Lots of new faces ... please introduce yourself

[Lester Lee]

Thanks for the warm welcome, Andy and Roy! I'm still a relative port novice but I'm here to learn more and by the time some of my VPs are mature, I'll hopefully know that much more about them :) We'll have to have a few glasses next time you're around San Francisco.

[Andy Velebil]

We'll have to have a few glasses next time you're around San Francisco.

And same to you when you make it down to the Los Angeles / Orange County area.

[JR Anderson]

Hello everyone.

My name is JR Anderson and I live in Iowa, I was introduced to port through my job. Although I was not a wine drinker at the time I took the job as the webmaster for a new wine magazine. Over the last couple of years I have become more and more of a wine drinker and was recently introduced to port about 6 months ago. I now realize that the "port" I was given was not the best quality, it did open my eyes (and taste buds) to port.

I have enjoyed several local (produced by Iowa wineries) ports since then and have found a few that are to my liking. One day I will actually have to try a true port and find out what I have been missing. I am anxiously awaiting a tawny port from one of my favorite Iowa wineries and the wait is killing me.

I may not be able to contribute much to the forums right now, as I am still learning, but hope to learn from you all and contribute as my knowledge grows.

Cheers,
JR

[Roy Hersh]

JR,

Thanks for stopping in and taking your time to post an intro!

Trust me, it is refreshing to have lots of people new to Port here. We hope you will feel comfortable asking questions and not just reading behind the scenes. One area that I strongly suggest you do read is the Port Tasting Note Forum as there is a ton of fantastic information there.

Also it is ok, if you want to name the magazine you work for. No conflict of interest in doing so. Hopefully some of us may know it or you may wind up with some new subscribers but either way, I think it would be harmless to mention here.

Anyway, I know you are going to have fun on the homepage and strongly suggest that you check out our Video Gallery as there are so many cool things to see in there and a great and relaxing way to sit back with a glass of Port or port and watch things rather than having to read.




Roy

[David M. Bueker]

David Bueker - back after a long, forgotten login/passoword hiatus!

[Eric Menchen]

David Bueker - back after a long, forgotten login/passoword hiatus!

Welcome back. Are you sure you just didn't mistype your passoword?

And welcome JR.

[Peter W. Meek]

Welcome Dani. She was at the Ann Arbor "Gang of Port" dinner in December. Just joined tonight.

[Roy Hersh]

Of course I remember Dani as I was privileged to sit next to her! I hope she will feel comfortable posting when time is convenient.


Also, welcome back to David B. who drinks far more Port than he'll ever admit to.

[Andy Velebil]

Welcome Dani. She was at the Ann Arbor "Gang of Port" dinner in December. Just joined tonight.

Dani!!

[Sebastian T]

Hi there,
I've been lurking for some time now, posted a few times. Thought it was time for an introduction.
My name is Sebastian, 26 years old, living in Stockholm, Sweden.

My story begins in december last year with a very spontaneous visit to a jazzclub, where i tried a port. Need I say more?
Well, i will anyway. :)
I asked what port it was and got to look at the bottle, it was a Romariz 10 year old tawny.
Soon after I purchased a Barão de Vilar 10 Year Old Tawny, a 1998 Graham's Malvedos Vp and a Taylor's 10 Years Tawny.
Loved them all and realised that this is it, this is something i can explore forever.

Ive read about that slippery slope you guys talk about, and I see what you mean.
I got myself a wine storage cabinet a few weeks ago, and boy, things happen fast.
I found this forum while searching around for which wines to storage first, and landed at some point at roy's Vintage Port Forecasts and somewhere where he wrote a opinion about stocking up on the 2003 and 2000 vintages. I had googled pretty much before i came there and this was the first time i found solid homepage, a trustworthy and comprehensive guide to port. With an very active, friendly forum.

I hope to learn more and improve my collection, and in time - at least - be able to share what i know.
For one thing I want to get better at writing down my own taste notes. I have always done it before, but find it more difficult the more port's i taste, since the notes tend to look a bit to much alike, a bit not so unique. I simply lack an educated ability to narrow down in words what i smell and taste.

I have so far stored away 2003 Quinta do Noval vp, 2005 Quinta do Panascal vp, 2003 Smith Woodhouse vp and 2000 Graham vp, 12 bottles in total. With six halves of 2003 Taylor's vp on their way. On that i have several 2003 Graham LBV, and a 20 year old Fonseca tawny (not for long though).
Thinking about ordering 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio vp (priced at about 112 in USD each) to get some older ones in there too. After that, to get hold on even older vintages, i pretty much need to private import it, a probaly pretty expensive and/or complicated procedure, since Systembolaget has a monopoly on selling alcohole in Sweden. Havn't yet looked at auctions as an option though, might be able to find something that way. Also an option perhaps would be to ask my mother, currently living i california, to get me something nice when she can :)
I also feel a strong must in piling up on those 2007's. Though i'm beginning to strain my budget now, savings included. But who needs to eat anyway, right?

Anyway, that's me.
Great to be here.

[Terek Johnson]

Hello everyone. My name is Terek Johnson and I live in Portland Oregon.
I must confess that I didn't immediately fall in love with Port the first time I tried it. My family gets together for big dinners every few months, and my dad and sister always like to have a glass of Port with their dessert course. For years I'd steal a sip out of curiosity, but it never lit a fire under me. I don't recall exactly which Ports they were drinking, but they always seemed too sweet with nothing else to balance them.
However, I never gave up trying , and a few months ago I bought a bottle of Kopke 10 y.o. Tawny and the light finally clicked. Port is Good! However, there's a lot to learn. So I look forward to participating on these forums and learning all that I can. Thanks.

[Roy Hersh]

Sebastian,

What a great first post and we are most pleased to have you join us! It is great to have another Swede join us as there are dozens from your country on FTLOP either receiving the newsletter or a few that post here too.

Slowly but surely we are moving up in the Google rankings as we never made any real effort before this year and left things to progress on their own. Glad you found the homepage and like the friendliness of the Forum. I post on a half dozen wine bulletin board/Forums and typically am disappointed by how unfriendly some of those communities can be. We try hard to ensure that does not happen here.

Soon your 12 bottles will beget 12 cases and will likely become even larger. It is the nature of the Port passion that will only continue to grow as you get older. Great news is that at your age, by the time you are in your 40s and older, you will have a nice and maturing cellar. By the way, your purchases so far are very sound and it is clear you've done your homework well!

It sounds problematic to buy Port in Sweden. My suggestion is to create your own thread here in our Port Basics area and in the title put something like: Need help with buying Port in Sweden
I bet you will find some fine suggestions from others in Europe and maybe some directly in your own country. A nice way to meet up for tastings too!

Again, welcome to FTLOP and we hope you will continue to remain actively posting when you find the time.

Roy

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Terek,


to FTLOP! Nice to know there are people in Portland enjoying Port. Actually, I know quite a few who do, sadly they don't post here.

For many Port is an acquired taste and your story is not unfamiliar. Glad you finally found a Port that turned you on. Some prefer Tawny, others Vintage Port (VP) and others both. We're just happy that you have found one you enjoy. Wait until you get to the 20 year old Tawny Ports.

I hope you won't be a stranger and will feel comfortable here posting your experiences with new Ports you try or ask questions of this very friendly community which is very supportive of our participants who are new to the world of Port!

Enjoy the learning curve (and drinking curve too).

[Jeff N.]

Hi All,
First off let me thank everyone here. I've been lurking for about a month, and have learned more about port in the last few weeks than I have in the preceding many, many years! I only started to really appreciate port over the last couple years. For the longest time, my brushes with "port" were Emu 999 and 10 Year tawnies. Then about 10 years ago my wife and I were touring through the BC interior and we stopped at Sumac Ridge for a wine tasting. They had a fortified wine called Pipe and I fell in love, and whenever I found a bottle locally I bought it. Then about 3 years ago I splurged and bought a bottle of VP - a 1995 Ferreira and that blew me away.
And down that slippery slope I went! Since then, I've been trying new bottles - VPs, LBVs, Colheitas, Tawnies - whatever the budget would allow. Then along came this darned forum and my collection has almost doubled - 12 to 22 - in the past month!

So thank you to everyone for posting terrific tasting notes, and providing fantastic advice and answers. I look forward to learning more, and hopefully posting TN of my own (after a LOT more practice !).

Jeff

[Roy Hersh]

Then along came this darned forum and my collection has almost doubled - 12 to 22 - in the past month!

Hi Jeff,

We certainly do our best to occasionally get lurkers to come out of the shadows and become PORTicipants here at . As far as the slippery slope which you have been encountering, that is something we pride ourselves on here.

Thanks for introducing yourself and taking a leap of faith by posting. As I am sure you've seen, we do everything possible to make our new FTLOP'ers feel right at home and not make this exclusionary like a "clique or clubby" kind of Forum. I have seen that ugly dynamic elsewhere on the web and from Day 1 that is something we have really done very well to avoid.

So please continue to take part in discussions, study TNs of beginners as well as experts and don't be afraid to take a stab at putting down your "basic" impressions. We encourage tasting note sharing and I probably do more posting in that part of our Forum than any other. I believe it is the greatest way to learn from one another. If you see me "pushing" some members to put scores on their TNs, it is almost always because I either know them personally from here or other wine message boards, or truly believe they need a gentle move in the direction of asserting themselves by attaching a score to their TNs. It may be scary at first, but we are not here to lay judgment, and the Collective Port Wisdom is something we all can learn from ... me included.

[Espen S.]

Ok, it's time to de-lurk and join the fun.

I'm Espen from Oslo, Norway. 27 years old, pretty much a baby in the world of port. I've always liked wine, especially red, but just a few months ago I got really interested and started to read a lot, and try different wines. I still consider red wine my favourite "everyday wine".

What got me into port is a memory of the first time I ever tried it. I just got a glass of port after a great and very expensive dinner, I have no idea who made it, or the vintage.. but it was amazing! What at first seemed like a way too sweet wine with too much alcohol turned into this fruity, spicy and yet, dry-ish experience, unlike anything else.

A month or so ago I bought a 2004 Dow's LBV, and got a little bit of that feeling again, although not that intense. I'm pretty sure what I had back then was a much more mature wine, and probably a VP (one glass was pretty darn expensive). But wow... I do know I love port. Can't wait to try new wines.

My enormous collection of Vintage Port is now... 4 bottles.

[Glenn E.]

My enormous collection of Vintage Port is now... 4 bottles.

You're doomed... in a year that will be 40, and the year after that it will be 400!

Welcome to the slippery slope!

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Espen,

We have certainly had a lot of new Norwegian members over the past six months. Impressive! I am very glad you have decided to "de-lurk" and join us here for some fun discussions.

Like you, I drink mostly red wine on a daily basis, lots of Douro wines over the past few years and of course the requisite California Cab/Zin/Chard, Bdx, Burg, Rhone etc. In reality in terms of what I drink (vs. taste) is about 75% red table wine, 10% white and 15% dessert wine. When I see that over the past few years, I have around 500 TNs on Port and Madeira every year and then look at the percentage above ... I wonder how it could be possible that I have not had a sip of wine since last Friday night. But, back to you!

I truly enjoyed your recounting of your first glass of Port. It matters not that you don't remember exactly what it was as you will have many years ahead of you to remember every Port you try. Then when you reach my age, you will be glad that you write everything down, because it would be impossible to remember. Given the number of Port lovers in Norway (there are dozens who are signed up for the newsletter, no less the Forum itself) I would think you folks should put together a Port Tasting Group and get together for offlines several times a year.

As to the fact that you currently have only 4 bottles of Port in your collection; there is now written proof of that quantity and you have my personal guarantee that a year from now that you will have at least quadrupled that number if not increased it 10 fold or more. It is what we call the "FTLOP Slippery Slope." OVer the past 5 years, Forum participants have purchased thousands of cases of Port. Are you sure you want to be a part of this?

aboard, we are very happy to have you join in the fun!

[Espen S.]

Whoa, thanks for the big welcome!

As for us new Norwegians; I guess it's because so much port became available here before christmas, and all the TN's and articles on wine sites. Heck, we even have a couple of Nacional bottles now. Plus, the horrible winter probably inspired us to sit in front of the fireplace and enjoy some port.

Like most young wine drinkers, I've been into Italian and French wine.. but I'm very curious to try new wines. I had a bottle of cheap merlot from Chile, it was amazing. You'd have to pay double to get anything similar from Bordeaux, I guess... There's a big world to explore. I hear there's a lot of great wines from Portugal, they're just not that popular here.. for some reason.

I'm not afraid to become part of the Slippery Slope.

[Roy Hersh]

I can tell that you're gonna fit in here splendidly!