Lots of new faces ... please introduce yourself

[Eric Menchen]

Welcome Phil! We'll have you educated and stocking the cellar with Port in no time. Then comes the slippery slope ...

[Phil M]

Welcome Phil! We'll have you educated and stocking the cellar with Port in no time. Then comes the slippery slope ...

Thanks Eric...

I was just reading the "building a collection" post and realized I am in trouble!!! I have a 130ish bottle cellar with one bottle of 85 Roze's Port my pal picked up the other day... I'd love to build up my collection but will need to read this forum for hours to really get in touch with my Port side!!! I don't even know the major houses yet!!! YIKES!!!

[Andy Velebil]

Hi Phil,

and Eric is correct, this group will not only have you buying Port, but breathing Port as well in no time at all.

[Geoff E]

My name is Geoff and I live in Toronto, ON.
I have a modest collection of about 20 bottles, which I'm looking to grow to a steady size of 50 bottles or so. I've joined FTLOP because I'm looking for advice on how to build and manage a small collection. So far I seem to be accumulating port rather than drinking any... which feels wrong somehow. Let's see if the community can help me remedy that.

Cheers!

G

[Andy Velebil]

Hi Goeff,

Don't worry this group can help with both your issues! And to the forum, glad you've join us and I look forward to your future involvement here at

[Roy Hersh]

Hi to Phil and Geoff,

You are both in trouble. Get out now while your wallets are still safe!

That 130 bottle wine cabinet, will later be known as: "my first of many" ...

Good luck to you both. You will be drinking Port and in horizontals, verticals, diagonals/matrix tastings in no time.

to FTLOP and enjoy the Port insanity that prevails. We'll make sure you find some bargains and give you enough time to pounce on them and drink them with new friends in your area.

[Glenn E.]

I have a 130ish bottle cellar

At least you didn't make the same mistake I made - the first fridge I bought was a Danby 56. I still have it, but I added a Eurocave 283 and a non-brand 260 (neither of which holds that many) within 2 years! The three of them are all full now and hold ~400 bottles total, of which ~350 are Port.

[Phil W]

Hi all,

Having been around on another (primarily UK) board I thought I'd say hello here too, especially having met a few of the US-based people at recent tastings in London.

I've enjoyed port for a long time, with current favourites being Warre 77 and Fonseca 70 (and generally being a Warre/Fonseca/Graham VP fan). I tend to stick with VP having been mostly disappointed whenever I've tried any LBV/Ruby/Tawny, though am hoping to eventually be persuaded by some older colheita, we shall see.

So hello again to those I already know, and hi to everyone else

Phil.

[Roy Hersh]

Is this the same Phil W. from a famous offline back in 2005 at which we had Kristin Scott Thomas at the next table at St. John's restaurant?

[Phil W]

Is this the same Phil W. from a famous offline back in 2005 at which we had Kristin Scott Thomas at the next table at St. John's restaurant?

Nope, I'm afraid not. I'm either an all-new Phil W, or a different old Phil W depending on your perspective (and no, I don't know Kristin Scott Thomas, so couldn't invite her along to the next offline, sorry)

[Roy Hersh]

Ah, ok. I was thinking of a guy with the last name Wilkins.

[Andreas Nielsen]

Hello everyone

My name is Andreas Nielsen and I'm from Copenhagen, Denmark. My love for port started last year on the 25th of December 2010 where I decanted and drank (together with family) a wonderful bottle of Fonseca VP 1985. It was an eye opening experience and I got even more impressed when I the follow morning at breakfast drank the last port sitting in the decanter over night. Completely fresh, vibrant and intoxicating.

Since then I have bought (too much) port when comming across interesting bottles, have sought tastings and started reading more about port which let me to Roy's awesome site.

Looking forward to many interesting dicussions and articles.

Cheers,

Andreas

[Andy Velebil]

Hello everyone

My name is Andreas Nielsen and I'm from Copenhagen, Denmark. My love for port started last year on the 25th of December 2010 where I decanted and drank (together with family) a wonderful bottle of Fonseca VP 1985. It was an eye opening experience and I got even more impressed when I the follow morning at breakfast drank the last port sitting in the decanter over night. Completely fresh, vibrant and intoxicating.

Since then I have bought (too much) port when comming across interesting bottles, have sought tastings and started reading more about port which let me to Roy's awesome site.

Looking forward to many interesting dicussions and articles.

Cheers,

Andreas

Andreas,
First, let me say to the forum, it's great you've found us and joined in. You sure started with a great bottle, the 1985 Fonseca is a beauty.

[Bob Parsons Alberta]

Welcome to the forum, hope you have a friendly bank manager for future buying. He will come in handy!!

[Andreas Nielsen]

Welcome to the forum, hope you have a friendly bank manager for future buying. He will come in handy!!

Hey Bob

I'm on good terms with my bank manager - and hope to be so in the future as well

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Andreas,

Good to see you've joined us here.

I'm not sure where you go from having the likes of a Fonseca 1985 as your first Vintage Port? Maybe the 1945?

Just kidding of course, but in due time ...

Look forward to reading many more posts from you in the future.

[Peter L.]

Hi everyone, my name is Peter and I'm afraid I'm ready to take the plunge. I've always been a food and wine lover, and though I haven't had near the exposure to port as many on this forum, it's pretty clear I want to be drinking it for the foreseeable future. Most of the port wine I've tried has been around the holiday's or special occasions with family friends and nice dinners out. Just warning everyone here, I'm pretty green - as much of a newbie as anyone out there.

I do have one main question/theme for the forum though... I am 31 yrs old, and have always been a collector/hoarder, so the idea of purchasing some young stuff now and "laying it down" for a couple decades actually sounds really fun and appealing to me.... BUT, what do I drink now? I'm just guessing that maybe I would open about a bottle a month - looking for some advice as far as acquiring for the future: short-term, medium, and long, and also something that I could drink next month with friends. Any input is appreciated! Thanks in advance, and what a resource this site is.

And also, if anyone on this forum is in the Austin area and knows of some good local resources to share that would be great.

Peter

[Glenn E.]

I do have one main question/theme for the forum though... I am 31 yrs old, and have always been a collector/hoarder, so the idea of purchasing some young stuff now and "laying it down" for a couple decades actually sounds really fun and appealing to me.... BUT, what do I drink now? I'm just guessing that maybe I would open about a bottle a month - looking for some advice as far as acquiring for the future: short-term, medium, and long, and also something that I could drink next month with friends. Any input is appreciated! Thanks in advance, and what a resource this site is.

Hi Peter,

Collecting Port is a lot of fun. Don't make the same mistake I did, though - those 50-bottle refrigerators are useless! If you have a walk-in cellar you're probably set, though. I don't have one, so needed storage and started with a much too small fridge. I now own two full-size and the one half-size and I'm out of space again.

As far as what to drink now, you have lots of options. There's always the more expensive route, which is to buy fully mature Vintage Port at retail (or at auction) for drinking now. Most of us do that at least occasionally because it's really the easiest way to acquire mature VP. The other option on the ruby side of the Port spectrum is LBV. Those are meant to be consumed with less aging in bottle, and are sometimes held back by the producer for a few years so that they're partially pre-aged for you before you buy it. You can lay down and age unfiltered LBVs (which typically say either that or "tradicional" on the label) if you want to, or you can drink them when you buy them. Filtered LBVs, which typically aren't labeled as such, are meant to be consumed within a few years.

But don't forget the tawnies! Tawnies are usually intended to be consumed shortly after bottling, so you see them come up for sale regularly. Colheitas are the equivalent of VP - all of the grapes are from a single year's harvest - but they differ from VP in that the aging is done for you by the producer in pipas in their cellars. Once the Port takes on the age characteristics that the producer is looking for, they bottle it up and sell it to us. Personally, I usually prefer Colheitas that are at least 20 years old, and typically 30 or more years old. The other option on the tawny side is what's known as a tawny with an indication of age. 10-yr old, 20-yr old, 30-yr old, or 40-yr old is what it will say on the bottle. These are blends of Colheitas and the intent is that they'll taste the same year after year. The best bang-for-your-buck typically comes from the 20-yr olds, so that's what I'd recommend you try first.

Have fun!

[Peter L.]

Thanks for the response Glenn - some good suggestions. I know I'm going to have to address the cellar situation sooner rather than later. Right now I have a 60 bottle storage refrigerator - which has a little wine in it, so that doesn't leave much space. I'm leaning towards off-site storage as I don't really have somewhere in my current house that I can dedicate for a cellar room. Also, I live in Texas and we had over 70 days of triple digit heat last year, and I think our climate could add some expense to outfitting a room properly. From reading people's posts here, it sounds like a capacity of 60 won't last me more than a couple months...

As far as Tawnies go, I think the majority of the port I have had "out" has been 20-yrs that I've enjoyed quite a bit. A little LBV and even less Vintage Port, though I think that's the direction I would like to go with my mid and long-term collection. Maybe drinking some reasonably priced Tawny and LBV is a good way to find and drink stuff in the immediate future, and slowly build a VP stash. It's good to know that occasionally folks on this forum pay up for nice mature VP - I'm guessing that's the only route for newcomers who haven't been storing bottles for decades. Are there any reputable auction houses that are recommended if I choose to purchase a couple bottles a year by going this route? I did a google search and saw that Winebid.com has some bottles up for auction right now, but noticed they don't ship to TX for some reason.

There are some decent wine and liquor stores in my home city, but I think I need to search around a little more to find out if anyone specializes in Port. Most of what I see are LBV and Tawny. When it comes to Vintage Port I haven't seen a store that stocks anything pre-1991. Is this common? Do most of you have to go to the internet to find most of your bottles that aren't from the 00s or 90s? Thanks again.

[Derek T.]

Peter,

Welcome to

It doesn't surprise me that your local stores do not have stocks of mature Vintage Ports. Even here in the UK, where the climate and market are more favourable, there are very few wine merchants who retain large stocks of the old stuff and they tend to be the merchants who have been around for 100s of years to their capital outlay has been built gradually and in a market where they have a large turnover of VP sales.

Your countrymen might have a better solution, but I would suggest that a good starting point would be to use http://www.wine-searcher.com to identify sources throughout the US who are prepared to hold your purchases until times of the year when the weather allows safe shipping. I am aware that the complexity around shipping and taxation laws of the various states can interfere with, or even prevent, this approach in some circumstances but the guys on your side of the pond can advise you on that better than I ever could.

One piece of advice I would give you having read the posts above is not to buy large stocks of tawny port for long-term storage as most of it is designed to be drunk immediately after bottling or in a very few years afterwards. There are exceptions, such as some Colheitas which can improve with bottle age, but not the standard aged tawnys. You certainly won't want to go to your offsite in 20 years time and find 100 bottles of 20YR tawny that has gone past its best.

Glenn is our resident "Colheita & Tawny Man", so I am sure he will give you some great advice on which shipper's to look out for if you want to stick some Colheita away for the long term

Derek