Lots of new faces ... please introduce yourself

[Nuno a]

Welcome Nuno! Thanks for participating. Keep the posts coming. I will be in Portugal next week and can't wait to be there! How many bottles do you have? So far I have seen that you have a very fine collection.

i have + - 200 bottles vintages

And I have a wine distribution company

[David Spriggs]

i have + - 200 bottles vintages

And I have a wine distribution company

Ah! Muito Bem! I'm sure you see some very fine offerings!

[Nuno a]

i have + - 200 bottles vintages

And I have a wine distribution company

Ah! Muito Bem! I'm sure you see some very fine offerings!

yes

[Roy Hersh]

Nuno,

to ... we are always pleased to have people from Portugal join us here. I am very excited to be visiting your country yet again, this coming weekend. It is a great place and so very welcoming.

I hope you are enjoying your time here on FTLOP and will continue to share with us, your experiences and tasting notes which are well written. I look forward to meeting you someday.

[Andy Velebil]

Hello! My name is Nuno A. and I live in Portugal, Lisbon, i have a lot bottles of port

Nuno,
Welcome to the forum, its great to have you with us. Sorry for the delay in welcoming you, but Im ive been in the Douro Valley since last weekend and not had computer access till now. Look forward to hearing more from you soon.

[Eric S]

Hi Everyone,

I'm Eric and . I'm a university professor and I was first introduced to Vintage Port wine about 10 years ago at a professional conference by some of my colleagues from other countries. It was an amazing experience compared to any other drink I had ever had up to that point. This same group of colleagues also introduce me to other drinks, but the port always remained me favorite.

So, I've decided that I'd like to begin a collection of vintage port wines, but realize that I have much to learn . I seem to like collecting things , so port wine will be my fourth or fifth "collection." I guess the trouble is that all of the things I like to collect end up being relatively expensive.

I've been poking around here at for the past few weeks, and have enjoyed learning from each of you!

[Peter W. Meek]

Hi Everyone,

I'm Eric ...

I think you will fit right in. We are all learning and all enjoy both drinking and getting to know more about port.

[Roy Hersh]

Eric,

We're very glad you have joined us and hope you will enjoy learning and sharing too.

By chance do you remember what your first bottle of Port was that hooked you?

Starting out with a propensity for Vintage Port is exactly how I started and now I enjoy as much Tawny & Colheita as Vintage Port. Keep an open mind along the journey down the Port path!

to !

[Andy Velebil]

Eric,

to the forum. This group will have no problem helping you to make Port your #1 hobby Please feel free to ask any questions you may have, no matter how small or trivial you may think it is. This is a low key group that loves to share their knowledge with others.

[Eric S]

By chance do you remember what your first bottle of Port was that hooked you?

Sadly, I don't remember all of the specifics. For some reason, I'm remembering a date from the middle 1980's, but I can't remember the specific house. I'm wishing I'd paid more attention now... I just remember that is was nothing short of magic.

[Paul Fountain]

Hi All,
I'm Paul and I live in Melbourne Australia.
I'm partial to wine in general, but have long enjoyed fortified wines but I've probably spent a few years distracted by muscat and tokay/topaque (as they now call it).
I can condense my my interest in Port to 3 specific events.
The first was a 20 year old Australian vintage fortified I tried when I was around 20 (most Australian port style fortifeds are pretty ordinary but there are a few that are decent).
I got to vist Porto in 2008 as part of a larger tour of the Iberian Peninsula and took the chance to visit some of the Port houses. The standout of the trip was a 1991 Quinta do Vargellas 1/2 bottle consumed at Taylors (not all by me).
Earlier this year, I went to a Quinta do Noval tasting where I got to try the 97 and 05 Silval, the 2003 LBV and VP and the 1980 Nacional.
Both my collection and my knowledge are small, but growing.
One thing I've noticed is Port is an expensive hobby here in Australia as I suspect we pay a lot more than some other parts of the world for Port in our retail stores, but I've managed to pick a few bottles up at the auctions. We don't get a huge range either.

cheers

Paul

[Eric Menchen]

Let me also welcome both Eric and Paul here. Stick around and hopefully you will enjoy it.

[Andy Velebil]

Paul,

to the forum and thanks for the introduction. Have no worries about your collection, this group will help you to expand it faster than you could imagine. Although I have heard prices in Australia are quite expensive, so hopefully you can get some good deals at auctions.

Are you able to buy wine abroad and ship it into your area? If so it may be worth looking into so you can get it cheaper and have a wider variety to chose from.

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Paul,

On Friday night a guy from Penfolds joined us for a really fun tasting after our main event with 2007 VPs and Douro wines. He was saying the exact same thing about having a hard time finding top Ports and at anything resembling reasonable pricing when he's back in Australia. We had a fun time discussing Para port too.

Paul, it is good to have someone from the So. Hemisphere here to join us and we are pleased you've found us and hope you will continue to enjoy revisiting this site and sharing your experiences and asking questions too.

[Paul Fountain]

Thanks for the welcome Roy, Andy and Eric,
I've learn't a lot so far just reading through the forums so far but it does sound like it's an expensive hobby for us Australians. I guess I'll get used to that. The auctions have been good so far - last round of bidding netted me some vargellas 05, a taylors 03 and two Warres (an 85 and a 94). I figure I'll crack open the 85 and be patient with the rest.
The Para is certainly the most recognised Australian port style and also the most traded on the secondary markets.
I hope you hit the Penfolds guy up for some Grange or 707 - its probably heresy but I prefered the 707 when I tried them a couple of weeks ago!

[Roy Hersh]

After a long night with 2007 VPs and Douro wines and an amazing dinner, we went out to another restaurant afterwards. He was not at the main gig, but brought along a 2005 Grange. We had been there for an hour or more and he sat down and we were several bottles into round 2. He started to peel off the capsule and just before he began to remove the cork, I told him to please NOT open the 2005 Grange. Up there in Alberta, this was like a 350-400 dollar bottle of wine ... with zero chance for decanting and we all know what a monster Grange could be. I assume working for the winery it did not cost him anything. However, I just could not see him "wasting that great bottle" and although shocked, he put his bottle away.

I have very limited experience with Para port. My first was the gorgeous 1899, tasted just after release in 2000 ... and that was quite an epiphany for me!

[Paul Fountain]

It was about 15 years too early for the Grange anyway.
Your limited experience with the Para certainly outshines mine! It's Australia's version of a Colhieta I guess.
I haven't had it for a while, and I haven't had anything that old, so you've inspired me to go find some now!
It won't be the 1899 though - I don't have that much money! I found an 1878 going for AU $1950 a bottle
There are a few about from the 1930s and 40s that aren't badly priced

[Claus R]

Hi all,

My name is Claus and I've only been on the Port-pipes for 2 months. I live in Denmark where, apparently, there a few Port Societies around
I'm normally a whisky (Scottish Single Malt) drinker/collector (around 300 bottles) having been into that for almost 10 years, and strangely enough it's also whisky that turned me onto Port.

I head a whiskyclub with around 100 members and it was during a tasting of whiskies matured in different cask types, my love fell on Port.
What we did was serve a whisky that had matured in Ex-Fino, Olososo and PX sherry casks and serve a pouring of the original product along with the whisky in question. Finally, after visiting Madeira, we also tasted a 20yo Glendronach matured in old Tawny Port casks (house unknown) - but along side that we served a Taylor's 30yo Tawny...and that completely sold me!

Now, being on good terms with the local winedealer I quickly got around to trying some other Ports and again I was sold!

Now my 2 months into Port has brought me 15 bottles from 4 different Vintages and Colheitas + a couple of older ones (going to seek advice on those elsewhere in this forum). Guess I found a new spirit love

Regards,
Claus

[Roy Hersh]

HI Claus,

That is certainly an interesting intro to Port.

Sounds like the beginnings of a beautiful new hobby, with a beverage that is diverse and delicious. Welcome to our forum and we hope you will share your experiences with the Ports you try.

Thanks!

[Paul G]

HI,
my name is Paul, I'm 26 and from Austria! I just found my love for Ports just again. And it fits perfectly to my pipes!:)
I just finished my BA in Entrepreneurship and I'm working on my MA at Executive Management. :)

I'm looking foreward having some interessting discussions and learn a lot about Port!:)

Maybe I'll find some guy from Austria here too..:) So that we could exchange or share some Ports, because I do not have a lot at the moment and want to taste a lot of course..:) f.e. I never ever tasted a real vintage!:)

Greetz
Paul