ROY'S TRAVEL BLOG - WHILE IN PORTUGAL

[Roy Hersh]

Eric,

You are right. Down the center of Porto ... from the Camara (city hall) to the end of that main street that connects with Rua Infante Henriques, there was a pack of cars about six blocks in length and side streets too, at midnight or so, with horns blaring, windows open/tailgates down/moon roofs open with people cramming out of every opening in their vehicles and waving flags, blowing car horns, revving motorcycle engines and blowing off fireworks. Wild scene to say the least ... and all because FC Porto won the Portugal Cup for the 4th time in history. I have had good luck being here when some incredible soccer/football events have taken place for this city and country. Sadly we did not get to watch the game.


Coincidental run in:

I am walking up a flight of stairs as a big guy is coming down with his back turned talking to someone else. The voice is unmistakably Cristiano van Zeller. It was great to see him for a two minute chat. I don't know who is busier, with a diverse palette of projects and travel, he or Dirk Niepoort?

[Roy Hersh]

2007 VPs so far (not including the TFP, Quevedo, Cockburn's/QdCanais, Portal and a handful of others with snapshot views:

* Rozes - a nice surprise
* Q d Ventozelo - modest
* Real Companhia Velha - so so
* Offley Boa Vista - better than average
* Vesuvio Capela - not as excited as some
* Warre's - a good effort
* Dow's - solid citizen
* Gould Campbell - impressive
* Smith Woodhouse - ageworthy
* Graham's - very solid
* Vesuvio - consistent pattern
* Churchill's - enjoyable
* Churchill's Q d Gricha - same score but more my style
* Royal Oporto - not sure why this was a diff label from RCV above - same score
* Ferreira - true to form
* Delaforce - was Tom right afterall?

[Marco D.]

I had to brush my teeth 3 times after my morning and evening sessions.

Be cautious with brushing immediately after a marathon tasting. Back when I was "in the business" and had to do many marathon tastings, I ran into issues with enamel errosion due to brushing after tastings.

Supossedly it is best to not brush the morning before a tasting, as the plaque protects the teeth. The acids and tannins in wine also soften the enamel in teeth and brushing immediately afterwards is not advised, as you can erode the enamel. I've heard some people rinse their mouth with milk to cleanse their palate after a marathon tasting, which not only gets the pH back in balance, it also has calcium. Then they brush their teeth later in the day.

Thanks for the blog entries... sounds like a magical trip!

[Eric Ifune]

Did the 07's of Krohn make it?

[David Spriggs]

Great job Roy! I found the 2007's to be very difficult to evaluate. They are much less obvious than the 2003's. I don't believe that a single tasting can be enough for these wines. Obviously, you know a single tasting is not enough, but I believe that your protocol of tasting over several days is very important, particularly in this vintage.
-Dave-

[Roy Hersh]

Thanks Marco. Eric I. mentioned this to me on the tour (re: enamel issues) so I appreciate the reminder. I can not go straight from tastings out to restaurants at night without brushing, however, I believe that Tums tablets are basic and may chew on those and then brush my teeth a few mins. later. Hopefully that will work.

Eric: I intentionally don't want to know what I may be tasting, even though the place that I have leased for the week, takes care of all details re: setting up the bottles, glassware etc. This includes wrapping all bottles in silver foil. However, I believe that Mr. Carneiro will be sending his samples.


David,

After now having 32 cask samples (not counting our visits, a bottle tasted before the trip or even cask samples from last fall) I totally understand your difficulty with 2007 cask samples. I am usually averaging four hour sessions to get through 16 bottles and doing that four times with each group of bottles. Daunting to say the least.

[Roy Hersh]

Due to the London Wine and Spirits Trade Fair this week, there were not enough members of The Factory House to do lunch yesterday. Instead, I joined some folks including George Sandeman for lunch at a local Gaia restaurant not too far from where I am working this week. It was great to see him and he has just returned from the Fair in London. Lots of interesting discussions, to say the least.

After lunch I returned for another session of tasting with some outstanding and a few other bottles which were less exciting. I am starting to get a very good sense of this vintage overall at this point.

After work, I had been invited to the home of David Guimaraens and hung out with he and his family. I had a nice tour of his wine cellar which as you can imagine, is well stocked with copious quantities of Port. HIs wife is an excellent cook and each course was matched with some stellar table wine from Quinta do Crasto. That was the case because their winemaker, Tomas Roquette (brother of Miguel) and his wife were also over for the evening. Quite a party ensued, with some stellar Crasto juice and then came dessert/Port/cigars etc. A really fun time and the 2nd time in less than a week having the 1977 Fonseca. David's bottle showed much better than the one we had at Panascal last week. We discussed that issue too and he explained the light vs. dark bottles that we discuss here on mentioning that bottles stored in the UK typically have the much darker color and those stored in Portugal for a longer period of time are seemingly lighter. I am still confused because from the same cases I have at home, I have one dark and the next bottle from that same case is light. Who knows. Anyway, this bottles was medium ruby in color with bricking on the edge, but color aside, it was a gorgeous showing of that wine.

Well my friends, after retasting the 2nd batch of 16 (2007s) again today, between 10:30 and 3 p.m. I had a late lunch and am taking a break before returning at 6 p.m. to taste this batch one last time. Tomorrow a.m. I begin on a new grouping ... Tedo showed up today ... so that is the only one I know will be in the last group. I wonder if I'll be able to pick it out of the lineup.

I am not good at doing so. But before leaving to return to my Ports let me first relay a great story. There were a few flawed bottles in the lineup last night. As David G. was picking me up, I asked him to try them. He agreed that all three were not right and fortunately I have back up bottles of almost every one. Since they all had the foil on them, he picked up something in one of them and said it was the Croft bottling due to a certain aroma he knew quite well from that particular 2007. To humor me, I tore off the foil and then bowed deeply ... as he nailed it! Quite impressive, especially considering the bottle was not correct. An amazing feat which I know I could never do. That is why he is one of the greatest Port makers in Portugal today. Fortunately, when I came in this a.m. the other two flawed bottles along with the Croft, had all been replaced.

Now ... back to work, as it is nearly 6 p.m. here and I hope to be done before 11 tonight. A late night dinner will be my reward.

[Eric Ifune]

Roy, you are doing yeomans work!

[Glenn E.]

Roy, I sent you a PM since you're avoiding email as much as possible.

I can't really imagine trying to taste that many brand new vintage ports in that short of a time. I'm sure my head would implode from the pucker caused by all those tannins!

[Andy Velebil]

Whats all this being nice to Roy stuff...hey Roy, who said you could take food and computer breaks and what's this sleep thing you mentioned. Now get back to work tasting all those VP's, we're all anxiously awaiting the results US> <Roy

[Roy Hersh]

Andy,

I feel like the grape being stepped on by the elephant, squealing: "Beat me, stomp me, make me wine (er ... whine)!"

My livers is fine, I just need a new tongue. Sleep? Most nights I am tasting through 11 or 11:30 p.m. from just after breakfast, with a short lunch break and 1/2 hour a day on the computer. Last night I got to my favorite little 24 hour restaurant on the Gaia Cais at midnight after walking the long hike downhill. Then walked back to my Pensao by Infante Sagres and was in bed by nearly 2 a.m.. Sleep? That's highly overrated.

Today, I've begun the final 17 bottles, one of which is a replacement for a bottle that was not showing well. It is a spectacular sunny and warm day here. I wish I knew how to upload photos into a thread to show you the room where I am doing this and my little daily set up, which has been honed to a science.

44 hours left in the motherland. About 3 days too short for my liking, but I miss my wife and daughter and look forward to getting home too.

[Eric Menchen]

I wish I knew how to upload photos into a thread to show you the room where I am doing this and my little daily set up, which has been honed to a science.

That is actually pretty easy. Below the "Preview" and "Submit" buttons you see when you add your message, you'll see two tabs, "Options" and "Upload attachment". Click on the "Upload attachment" tab, then browse for your file and click the "Add the file" button. Viola.

[Glenn E.]

I wish I knew how to upload photos into a thread to show you the room where I am doing this and my little daily set up, which has been honed to a science.

Use the image tag around the URL for the picture. (You'll have to upload the picture to a photo site like PhotoBucket... PORTraits doesn't appear to allow image linking.) Here's an example:

[Glenn E.]

I wish I knew how to upload photos into a thread to show you the room where I am doing this and my little daily set up, which has been honed to a science.

That is actually pretty easy. Below the "Preview" and "Submit" buttons you see when you add your message, you'll see two tabs, "Options" and "Upload attachment". Click on the "Upload attachment" tab, then browse for your file and click the "Add the file" button. Viola.

LOL... I'd never noticed that before! Yeah, that would work too.

[Derek T.]

I wish I knew how to upload photos into a thread to show you the room where I am doing this and my little daily set up, which has been honed to a science.

That is actually pretty easy. Below the "Preview" and "Submit" buttons you see when you add your message, you'll see two tabs, "Options" and "Upload attachment". Click on the "Upload attachment" tab, then browse for your file and click the "Add the file" button. Viola.

LOL... I'd never noticed that before! Yeah, that would work too.

Eric/Glenn,

I can tell you from first hand experience that Roy will be sitting in Porto reading your instructions over and over again scratching his head and with a stunned look on his face and glazed eyes thinking "why do these guys have to write instructions in Greek?" - old dogs and new tricks are never a good combination :wall: :help:

My prediction is that photos from Roy will not appear here any time soon

[Roy Hersh]

Derek is correct, at least not for today! :help:



Yesterday I began the final flights towards finishing off my 2007 Vintage Port explorations and evaluations. Bottles #32-49 plus one Port that was a redux due to an inferior bottling.

18 bottles 2x yesterday was really pushing the envelope. I took a nice leisurely lunch in between sessions, a much needed and reinvigorating break. I found myself really liking a few of these new 2007 VPs tremendously. Just 2 more sessions on Saturday and my job would be done for now.

I packed up 2 dozen samples (second bottles from some producers) into styrofoam inserts and taped them into DHL cardboard. Getting them on the plane ... IF ... I am allowed to do so, will be a challenge if not a very expensive one. Getting those 24 bottles into the USA in addition to the 9 bottles that I bought in Porto and Madeira, for a total of 33 bottles, will be the most I have tried since 3 full cases on my way back from So. Africa earlier in the decade and 2 cases from Italy in 2000 and 2 cases from Port in 2003.

I have a feeling that I may pay for these to get onboard and then have them confiscated by US Customs, even though I am happy to pay the duty and penalties to get them back in. It will take a stroke of luck and very calm and persistent dialogue with these governmental agents. Wish me luck!

Last night I went to a friend's home for dinner, Dan Carbon who you all read about 2 months ago in the very first segment of Port Personalities in Focus. He is the head of the marketing department for the Symington Family Estates and a great guy. We drove to his home in a seaside village on the Gaia side of the Douro, right near the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean.

Dan commented that a couple of his neighbors still did not have electricity or plumbing in their homes. Now this was a nice, quaint fishing village where his neighbors were mostly fisherman or builders of fishing boats. It may seem amazing that just a couple of kilometers away from Porto/Gaia, time has stood still since the beginning of the last century.

Dan had his adorable young son Jack with him and we had fun watching him chase some wild birds and then play with a couple of the neighborhood kids, before going into his charming home. He and his lovely wife Shannon, (they also have an infant daughter who I did not get to meet as she was already asleep, and a happy go lucky yellow lab) live in a modern home, with walls 3' thick made of ancient stone. Great insulation and even better for Dan's unique wine cellar which was fascinating to check out!

We started with some fine appetizers of great dry cured ham which we never see the likes of in the USA. Great stuff. Our drinking began with 2005 and 2006 Pinalta DOC Douro wines which I had brought along to add to the fun. The 2005 has become a really gorgeous wine over the last year or two and so much better than when I tried it as a cask sample. It has fleshed out beautifully and has great body and an earthy, almost sous bois character and sexy texture which was fabulous. I must find more. The 2006 took a while to open up but it really improved significantly. However, I liked the 2005 quite a bit more and if you are able to find a case, you'd be doing yourself a favor. I think the 2006 still needs more time as an hour into it, it was starting to shine as well, but we had other wines to drink too.

We then dove into the 2003 Chryseia and 2007 (I believe it was '07 and not the '06) version as well. The 2003 has really integrated and the oak nuances that I had issues with early on, were no longer a distraction. This went beautifully with the lamb dish that Shannon cooked for us. In fact it really brought out the flavors quite nicely. The younger one was also pretty nice but showed Chryseia's tendency towards a significant oak regimen. We had so many fun wines on the table, just what I needed (non-fortified wines!) to enjoy with our meal and we sat talking about a plethora of topics until way later than we ever realized.

Dessert was wonderful for my palate which sorely needed something "basic" (as compared to acidic) so the ice cream really hit the spot and the ripe fresh red berries that Shannon served along with a bottle of Port that Rupert Symington had offered to Dan for our post prandial pleasure. A very rare, 1964 Malvedos Vintage Port. A first for me and it belied its age by the color alone and was a gorgeous Port. I had guessed 1967 SQVP, so I was not too far off. It had such sumptuous fruit along with some tertiary notes of toffee and caramel on the finish. But it was the seamless texture which had us drinking it until nary a splash was left in the decanter. Lip smacking greatness!

Time to head home, as it was nearly 4 a.m. by the time I got back to the hotel. I hope my very gracious and generous hosts were able to sleep in today. I was up before 10 a.m. and after a quick shower, walked over to my tasting room in the upper hills of Gaia, a nice head clearing walk. I am now in between my two sessions of the final 18.

Lunch today was delicious and much appreciated. I am not sure what I am going to do or where I'll go for my last night in country. I thought about Vinologia, but am not sure I'll need or want any more Port. I have to be up at 4 a.m. to make it to the airport for my early Sunday morning flight back to be reunited with my family after nearly 3 weeks away. As much as I love it here, I'm excited to get home again.

[Roy Hersh]

34 bottles have safely made it back home to the USA. Although TAP airlines gave their very best performance to prevent this from happening, your humble and most persistent narrator, carried the day. Not to be outdone by airlines bureaucrats, nonetheless the true challenge remained "convincing" the vigilant protectors of the US borders, our US Customs servicemen and women. A sound plan of action was practiced along the journey overseas and Hersh was ready for questioning and was not to be disappointed. After warnings and threats of having to pay duty "next time" or worse (heck, paying some duty was the least of my concern) ... face confiscation, he sailed through the Port barriers, sated by this momentous victory.

[Glenn E.]

Way to go! Welcome back to the good ol' USA, Roy.

[Eric Menchen]

Congrats to you Roy. I was going to wish you luck, but happily it was not needed. Those customs agents have given me a hard time before. I'll gladly pay a duty as necessary--let's just not argue about it.

[Andy Velebil]

YAHOO! way to go Roy