For The Love Of Port

Well, it has been 2.5 years and our buddy has just over 50 posts?

Of course I know Chris well enough. Even have photos of his wife. But regardless of that, Lindsay still has to first step up his game.

I am intrigued and have interest but, like others, would depend on dates and my finances at that time.

Marco,

Just a quick message to say that I re-read your guest corner article, yet again last night and must say it was one of the best GC articles I've ever published (not to mention the least edits required of any!). Really impressive and I would rate it a solid 99 points.

In all seriousness, it was a stellar read, absolutely captivating and I couldn't stop until I tasted everyone of the wines you wrote about, through reading your prosaic descriptions. Thank you again!

High praise indeed, thanks for the kind words!

We need to get together more often. Any chance you might do another all-Madeira trip again in future years?

Roy Hersh wrote:Well, it has been 2.5 years and our buddy has just over 50 posts?

Of course I know Chris well enough. Even have photos of his wife. But regardless of that, Lindsay still has to first step up his game.

I definitely need to get my post count up. I was actually planning to drink some port tonight and post a tasting note, but my throat started feeling scratchy just before dinner and by the time we got out of our movie this evening a full blown cold had set in. Ugh. Anyone want some tea tasting notes?

I hope my fellow fortified wine drinking brothers and sisters are enjoying better health tonight.

Never have had the pleasure, Roy, but as you know it would be for me a lifetime event, especially since we first met over two bottles Barbieto Malmsey 1900.

The practical part of the organizing is something I'd be only guessing at. Who provides the Madiera? The guests, or the organizer? If the latter, is there room for individual contributions?

I know costs are too early to think about at this time, but it would help me to be able to set aside what would be needed. How many thousands are we talking here?

John,
What generally occurs is that an individual contributes one of the bottles for the tasting. Roy generally vets the wines beforehand to avoid any duplicates.
Send me an email once we get the dates set.

And, Eric, to ask an apparently embarassing question right up front, how can I be sure I won't choose a bottle that doesn't belong on the table with the others? This is pretty heady company for me. I think I have a good 'un I would love to bring, but....?

Usually Roy does the vetting.

Any date yet for this gathering?

Working on that.

I have the dates now carved in stone, which will appear in this post. I will not get to actual planning until the first week in February, however, I will update this thread at least weekly from here to there.

But as importantly, here's the ground rules for the weekend:

a. Maximum of 16 people at each event, the status of which will appear (guest list for Sat. and Sun.) in the very first post on page 1.
b. Priority will be given to those who are able to attend both events and are subscribers to FTLOP's newsletter. Beyond that, first come/first served. You may still attend just one or the other event, but those seeking to come for both will be placed higher on the guest list and it is theoretically possible to be bumped, if everyone comes for both events.
c. Logistics will be dealt with in Feb., as I am in the midst of planning 5 tours during January and have a very full plate. That being said, events will commence at either 1:00 or 2 p.m. on both days. Likely duration with be 4.5-5 hours with dinner to follow. That provides people time to sleep in, enjoy Seattle (one if not both events will likely be held in the city ... but, not sure yet) have breakfast, lunch or brunch ahead of time etc.
d. The Saturday event will encompass bottlings from $150-$400+ and Sunday will be at the next level, $500+ without an upper limit.
e. No sharing of pours (by spouses/partners) will be permitted for either event. In other words, everyone at the table will be offering a bottle to share for each day's event.

If you are interested in attending, please let us know in this thread. No prior posts mentioning attendance will count towards participation.

In determining what bottles will be included, I will do my best to be the arbiter of good taste, selecting bottles that will best fit what others send in. Please email me with your selections broken out by Saturday and Sunday parameters. (Portolover@aol DOT com). I will confirm receipt of the email upon receipt, but will only begin to make selections in early February. That should give everyone a few weeks to decide what they'd like to share with their friends. Please include in the subject line of your email: 2015 FTLOP Madeira weekend.

Dates:
Saturday: April 16th
Sunday: April 17th

I'm in for both days.

I'm in for both. Can't wait!

Thanks guys. Now updated.

I'm in for both days"

I would love to attend, count me in for Saturday.

Would it be possible, if I were to attend, that I could have Madeira shipped directly to the site? Or would it be better for me to plan carrying it there?

jht

I have updated the page again today and it looks like many of the people who originally expressed interest in joining us, have not responded again and of course it is possible they have not revisited this thread.

At this moment we only have 6 people who are on the reserved list for the Saturday event and 4 people for the Sunday event, (plus my participation in both, which I did not count). We need more than that to make it work.

Hopefully these Madeira lovers will get back in touch:
Llyn Strelau
Mark L.
Justin A.
Alan Gardner
Lindsay E.
Marco D.



As mentioned, my window to work on fully palnning the logistics for the Madeira weekend begins in early Feb., and it would require that we have enough people to make it worthwhile for the FTLOP guests who would be traveling from other states, and from the restaurant's standpoint. I hope we can get enough traction to make this happen. So that people can still get attractive airfares and to have enough time for planning, let's put a date at which we decide together whether to proceed or not, as 3 weeks from Friday ... which is February 12th.

John Trombley, as I know you are paying attention do you want me to sign you up? To answer your question above, you can ship your bottle directly to me, not the venue. That way we have a direct line of responsibility during shipping. Also, I'd be responsible for decanting and properly handling the bottle for you. But please do not ship any wines my way until after the aforementioned Feb. 12th decision.