For The Love Of Port

Glenn E. wrote: Looks to me like these have been standing upright like I found them in the store for... years, probably.

Doesn't get more average than that!

2011 Vera Alvarinho Had it w a seafood dish and it was wonderful. Not overly bubbly, it was smooth and left a v nice fruity aftertaste. To make it better, only nice sunny weather outside and eating it out on the porch. At $14/bottle it ought to perform... and it did. Not a steal at that price, more ...

Moses Botbol wrote:1970 Grahams Vintage. Rocked with 12 hours in decanter. Finished off the Andresen 10 Year after the Graham.

V excited to hear reg the G 70! Taking note of the decant time :)

Thank you for sharing!

I can def relate to what you mention about having bottles open a v long time. That is one of the things I enjoy about Madeira. It is v sturdy and you can have a special bottle that you go to only on special occasions over a long period of time. Problem w that is that it makes it far easier to justif...

Malmsey/Malv is not my favorite style of Madeira any longer. Hasn't been for many years, yet I still enjoy the great ones on occasion. How have you found your taste in Madeira evolve over the years? Over the last year have gone from finding Malmsey too acidic to now not even noticing the acidity an...

4 x 2010 Quinta do Crasto Reserva Old Vines @ WTSO yesterday

Andy Velebil wrote:Yes, amazing what two or three days can do to a very young VP. Let us know how day 3 goes.

Not great. Had some last night and it felt like the fruit was starting to fade. Good that we're almost done w it.

Am surprised by what you mention.
I had many of them over the last year including some that I left open several weeks and was actually surprised to find how well they held up.
Perhaps a matter of letting it sit a bit longer?

2011 Barão de Vilar VP - from the recent WTSO deal. Opened it yesterday, sitting in decanter. Enjoyed it though the tannins were a bit harsh... hoping that they mellow out w time in decanter. Had some last night that finally tasted more balanced (ie, enjoyable) after a full day in decanter and 2 ba...

I'd suggest you start some of the more main stream ones I mentioned, such as Vallado, Niepoort, Tuella (from Cockburn's), Crasto, Meandro. No need to buy their upper end stuff so stick to their lower tier stuff. These are anywhere from $6 to about $22-ish and offer darn good value for the price. Th...

Though in the past year or so I've cut back on Port at home to explore and understand Douro dry wines more. How have you fared? Do you feel like you get it better now? Any suggestions on where to start? I def feel like I can't appreciate Douro wines well (and dry wines in general). Wines that other...

Smaller production volume that year? Smaller production for sure. What vintages are you comparing to? How do they price next to '83 and '85? The only 1980 bottle I have is a GC that I paid $57.5 for. Others like G, D and T seem to be more like $70+ I've been able to find 83 G for under $60, 77 D fo...

Need to get myself more 1980s as it is my birth year. Weird that they tend to be pricey. Any sense why? Smaller production volume that year?

I have really enjoyed the RP tawnies I have had over the last year or so. Only sad that they tend to be on the pricier side.

Always temping to pull out big guns when I'm in the mood, but I have to remember when the lady is and isn't interested in me nerding out over wines haha. V true. Wine is def my thing here at home, one that the wife is v kind to tolerate/encourage. V-day def not the time for me to push it :) We ende...

I dont know for Porto and the Douro in particular, but there have been floods all over the news lately in Portugal... Below in Portuguese, a dam upstream of Porto was flowing 7,000 m^3/s about a week ago vs a typical 400 m^3/s... it must have rained a ton further up the river. http://www.publico.pt/...

2011 Barão de Vilar VP - from the recent WTSO deal.
Opened it yesterday, sitting in decanter. Enjoyed it though the tannins were a bit harsh... hoping that they mellow out w time in decanter.

Last night, a mini marathon tasting in downtown Seattle included: a. Henriques & Henriques 10 year old Bual b. Rare Wine Company Historic Series Boston Bual c. Cossart Gordon 15 year old Bual d. Henriques & Henriques 15 year old Bual e. Henriques & Henriques 10 year old Malmsey f. Broad...

Kevin Durant, Miguel Cervantes, Silvio Berlusconi, Enrico Fermi, Lech Walesa, Caravaggio, Ludwig von Mises, Mika Hakkinen...