The Methuen-Pombal Link & The Demarcation of the Douro
Roy explores Portuguese history and how the Methuen Treaty, the relationship between the Portuguese and the English, and the demarcation of the Douro shaped the Port trade.
Roy’s Madeira Musings
Observations of Madeira, the island, did not begin for me in the mid-1990’s as did my early tasting adventures with the eponymous adult beverage. It took another dozen years before I was finally able to visit the island in person. My tour business partner Mario Ferreira and I began hosting Portuguese wine tours in 2005, [...]
Starting the Process of Moving to Portugal
My first overseas flight of the year, Portugal of course, but somehow this one was very different. I was not heading over for wine tasting, nor a wine tour. I was flying to Porto, to find a new place to live … a new home. This was a first, and I was unable to sleep [...]
Adrian Bridge on Portuguese Wine Tours
In this fine very brief video, Adrian Bridge, CEO of The Fladgate Partnership, (Taylor's, Croft, Fonseca and Krohn) speaks about the extremely high quality level of our Portuguese Wine Tours. He especially focuses in on the unique style of our tours, in his positive off-the cuff-remarks. Worth watching if you are [...]
Impressions of 2015 LBV’s
My overall impressions after tasting a dozen LBV Ports is based on the 2015 vintage quality as well as the common thread that ties these Ports all together. The commonality of course is that 2015 is right up there beside the quality of 2016 and close to 2017, the latter of which I believe [...]
Sammamish Port Club Holiday Party – on Zoom
As we begin to see the pandemic receding in our rearview mirrors, I thought it would be good to revisit this article (which appeared in the FTLOP Newsletter) as a reminder that if there is a will, there is always a way... to drink Port with friends. - Roy Hersh. Article and photos by Glenn [...]
A Tale of Two Ports, Tawny vs Ruby: What Makes the Difference?
Port has a long, proud history that dates back to the early 18th century. Many credit the hostilities between England and France for its creation. Essentially, the English blockaded the French ports, preventing them from exporting wines. The Methuen Treaty of 1703, granted “most favored nation” status to Portugal, keeping their wine much less expensive [...]
Two Half Centuries of Port Wine – Part 2 (1970-2020)
Two half centuries of Port a 2-part series and the first half was filled with oldies, the 1920’s through 1960’s. Part 1 can be found here. It is known that over the course of recent centuries, there have been on average three Vintage Port declarations per decade. If you could afford a bottle from the [...]
Two Half Centuries of Port Wine – Part 1 (1920-1969)
Two half centuries of Port is a 2-part series and the first half is filled with oldies. It is well known that over the course of history, from the time that Port was fortified, there has been an average of 3 Vintage Port declarations per decade. But in those decades what are the gems to [...]
Mosiacs and Majesty: The Towns of Conímbriga & Coimbra
It is easy for Port Wine lovers to miss some of the rich cultural and historical gems that Portugal has to offer when focused only on the wines. My first trip to Portugal was in 2006 on the For The Love Of Port Harvest Tour. The tour focused mainly on the two important wine-related areas [...]