For The Love Of Port

I'd love to hear your opinions on this ...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 89552.html


In a quick side swipe:
100 kms. from Porto is accurate, but "more than three hours" to get to the vineyards? Was the journo using a canoe?

Sounds just like every other article on Port and Douro. "Can't understand why it is not more popular and more expensive" is a repeating theme. Port will have its day, I am not worried.

If port is to crack Asia, they should package and promote in a way that makes sense for that market. There are strategies to entice the Chinese consumer and so far I haven't seen anyone create bottles to reflect this. It's bound to happen. There are few producers who think "outside the box" when it comes to labels and presentation. I think they are in a position to gamble.

I hope it never "takes off" in China. I have seen what Chinese demand has done to the price of aged and rare Cuban cigars. They are willing to pay ridiculous prices for status symbol items.

Luke W wrote:I hope it never "takes off" in China. I have seen what Chinese demand has done to the price of aged and rare Cuban cigars. They are willing to pay ridiculous prices for status symbol items.

They'll buy the Gran Reservas right off your avatar for double the price.

Roy Hersh wrote: In a quick side swipe:
100 kms. from Porto is accurate, but "more than three hours" to get to the vineyards? Was the journo using a canoe?

Uh maybe it was the slow train and he took it from Oporto to the last stop before Spain Oh wait, I may have just figured it out, he never actually went into the Douro (See bottom quote about the "203 - kilometer journey")

Today, port is made by running off half of the fermented red wine while it still contains half of its grape sugar into a container filled with a little brandy. This stops the fermentation, but to gain color, the grape skins have to be trod.

I'm a little confused here; I've always seen them add the brandy to the port, and what happens to the other 1/2 of the Port not put into the container.

Mr. Bridge argues that sales at the commodity end of the port market are under pressure. He is referring to the cheapest port, which is aged for less than a year in a cask and sold soon after bottling.

At the Sao Bento station in Oporto, trains still depart for the 203-kilometer journey up the valley, hugging the banks of the Rio Douro,

I've figured out his 3+ hour journey. He read somewhere it was about 200 some kilometers from Oporto to some city in Spain and figured it'd take about 3+ hours to get there.

I split the CIGAR DISCUSSION TO HERE