The Douro Valley, the birthplace of Port, is one of the oldest wine regions in the world, and the only place legally able to produce “Port wine” — it was officially demarcated by the Marques de Pombal, an important Portuguese Prime Minister, in 1756. But, before the advent of roads and railways, the Douro wine region could only be [...]
Article and photos by Rebecca Siggers © February 22nd 2020 Portugal is among the most ranked countries in Europe in terms of scenic views and beautiful landscapes. The place is also famous for its elegant hotels and delicious food and wines. If you are planning to take a trip to the country, you need to [...]
By The Fireside: A Modern Twist on Port and Coffee The first recorded use of the term ‘cocktail’ was in a 1798 British newspaper, but the cocktail as we know it today wasn’t defined until the publication of The Balance and Columbian Repository in 1806. Since then, cocktails have had a firm place on many drinks menus. [...]
For their 15th Anniversary, the Douro Boys created both a Red Cuvée and a Vintage Port from the young and epic 2017 vintage, blending in all five of the original members’ wines who make up this project. In October they will offer these bottles for sale at an auction both online and in person in [...]
Fifteen years ago, two things happened in the fine Douro vintage of 2004; still today my all-time favorite for Douro wines, yes, every bit as good as 2011 for those that don't have many 2004's in their cellar. I am grateful to still cellar a couple dozen bottles of Douro wines from that great year. [...]
Earlier this year, I noticed on FTLOP’s Forum, a thread started by a Madeira loving friend in Wadersloh, Germany. His name, Dr. Wolf Peter Reutter, who I first met in Seattle a dozen years ago, in January 2007. His brother Hans lived nearby at the time and worked for Microsoft, and we met as well. [...]
There are at least six, probably seven (and maybe still more!) known Terrantez wines from 1795. There is the 1795 Terrantez of Barbeito, the 1795 Terrantez of Companhia Vinicola da Madeira, the Terrantez of F. F. Ferraz (probably the same wine like the “Messias” wine in Alex Liddell’s book “Madeira”), a 1795 Terrantez possibly from [...]
The 1977 Port vintage was heralded from the outset. It had been seven years since the excellent 1970 vintage and 14 years since the outstanding 1963 vintage. The market, and Port enthusiasts, were ready. I’ve always been a big fan of the 1977 vintage and have had a good representation of the vintage in [...]
Is now the time to end the notion of "generally declared” Vintage Ports? For the past couple of centuries, it has been common practice for the Port trade to declare Vintage Port three times per decade based on the quality and quantity of excellent grapes harvested in a given year. There have been very few [...]
After five years of concentrating on one Madeira grape at a time: Terrantez, Verdelho, Bual, Malvasia and Sercial respectively, it was time for a change of pace. To put it in perspective, all of the nearly 100 bottles we’ve tasted under the same roof in NYC; have combined for a staggering total of circa 17,000 [...]
