For The Love Of Port

I just got a mailing from Fine Wines & Cigars at Redmond Town Center announcing this:

PORT & FRAN'S CHOCOLATE DELECTABLY PAIRED
Sat Nov 7th 2-6PM
We have teamed up with C&G Imports and Fran's Chocolate to bring you an afternoon of fun! We will be pouring a wonderful selection of Ports matched with the marevelous sweet concotions from Fran's.

You will not want to miss this!
$10 Members
$15 Non-Members

Fine Wines & Cigars
16535 NE 76th, Ste. D-105
Redmond, Washington 98052
425-869-0869

I've gone to similar events in the past and they're a lot of fun, and I plan to show up for this one as well. The mailing actually had a typo saying the event was Sat Nov 24th but since that's not actually a Saturday and they refer to "next week" at one point I'm pretty sure they meant the 7th.

Anyway, hope to see some FTLOP people there!

pssst ... don't tell Roy, as we know how he feels about chocolate and Port mixing

No worries, I have already booked Port/Douro events in Edmonton Alberta for that weekend.

Time to eat some more moose. Might even run into Todd, Conrad and a few other FTLOPers besides Richard Beeken. Afterall, one of the couples on our recent Port Harvest Tour is from up there too. I need my snow fix, much more than a cocoa bean induced Port coma.

Roy Hersh wrote:I need my snow fix, much more than a cocoa bean induced Port coma.

About 14-18" on my back porch this morning. I need some sun.

Yeah, my brother was telling me about the snow yesterday and I was jonesing. Can't make it back out to CO until Feb. though. Time for skiing and wine!

Oops, I guessed wrong. The date is actually Saturday, November 7th. I'll update the original post as well.

Any clue as to what they will be pouring?

I am not a fan of that shop ... the prices are typically way over the realm of reality, even though they do have a nice selection.


Edit: I just noticed in the original post in this thread that it is C&G that will be the guest host. They are the local distributor of Rocha and Kopke, so I guess we know what's coming after all.

Roy Hersh wrote:the prices are typically way over the realm of reality, even though they do have a nice selection.

If you're a member you get a 15% discount, and that brings their prices down to a reasonable B&M markup over the internet. But yeah, I'm careful what I buy there because even with the club membership I still have to pay attention.

How much do they charge these days to be a member of their wine shop, in order to get a discount?

You know, I don't remember. My membership may very well be expired because as I recall it renews in August and I don't think I've been there since then this year.

My often faulty memory says that it's $49/year. Since they feel about 10% overpriced to me, that means I'm really only getting a 5% discount with the membership. So I need to spend $1000 a year there to make it back, which isn't really a problem because members also usually get a discount on the premium tastings (such as this one).

Here's the lineup for Saturday:

Rocha Lagrima Branco & Dark Chocolate Ginger
$17.99(R)/$15.29(C)/750ml

Rocha 10 year Tawny & Smoked Salt Caramel
$14.99(R)/$12.74(C)/375ml - $26.99(R)/$22.94(C)/750ml

1991 Dona Matilde Colheita & Grey Salt Caramel
$32.99(R)/$28.04(C)/375ml - $56.99(R)/$48.44(C)/750ml

Kopke 2000 LBV & Dark Chocolate Caramel
$12.99(R)/$11.04(C)/375ml - $20.99(R)/$17.84(C)/750ml

Kopke 1988 Colheita & Hazelnut Diamond
$25.99(R)/$22.09(C)/375ml - $47.99(R)/$40.79(C)/750ml

2007 Rocha Vintage & Dark Chocolate Imperiales
$33.99(R)/$28.89(C)/375ml - $57.99(R)/$49.29(C)/750ml

Back up the truck and fill it up with 2007.

Yeah, that seems like a really good price for the 2007 Porto Rocha. Especially with the club discount. I have it tied with the Duorum for 3rd out of the 25 or so 2007s that I've had the pleasure of sampling. I only have Quinta do Vale Meao and Quinta do Portal rated higher, and only slightly higher at that.

Of course there are several big names I haven't tried - including Porto Rocha's sibling Kopke - but that's still a great price for an extraordinary Port.

Also available (according to a flyer I received in the mail today):

2007 Graham $94/$80
2007 Dow $83/$70
2007 Smith Woodhouse $60/$51
2007 Vesuvio $75/$64
2007 Porto Rocha $56/$48

Prices are listed for non-members/members. The Rocha is the only one being poured during the tasting, and the price I just received on this mailing is lower than the one listed for the tasting. I'm not quite sure how that's going to work, so perhaps one or the other is a typo. Either price is very good for an extraordinary VP.

The chocolate pairings today were really good. I liked the two salted caramels best (one milk chocolate, one dark chocolate).

Port-wise, the 1991 Dona Matlide narrowly beat out the 1988 Kopke out of the tawnies. The 2007 Rocha easily won on the ruby side. I'll post notes on everything later once I have time to process them.

I picked up a 6-pack of the 2007 Rocha after the event. $48 was just too good to pass up!

At that price, who can blame you for a six pack of that gorgeous young thang.

Yeah, I'm running low on storage space again or I probably would have picked up a full case of it.