For The Love Of Port

Roy,
My apologies if the cat is now ex bag. I had intended to be rather obscurant.

Roy, From your last entry I am going to claim that I know where the reference is from and "what" it refers to. But as I am not going to be able to utilize the prize, I am going to leave it to others to give you an answer. I'm a little amused that your UK contingent hasn't quite picked it o...

Roy,

If memory serves, "six-double five-three-two-one" is part of a bit of famous -- or infamous -- cinema dialogue. Do I need to go rent the film and watch it again to find all the rest of the reference?

John, Vintage ports are sold en primeur rather than as futures. There's some difference between the two that I've never bothered with. Basically, once a vintage is declared, you can start looking out for wine merchants offering them en primeur -- from my cellar notes in 2002, it looks like I receive...

Jon, Sometimes the hunt is better than the capture. I have a case of the 1994 Warre that I (irrationally) value all the more because I had to pry it out of the merchant after they regretted their advertised price. I'll never forget lugging that wooden box home on the Washington, DC, Metro, happy bey...

Alex, I agree with you that vintage port remains "one of the really good deals in the world of wine." Greatly underpriced. But to write that "port is not really very stylish." Now that hurts! Vintage port may not be trendy (thank God!), but it definitely has style. At a dinner pa...

Matt, your best bet would be a wholesale nursery. Vintage Nurseries(http://www.vintagenurseries.com/index.htm) is in California. They have a wide variety of stock available. They have "touriga" available, but it is a safe bet that is Touriga Francesca and not the Nacional. They might direc...

Jon, The wine you bought is not a Fonseca vintage port, nor in any direct way associated with what we think of as Fonseca. Fonseca VP is produced by Fonseca Guimaraens. The wine you bought, from Jose Maria Fonseca & van Zeller is made by the company of that name, an enterprise of Christian vanZe...

I share Derek's logical approach. I'll empty my VP budget in advance on drinkable wines, then find myself unable to resist and snag 2005 as well. All of you still in your 30s should some day look out for a lot of VP at auction with provenance marked "removed from ideal cellar conditions, the on...

I haven't shared tasting notes before, but as Michael is sharing his 40th birthday 1966 Dow, I thought I would share my notes on the 1966 Graham we opened on my 40th a couple of weeks ago. This was a UK bottling in green glass by Chas Kinloch and Sons, with a very small but clearly new leak that lik...

Tom, If it has any life left to it at all you can: 1) Stir a few tablespoons into onion soup during the last half-hour of simmering; 2) Use it to baste a pork roast; put some garlic in the roasting pan and deglaze at the end with stock; 3) Get your Yuletide baking done early and use it to marinate y...

Roy,
A very generous offer, thanks. I admit to being particularly fond of the 1983s.

Roy, Thanks for the newsletter -- full of great information. I had been a little disappointed to have to postpone my trip to Portugal, originally scheduled for last month. Since I found your site I'm actually glad we postponed. I expect the information in your newsletter and on the site will make it...

Roy, Thank you for the information, especially at the end of a painfully long day. As I mentioned, it was more curiosity than concern -- especially with the levels in the 83's being so much higher than the 97's. They are all now settled down for a long nap in the cellar and I'll let you know in 10 y...

This might be "port arcana" rather than "port basics" but here goes: Last Friday I took receipt of a case of 1997 Dow and a case of 1983 Dow. I noticed one of the '97 Dow had a low fill level. I would call it "very low neck." I looked at the others and all of the 1997s ...

Derek, Living in Phoenix, Arizona, where summer temperatures can top 110 F, I have found that temperature is a highly significant contributor to the perceived characteristics of VP. For my palate, high temperatures bring alcohol to overwhem on the nose and front, a sugary mask on the middle, and rou...

John, Not to worry, it gets a little confusing sometimes. The word before the colon is the brand, or port maker (though, in the world of port, the word "shipper" is usually used instead of "brand"). The word after the colon is the quinta. SQ is an abbreviation for Single Quinta. ...

Roy, I see this is an older thread, but new to me so here's my 1-and-a-half cents worth: I thought I was done buying 2000 and 2003, but recently stumbled across some prices that I couldn't pass by. For the most part I have given up on trying to resist new vintages, and have compromised by trying to ...

Don't the Symingtons usually wait until June for their declaration?

Alex,

Thanks for the information. These labels were clearly made on a modern laser printer in plain black and white -- they look rather like the "generic" grocery labels that enjoyed a brief vogue a few years back.

It sounds like it comes down again to reputable sources.