2009 Port Harvest Tour "Blog"

[Jan-Tore Egge]

Great reports, folks. Thanks. Wish I'd been there.

[Roy Hersh]

Today was a most unusual day. By ten a.m. dressed in a suit and tie, I headed to the IVDP to meet with the new President for a private 2 hour meeting, introducing and discusssing many a topic. Mario joined me and was there to insure the translations were clear and exactly as expected.

We met up with Derek and had lunch with Dominic Symington and had a very nice time. It was great to see Dominic and to hear his opinion on so many fun topics.

Derek and I then bid adieu to both Dominic and Mario who was in a rush to get back home.

We then went to lunch part 2, with wine impressario Miguel Corte-Real from Cockburn's and had a slew of great great white, LBV, VP (1977) and other fun wines like the Niepoort Moscatel and the 1912 Verhelho which I had brought along for him to try.

Derek and I remained after Miguel had to leave and polished of that stellar 1977 Cockburn's "Crusted" Port and then as he was in a semi-rush to head to the airport, we popped over to say goodbye to our friends at Vinologia. I brought the last 4 ounces of the Madeira along and it was Goncalo's first taste of Madeira and the gal behind the counter too ... by far the oldest wine they've tasted which is fun. Jean-Phillipe seemed to really like it too. We hung out just about 15 minutes but were slathered by about 5 Port samples in that time frame. We hiked back to the hotel and Derek grabbed his bags and headed back to the UK.

I must say that although it flew by, it was absolutely great spending the past couple of days with Derek!

I went out for pizza ... alone and had a couple of beers and am now back at the hotel. I've got an early a.m. flight and upon return will be fully immersed in my writing and also some cool photos here on Portraits and posting more frequently.

See you all soon!

[Derek T.]

What a great weekend!

I was in Portugal for only 60 hours and managed to meet up with Oscar and his family, David Ely, Roy, Andy, Mario, Rute Monteiro, Joao Tamagnini-Belo, Louisa Fry, Dominic Symington, Miguel Corte-Real, Goncalo and Jean-Phillipe. I reached as far as Feradossa so was able to see Vargellas, Canais and Vesuvio once again and enjoyed 30 degree heat on all three days with no cloud or rain. I counted 26 different ports in my tasting book on the way home. A very cool trip and great to see so many friends

Derek

[Andy Velebil]

Today Roy and Derek drop by to say goodbye, i met Derek for the first time, the three of us made the farewell from Porto-Portugal with a nice tasting, of course a nice mug of Golden White 1952 bottled this month and we tasted the 30y and Over 40y old cask samples from Lamelas and the result of the tasting was unanimous:
30y old : seems a Over fourty with a nice nose, complexity and delayed aftertaste...
Over 40y Old : needs more caramel and toffee flavours, a too much acidity, worst than the 30y old.

Unfortunately my brother Gustavo is in England and of course he was not able to join us

Untill May for more cask samples tasting...

Yes the 30 year old was far better than the 40 IMO.

Goncalo,
Again, many thanks for everything it made the trip really special. Until we meet again next time, Cheers

[Andy Velebil]

What a great weekend!

I was in Portugal for only 60 hours and managed to meet up with Oscar and his family, David Ely, Roy, Andy, Mario, Rute Monteiro, Joao Tamagnini-Belo, Louisa Fry, Dominic Symington, Miguel Corte-Real, Goncalo and Jean-Phillipe. I reached as far as Feradossa so was able to see Vargellas, Canais and Vesuvio once again and enjoyed 30 degree heat on all three days with no cloud or rain. I counted 26 different ports in my tasting book on the way home. A very cool trip and great to see so many friends

Derek

Just got home after two very long flights and being up for over 26 hours now. Time for bed, but just wanted to say thanks Derek for flying down to visit for the day since I couldn't make it to the UK this go around. We had a marvelous time and drink lots of Port, wine, and a great old Madeira.

[Derek T.]

just wanted to say thanks Derek for flying down to visit for the day

As you know, I don't take much persuading to visit our second home

The £56 I paid Ryanair for the return flight from the UK was a worthwhile investment

...it cost me more for the taxi rides in and out of Porto

[Glenn E.]

The £56 I paid Ryanair for the return flight from the UK was a worthwhile investment

...it cost me more for the taxi rides in and out of Porto

Wow, I wish I could fly to Portugal for $100! I'd be there every weekend!!!

[Eric Ifune]

We then went to lunch part 2, with wine impressario Miguel Corte-Real from Cockburn's and had a slew of great great white, LBV, VP (1977) and other fun wines like the Niepoort Moscatel and the 1912 Verhelho which I had brought along for him to try.

I'm assuming the Verdelho is the D'Oliveria which is a nice bring along bottle.

[Derek T.]

Wow, I wish I could fly to Portugal for $100!

...and I wish we still lived in the days when £56 was worth $100

[Jan-Tore Egge]

Looks like the euro will soon overtake the pound. Quite shocking.