For The Love Of Port

Okay, I’ll admit it, this post is not about Nescafe. Rather it is about something that reminded me about the old commercial where Nescafe is supposed to be “good to the last drop.” I was doing some internet research on port when I came across an old interview of Roy Hersch where he talks about his early introduction to Port. Roy’s story reminded me of the old Nescafe commercial and I felt that it was worth posting here for those like me who had never seen it.

The interview was by Ryan Opaz in June 2005 and the question was: When did you fall in love with port and why?

“I worked in a fine dining restaurant in NYC called, The Water Club, which was literally situated directly on the East River. I was the Back of House Manager and responsible for all of the purchasing and other duties. We had a very progressive Wine Steward named Sam Correnti, who created one of the finest dessert wine lists in the city back then. We had one of the early Cruvinet systems which kept wine preserved with inert gas for a few days or longer. There were a few great vintage Ports on the list and my favorite was the 1963 Sandeman at the time. Whenever Sam would decant a new bottle to remove the sediment, he’d make sure I was present. He’d filter it through cheese cloth and we’d each have a sip. He knew I loved the stuff so he would hand me the still dripping cheese cloth when he was done. It had the sediment in it and I would hold it above my head and ratchet it tightly and squeeze every last drop from it. He used to get a kick out of watching me do that. This is my earliest memory of Port that goes back 22 years, now.”

Is this the best story or what. And isn’t ’63 Sandeman way better than any Nescafe?

Cheers ........................... Mahmoud.

PS: Roy, I hope you don't mind me posting this bit of memorabilia.

No, not at all Mahmoud ... and here is a rather funny story from last week, to update the whole thing.

I first met George Sandeman here in Seattle in 1997 at a trade event. That afternoon, in addition to some Tawny Ports and a couple of young vintage bottlings, he had one bottle of 1955 Vintage Port that was not hidden from view and only poured for those he felt would appreciate it. I was able to convince him that I was worthy of a couple of ounces, after a friend told me about this bottle. I explained in 30 seconds or less, the story about the 1963 Sandeman and how special it had been for the 5+ years I worked at that NYC restaurant and the dozens of times I had "consumed" it.

Flash forward to last week. George Sandeman and Jorge Ramos (the latter of which, runs Ramos Pinto) were invited to my home for dinner with my family, along with three members of the FTLOP staff. The next day was a big AEVP (Assoc. of Port Producers) tasting, and also the Port Wine Brotherhood was coming to town along with the President of the IVDP. More on that in the next newsletter.

As an homage to George Sandeman, I had decanted a magnum bottle of 1963 Sandeman Vintage Port, (my only one of this specific VP) in honor of his first visit to Seattle since the day we met. Given the hard wax capsule and difficult cork, it took me quite a while to get this in decanter. Less than 10 minutes later my phone rings and it is George Sandeman. He told me that his flight from SF to Seattle was cancelled and that he was on stand by for a later flight. The timing was a bummer as there is no way that I'd have opened this particular Port, which has been in my cellar waiting for an occasion like this and George's return to Seattle. Anyway, the other guests arrived and George kept calling every hour or so with updates, mostly bad news. There was a small chance he could make it in time for dessert. We were still hoping that luck would break. To make a long story short, he never made it and we had to drink this amazing magnum without him. We saved him enough for two glasses the next day, but that is another story altogether and with an outcome similarly crazy. That being said, the 1963 Sandeman was in great shape for a 53 year old VP, the fact it came from a magnum certainly proved why it pays to own some of these for special occasions.

Roy Hersh wrote wrote:He’d filter it through cheese cloth and we’d each have a sip. He knew I loved the stuff so he would hand me the still dripping cheese cloth when he was done. It had the sediment in it and I would hold it above my head and ratchet it tightly and squeeze every last drop from it.

these sorts of anecdotes make me feel better about doing similar things! though with far more mundane Ports.

Great followup story Roy, and a tantalizing hint at another story to follow.

Last Thursday I decanted a bottle of '04 Roriz. We drank most of it except for two modest pours that remained in the decanter which we drank two days later. Late last night, way past midnight and four days later, it suddenly occurred to me that I had forgotten about the dregs. So I did a mini-decant from the still un-stoppered bottle into my red wine glass. It was still delicious .... and good to the last drop!

Mahmoud.

Excellent find and it dove tail's nicely into something I was going to post anyway. For port tastings it is up to me to decant a bunch of bottles--I use the Hersh method but when the real sludge starts coming I deftly transfer the funnel to a tall glass and then pour out the dregs. I finish by squeezing the cheesecloth a little to get all the drops. By the end of decanting 4-8 bottles I usually end up with a cloudy standard pour or more that's a mix of that evenings ports. I think of that as my bonus

I remember reading here (sure it was Glenn) that he likes to "prime" his palate before a tasting by drinking a little port before a tasting so I usually drink a little before I go and save the rest for the next day. It's always tasty. If some very nice ones are decanted, sometimes I'll segregate as the younger more robust ones tend to dominate the blend.

Does anyone else do similar?

John M. wrote:I remember reading here (sure it was Glenn) that he likes to "prime" his palate before a tasting by drinking a little port before a tasting

Yep, that's me.

It's an alcohol thing in my case. I need to get some alcohol into my system so that my body can fire up the furnace and get ready for the onslaught to come, which seems to also help my palate adjust and get ready as well. Even after all these years I'm still a relative lightweight.

Glenn E. wrote:

John M. wrote:I remember reading here (sure it was Glenn) that he likes to "prime" his palate before a tasting by drinking a little port before a tasting

Yep, that's me.

It's an alcohol thing in my case. I need to get some alcohol into my system so that my body can fire up the furnace and get ready for the onslaught to come, which seems to also help my palate adjust and get ready as well. Even after all these years I'm still a relative lightweight.

I find "priming the system" also helps me if I am going to be doing a lot of tasting. Typically a beer or a glass of wine or Port an hour or so before helps. No idea why, but for me it does.

Andy V. wrote:

I find "priming the system" also helps me if I am going to be doing a lot of tasting. Typically a beer or a glass of wine or Port an hour or so before helps. No idea why, but for me it does.

And here I thought Andy was going to say "priming the system ... before brushing my teeth in the morning, then having breakfast and heading off to work."

Roy Hersh wrote:Andy V. wrote:

I find "priming the system" also helps me if I am going to be doing a lot of tasting. Typically a beer or a glass of wine or Port an hour or so before helps. No idea why, but for me it does.

And here I thought Andy was going to say "priming the system ... before brushing my teeth in the morning, then having breakfast and heading off to work."

I prefer champagne before brushing my teeth and beer and Port after. Never before work though, that wouldn't go over to well hahahaha


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Mahmoud Ali wrote:Great followup story Roy, and a tantalizing hint at another story to follow.

Last Thursday I decanted a bottle of '04 Roriz. We drank most of it except for two modest pours that remained in the decanter which we drank two days later. Late last night, way past midnight and four days later, it suddenly occurred to me that I had forgotten about the dregs. So I did a mini-decant from the still un-stoppered bottle into my red wine glass. It was still delicious .... and good to the last drop!

Mahmoud.

I got to try the '04 Roriz late last year for the first time. I was so impressed with it that I bought a six-pack. It's a really nice drop of juice and not something you see a lot of.