vinologia late night ... "priceless."

Tomorrow morning alone, may rival the single best a.m. visit in Gaia we've ever had. Now let's wait to see if it lives up to my hype. I've kept the actual tasting very quiet, but even 4th time PHT guests, David Spriggs and Andy V. (jaded as they are) should be duly impressed.

More anon ...

[Glenn E.]

Then we meandered back to Vinologia for a "night cap" with all 10 of us, which lasted for hours and they were cleaned out of all their bottles of 1952 Dalva. Our guests liked it that much.

Whew! I'm glad I ordered my bottles from Goncalo before you guys got there!!!

[Andy Velebil]

Yesterday was great-. Johhn Graham was a great host and I was very impressed by his line up. The 2007ºs are awesome Ports and ones worth buying for sure. And that 20 year old Tawny was hard to stop drinking.

Dinner and Vinalogia was also great...whats not to love!!

Gotta run, and I canºt wait for today