First Post: Need some recommendations

[Claus P]

Hi all!

Just found this site and forums a couple of days ago.

I am thinking about making my first major (for my income) purchase of ports, and would appreciate any input on the wines I'm considering:

Burmester 10 years old tawny $15

Burmester 1997 vintage $20

Croft 2003 vintage $65-70

Vale meao 2003/04/07 $60

The Burmester I have to order 12 the others can be bought by the bottle.



I guess I should say a bit about myself aswell:

I am 35 years old from Denmark and have been interested in wine and ports the last 5 years but only now have the money to start putting things in the cellar.

I hope to be able to contribute to the forums in the future.


Cheers
Claus

[Glenn E.]

Hi Claus, welcome to FTLOP!

The 2007 Quinta do Vale Meao is very good. If I could find it here in the US for $60/bottle I'd buy at least 6.

The 2003 Croft is also good, but I like the Vale Meao more so I probably wouldn't pay more for the Croft.

The others I have never had, so I can't really comment. $15 for the Burmester 10 Year Old Tawny is a very good price, though, so if you like Tawny that's probably worth buying. 10 Year Old Tawnies here usually cost $25 to $35.

[Luc Gauthier]

Salut Claus ,
Don't forget to try some 20 yr old tawnys and colheitas . . .

[Ronald Wortel]

Hi Claus, you have some nice choices there.

At $20 it is hard to go wrong with the Burmester. I haven't had this particular vintage but did drink the 2000, 1995 and 1994. All are early drinkers, not spectacular, but nice enough. At the time, I bought a case of the 1995 at 17 euro a bottle. I used it as a regular drinker and it gave lots of pleasure. You could do the same with the 1997.

Vale Meao: I didn't taste the 2007, but I know Glenn can't stop saying how great it is, so you probably can't go wrong there. Of the other two I like the 2004 better. 2003 is overripe and out of balance IMO, and 2004 is just lovely, and capable of ageing at least 15-20 more years.

Croft 2003: This is an epic port, and one for the long haul. Don't expect it to be very pleasant for current drinking though!

If you buy the Burmester 10YO, please keep in mind that it is for current drinking and not for cellaring. It's been a while since I had it, but it used to be a decent glass of port.

Hope this is of any help!

[Thomas Tideman Holst]

Hi Claus,
I've bought 12 bottles of the Burmester VP 97 myself. I haven't tasted it yet, but I feel you cannot go wrong at this price (99 dkr at philipsonwine).
Worst case scenario will be 12 bottles of potentially super port reduction.

I bought a few bottles 2007 Quinta do Vale Meao, and as Glenn said it's very good.
Had a bottle on saturday, and it was a very impressive drink. In fact my best port experience since the 2005 VP.
For me this was a very approachable fruit bomb, and is ready to drink if you like young VP.
I will propably drink all of my bottles now, as I am not sure about it's ageing potential.

[Claus P]

Hi all

Thank you very much for the input and the warm welcome to the forums.

I ordered both the Burmester today and will make sure to make a TN when I get a chance to taste them.

Right now I am leaning towards the '07 Vale Meao for the long term cellaring, but I would like to hear input from anybody else on this matter.


Claus

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Claus,

Sorry I did not get to respond before your purchase. to and we hope that you will continue to come back and share with us, learn along with the rest of us and be a part of our collective Port wisdom. There are a number of your countrymen who are participants here from time to time so I hope at some point you will get to meet them. Now to your question:

Burmester 10 years old tawny $15 - have only had it once (while visiting) and it was a good quality and the price is very very low, so I'd buy a few.

Burmester 1997 vintage $20 - I find their VPs very solid and they have been for many years. At this price, I'd buy a case and have it as an everyday drinker for a while.

Croft 2003 vintage $65-70 - Reasonably priced for one of the all time great (although v. young) vintage Ports. This will drink well for the rest of your life!

Vale meao 2003/04/07 $60 - The 2004 is very very good and I just reviewed the 2003 and 2004 in the current newsletter. I like the 2004 better and agree with Ronald on that one. The 2007, I've had was tied for the 2nd/3rd position out of all of the 63 Vintage Ports I tried from the 2007 vintage.

I don't know if this is too late to help your buying decision but I am looking forward to reading more of your posts when you find time. Very nice to have you with us!



The Burmester I have to order 12 the others can be bought by the bottle.

[Claus P]

Hi roy

Thanks for the welcome

I received the 24 bottles of Burmester today and will probably try the tawny over the weekend.


Almost sure I will be going with the Vale Meao for cellaring. It is the easiest at it is from my local portugese wineshop, so I can just pick up the amount I want over the next 6months or so.

Thanks for the help
Claus

[Roy Hersh]

Clau,

Please do us one small favor: if you do try a bottle this weekend, please write up a tasting note in our Tasting Note Forum. A score would be great too, but even if you don't do that, please at least provide us with your basic impressions.

[Moses Botbol]

I'd go for the Burmester '97; that is the best deal to really kick start your cellar.

There will be other deals, so don't jump the gun just yet.

[Moses Botbol]

Almost sure I will be going with the Vale Meao for cellaring. It is the easiest at it is from my local portugese wineshop, so I can just pick up the amount I want over the next 6months or so.

You should ask them if you can go through their catalogs to see what else is available. Find out who their distributors are and check their stock. Many times there's great stuff just sitting, brands the store owner is unaware, or never heard of.

[Claus P]

Hi again

Been out of the house for a couple of days.

Roy I will post a note on the wines as soon as I get to taste them.

Moses I did by the 97 and the tawny 10.

The shop that has the Vale Meao is a portuguese wine and port shop so I will try and ask if they have any other ports lying around.

By the way if anybody are interested in some old colheitas from burmester you should check out philipsonwine.com for some nice offers.
It is all bottled dec 09 or jan 10.


Claus

[Eric Menchen]

The 1955 Burmester Colheita is wonderful. Since it appears they've been bottling lately, I wonder if anything will make it to the US.

[Glenn E.]

The 1955 Burmester Colheita is wonderful. Since it appears they've been bottling lately, I wonder if anything will make it to the US.

I hope so! I'd grab a bottle or two of that if it's not outrageously expensive.

[Claus P]

Hi Glenn

The 1955 is about 130US and is sold only in lots of 3, so it is a bit out of my range whether it is a good price or not

Claus

[Glenn E.]

That seems reasonable to me for a 1955. I don't know if I'd want to buy 3, though... that's what makes it expensive. Hopefully we'll get some over here, too!

[Eric Menchen]

Sounds like we need to split a triple between us. Too bad we can't just easily ship two from Denmark.

[Claus P]

Erik

I wolud be up for that some time in the future, right now I can get 3-4 other good bottles for that price and try and get an idea for what I like most.
I have some friends that travel to the US on a regular basis so I'm sure transportation could be arranged. I'll keep an eye on the website, but I'm sure they will keep these prices for a while.

Claus