For The Love Of Port

I'm glad to see this label again. SFE doesn't list it under their Port brands: https://www.symington.com/our-ports But they make small mention of it on this page: https://www.symington.com/post/introducing-our-2024-vintage-ports In addition to our principal Vintage Ports, we will also make a small q...

S. Leonardo 50 Year Old Tawny. Great stuff.

An impressive list. Can I ask you what holds you back from a 100 point score? Do you believe that nothing can be perfect or deserving of 100 points? I would appreciate hearing your rationale if you don't mind sharing! I don't think I have a strong reason for this. Maybe when I first tasted somethin...

Brought these to a Portuguese themed meal:

• 2014 Soc. Agr. e Com do Varosa Murganheira Vintage Bruto
• 2001 Caves São João Bairrada Frei João Reserva
• 2011 Quinta do Crasto Touriga Nacional

(and a 1994 Fonseca VP)

1994 Fonseca VP
No rush to open these, but it is showing so well that it is hard to resist. I told people at the dinner, "If you don't like this, you shouldn't drink Vintage Port."

General belief is that tawny declines after being bottled, noticeable after perhaps 5-10 years. There are few contrarians, both people and bottles, to this general belief. Dirk Niepoort is one of those people. I just noticed this bottle for sale: https://www.winebid.com/BuyWine/Item/10897596/NV-Niep...

It wasn't Port, but I bought a case of 1996 Fesles Bonnezeaux that was packed with straw like that.

What Andy said, both times.

I am perhaps a little more stingy, as I've never given a wine 100 points. I've considered whether I need to do so, but I've chosen to remain consistent with my scoring over the years. So maybe my 98 point wine is your 100 point. Compared to Glenn, I enjoy VP a little more; and while I really enjoy t...

At what point does pricing for these bottles get silly? We've passed that point. BTW, a month or two ago a bottle of Taylor Scion showed up on WineBid at a price below the initial retail price. I was outbid, but as I recall it was still sold for less than retail. We can debate whether it improved o...

Eric Ifune wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2026 3:18 pm 1968 D'Oliveiras Boal.

Great stuff. I'm partial to that year.

I think it is a cool start. The original lack colheita. You've added a bunch of additional information, and some of that could be consolidated a bit, and corrected as Andy pointed. I like the more graphic nature of the first ...

Interesting and positive methinks.

At the risk of starting a tangent, I've found plenty of wine brands that go for heavy bottles and they do nothing but annoy me.

The presentation reminds me of Scion. I wonder if it will be priced in that range. A bottle of that came up for auction recently for significantly less than original retail--of course it has been about 10 years since that was released.

I've lost an empty decanter in the dish drainer (during a big dinner), and I suspect I have three or four decanters with chips on the rim. I've wondered if those can be repaired. Just had a glass mishap at my house this past month. I was neither the breaker nor the glass owner. For my wine groups we...

1983 Ramos Pinto has showed well for me many times. I can't say I've had the 1982.
1985 Kopke VP also scored well, but I only have one TN for it; so I can't really comment on consistency.

1985 was not a great vintage ... In some parts they might say, "Them's fightin' words!" But I get it, in particular for Taylor. There are some reports of better bottles, but I've generally been underwhelmed. I've probably had Fonseca 1985 ten times, and only been underwhelmed once or twic...

I realize that these start with a drive up to the douro

Well, there is the train too.

1970 Graham's VP.
Holding up o.k., but wasn't as sweet as I would expect for this house.