For The Love Of Port

Roy, I agree, tasting "blind" is immensely difficult, not just for Port but for all wines. In Australia it is a very popular pastime in the trade but here we play what we call "options" where you get three options (so you have a much better chance of guessing correctly) for each ...

Oh, and I have bought some of both these vintages amongst others!

Thanks Roy. This really helps.

Just got back from being away to catch this post. Thanks so much Al B. Highly erudite. I have been in the wine industry for over 20 years but I have to confess it is a style of wine I have largely ignored. I find myself at a lot of dinners these days where VPs are served masked at the end of the mea...

Hi Roy, yes I was talking about the nacional in particular. Regards,

Thanks Frederick, I was remiss not to look up Broadbent. It will be interesting to see what he says of the '80 too. Excuse my ignorance. What is QPR?

I have been offered some 80 and 87 Nacional and was wondering if anyone had any recent experience on these wines. Neither of these vintages seem to appear in many tastings. Spectator has favourably reviewed the 87 (94/100) but is down on the 80 (80/100). Roy's notes show the opposite (87: 84/100 &am...

Thanks Roy. Interesting with the 87. I note you wrote that this bottle had not shown as well as others. I'd be interested to know where is this vintage at overall. Neither of these vintages seem to appear in many tastings although the are reviewed by 'the Speculator'. The 87 gets a high score (which...

Thanks Roy. Thoroughly enjoying my membership thus far. Invaluable to have a site that this specialised in the area of Port and Madeira. Tell me, do you have any thoughts on 80 and 87 Noval Nacional? I'm looking at buying some.

This is a fascinating thread. Anyone have any idea why the house styles are different? Presumably this relates to the grape source (ie vineyard loaction) or is it winemaking, viticultural decisions? Would be interested to know if there is any reading on this subject from you Roy somewhere on the site?

Thanks Marc. I am also following the "what do you like..." thread staretd by Roy. I missed that last night. Still would be interested to know so good reading on this subject. Would be interesting to know, for example, why the styles are different.

I'm fairly new to Ports and I've just subscribed here as I find I am drinking more and more of them. I'd like to get clear about the various "house styles" produced. I am particularly interested in the difference between: Dows, Taylors, Grahams, Warres, Fonseca and Quinta do Noval. Is ther...