Lots of new faces ... please introduce yourself

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Morten and Ole,

As you are both well aware, I had a nice phone call to Mikey tonight (your time) and am glad discussions are progressing, but we'll leave it at that.

Welcome to both of you and we're thrilled to have some great Danes to join us here at One of these days I have to get over there to meet Henrik Oldenberg and you four! There are actually quite a few others in your country who have been participants here on this Forum and dozens over the years that have received the newsletter.

As you will see, we have quite an international crowd here from both sides of the Atlantic. Discussions are always lively and even when we disagree, it is all in good fun and all for the love of Port!

Be well, drink well and come back often!

[Anders]

Hello

Another guy from Denmark is chekking in.

34 years old, been drinking port in 5 years. Visiting Porto. VNG and the valley 2 times in 07, and 08.
My first port was a Morgado Vintage 1987, then it was sold :)

Have some port friends, meeting drinking and having fun.

Im not that good writing English

[Eric Menchen]

Im not that good writing English

Don't worry about that. Most of us that claim it as a first language aren't that good either.

Welcome!

[Andy Velebil]

Ole and Anders,

Sorry for the delay in welcoming you, I do apologize. Welcome to it's great to have you join us in the quest for all things Port. I look forward to you sharing with us and hope you have a great time here, I know you will. Don't worry about the English thing, It's my first language and I have problems with it sometimes especially that Queens English stuff

[Morten O]

It's good to see more Danes joining - and ones from Copenhagen too :hello:

Be aware that our English and American friends have access to a much wider and cheaper selection of Port as you'll notice right away . But now that the UK pound has dropped significantly compared to the Euro/Danish Krone, it's worth considering buying port, especially VP, from England. But hey, we can always cheer up by thinking of our Scandinavian friends in Norway and Sweden that have Systembolaget and insane port prices

[Roy Hersh]

Anders,

It is really nice to have you join us and we have a very broad spectrum of 'ers from all over the Northern Hemisphere. Lots of our friends here come from places where English is their 2nd language including Europe as well as Canada and a couple who show up on rare occasion from Mexico. But your English is far better than our Danish, so please know that we appreciate your efforts and will do everything we can to help you when possible.

Now, I would like to join others who have already welcomed you here. We are truly becoming a more significant Forum in terms of participants from so many different countries who are beginners, intermediates and more established Port lovers. It matters not, as we can all learn from one another. Long ago, we chose the phrase for "Collective Port Wisdom." It continues to grow, the more diverse our community becomes.

Thanks for taking your time to join us and we look forward to having you come back and join our many conversations!

[Luc Gauthier]

A tout les amateurs de Porto provenant des pays nordique , Salut et Bienvenue

[Timothy B.]

Hi All,

My name is Timothy, and I'm here for the Madeira. :)

In the past couple years, I've been starting to learn about wine. I must be a slow learner, because I'm just barely getting past the "It tastes like wine" stage. I've been trying different varietals, and as part of an order of absinthe (a whole 'nother story), I added a bottle of Madeira to get free shipping. It may not have been a very good Madeira by the standards here - it was a Blandy Alvada 5 year - but I thought it was yummy, and when I've shared it with friends, we've all enjoyed it.

After that, given a romantic streak and that I've been reading novels where the characters drink madeira, I wanted to find out more. So here I am.

-- T

[Eric Menchen]

Welcome TImothy. So you've piqued my curiousity. What are the novels, and who is the character?
-Eric

[Andy Velebil]

Timothy,
Great to have you join us here at and I'm even more happy as I see you're a fellow L.A'er This is a fun group and the Madeira knowledge here is just amazing. no question is too small, so please ask anything and I'm sure someone will be able to help you out. Also, shoot me an email (the link to the right) and the next time we do a Port and/or Madeira gathering at my place I'll let you know. Again, welcome to the forum, I look forward to your involvement.

[Timothy B.]

Welcome TImothy. So you've piqued my curiousity. What are the novels, and who is the character?

It's the Aubrey–Maturin series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey–Maturin_series) by Patrick O'Brian. Probably, there is a mention of Madeira in 90% of the books. (Sometimes, however, it's the island, not the wine.) I recall a couple instances when Jack Aubrey tells his steward to roust out a bottle of Madeira "with the yellow seal, mind you!" - but I have idea if that has any real world significance.

I've also been re-reading the Horatio Hornblower novels, and just passed a captains' dinner on the flagship where Horatio discovers that vintage port and a cheese (of a variety that I forget) make a heavenly combination.

-- T

[Roy Hersh]

Timothy,

Sorry it has taken me some time to get back here and post again. I am glad to see you have already posted in a number of areas here and am looking forward to meeting you in March, when I get down to the LA area.

Good to know we have another Madeira lover on board. Never can have enough of 'em and I am excited that this weekend, we'll be tasting through quite a few oldies.

I hope you will enjoy your time here on

If you send me an email reminder (to: portolover@aol.com) I'd be happy to send you a copy of the current newsletter to check out too!

Cheers!

[Bob Krzeszkiewicz]

Hi, Bob Krzeszkiewicz here. C'mon..I dare you to pronounce it.

I've been drinking port for probably 20 years but never really got too in depth with it. The stores here have a pretty limited selection...that's my excuse. My knowledge is pretty limited so I have nothing to realy offer. Basically, I'm here to learn more and find out where to get my hands on some different specimens. I don't know why I didn't search for a port forum years ago. :wall:

Anyway, for affordable, every-day port (not that I drink it every day! But I wish I could!) I Iike 10 year Taylor Fladgate and Grahams tawny. Sometimes I'll grab a Dows Boardroom. Hey! It's what's on the shelves here!

I'll spend more on special occasion stock, meaning a birthday or wedding. I just got married actually, to my sweetie of 6 years, Debbie, who has became a fan after I introduced her to good port. Anyway, we opened up a 1966 Colheita by Moriera a couple weeks ago to celebrate our marriage. '66 is her birth year. I have a '47 and a '64 left.

I don't stray much from what I know tastes good to me. It's mainly tawny for us. It's hard to find LBV and Vintage where I am and I don't care for Ruby or white in the least.

I'm looking forward to new horizons now. Cheers!

[Roy Hersh]

Bob,

I didn't know they sold grapefruit juice in juice boxes down there in Houston-ish? :help:

Thanks so much for the great introduction. But who are you kidding? I know you live not that far from Speck's which is one of the great little secrets when it comes to Port wine. I've bought from them too and so have others here on this board.

We are very pleased that you did come by here as we have a nice group of friendly Port, Madeira and Douro wine lovers, but one wine at a time. Don't worry, we'll hook you up with the others too, just give us time.

The picture is appreciated. I was just talking to one of the others here from the other day about the 1966 Moreira and how it drink so much better when decanted for two weeks. Some of us look at that Port as a freakazoid, but it is a nice one ... with extended air time. Was it cloudy when you opened it up or is that what looked like the grapefruit juice in your glass.

In all seriousness, it is great to have you with us and I am sure you are going to have fun here as there are others from TX too that have been with us and who I am sure you'll get to meet in due course.

Keep on posting and letting us know more and now that you've introduced yourself, I am sure there will be others along to welcome you here to as well. Don't worry if you can't post after Tues (for 2 days) as the site will be down for some maintenance work.

Best regards and welcome aboard!

Roy

[Bob Krzeszkiewicz]

No grapefruit juice there or juice boxes. We created a few gallons of a drink called "Hot Romance" for the wedding reception and are trying to drink up the leftovers.

When I do get to travel downtown to the big Specs (we have closer locations but all carry the lower quality stuff) I've found them way overpriced. Anytime I see a Colheita for $300, I turn away. Vintage sure, but not a Colheita.

The '66 Moreira was kind of thick (in comparison to what we drink more frequently), most likely from a lot of years in the barrel, and also strong, not as smooth as I'd have preferred but that might be my fault as I did not decant it, not having one. It was mildly nutty, not much fruit, as well and pleasant tasting. The '70 Osbourne we had last month was one of the smoothest and most complex I've ever had. A definite buy again. Excuse the lack of descriptive terms, I have more learning to do.

Thanks for the welcome.

[Andy Velebil]

Bob,
Welcome to I am really glad you finally searched out a Port forum and found us. I'd say drinking Port for 20 years you've learned something along the way and you're input here is greatly welcome, and I look forward to it. Please don't hesitate to ask whatever questions you may have and please share your experiences. Don't worry about writing eloquent tasting notes, you did a nice job of describing the Moreira. So please post any tasting notes you may have in the Tasting Note section for others to read. As for the "hot romance", I think I'd stick to that bottle you're holding Again, welcome and I look forward to your involvement here

[Glenn E.]

When I do get to travel downtown to the big Specs (we have closer locations but all carry the lower quality stuff) I've found them way overpriced. Anytime I see a Colheita for $300, I turn away. Vintage sure, but not a Colheita.

Hi Bob, welcome to FTLOP.com!

Don't automatically turn away from a Colheita for $300 - some of them are just as amazing as a top-flight VP and worth every penny. For whatever reason, Colheita suffers from an image problem that is really undeserved. It's rarer than VP (roughly 1% of total Port sales by volume vs 2% for VP) and more difficult to make since it must be cellared by the producer for decades. It's also what the Portuguese drink... VP is basically a British invention.

Try the 1966 Kopke if you can find it in your price range. It's one of the best readily available Colheitas around right now. In a pinch you could go for the 1966 Porto Rocha instead, but it's not quite as good. If you're really lucky - and you'd have to be pretty seriously lucky to find it - get a bottle of the 1977 Porto Rocha. There's none left in the cellar in Vila Nova de Gaia, but you can find an occasional bottle at a retailer or distributor.

I'll warn you, however, that what Roy says is true: Moreira is a bit of an odd bird. If that's what you're used to and what you like, then you probably won't think that the Kopke and Rocha are worth the extra cost.

I have a 1937 Moreira open right now... I'm drinking it slowly so that I can see how it evolves with air over a week or more. Good stuff, but definitely different!

[Eric Menchen]

Welcome Bob!

Spec's certainly isn't competitive a lot of the time (50% more in my one spot check just now), but they showed up at least once or twice in my searches in the past (probably wine-searcher.com), so they must have a bottle or two fairly priced. In all my searching I've yet to find a single retailer, online or b&m, that has great prices across the board. Spec's certainly has a varied selection, and I bought several things from them for the FTLOP gala.

-Eric

[Bob Krzeszkiewicz]

If you're really lucky - and you'd have to be pretty seriously lucky to find it - get a bottle of the 1977 Porto Rocha. There's none left in the cellar in Vila Nova de Gaia, but you can find an occasional bottle at a retailer or distributor.

I thought I had a 77 Rocha this year, turns out it was a Kopke. I remember enjoying it but I couln't describe it now as some months have past.

I have a 1937 Moreira open right now... I'm drinking it slowly so that I can see how it evolves with air over a week or more. Good stuff, but definitely different!

It's possible to drink a bottle of port over the course of a whole week?

[Roy Hersh]

Just about anything except an older Vintage Port will have no issue holding up for an entire week. Just make sure to recork and refrigerate the bottle and the oxidation will be retarded. Works like a charm. 1/2 hour before you want to drink it, pull it out of the refrigerator.

As to the Kopke 1977, I know for sure that Kopke is out of this in cask and bottle in their Lodge's cellar in Vila Nova de Gaia. So whatever is left of this, is already in the marketplace. They were very unhappy with that but the US Importer who is located right near me, could not stop how quickly this disappeared, even after raising the price to stem the tide. I personally am concerned about a few other vintages too.