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Out of interest, is there anyone in particular people would like to have join us for a tasting? No promises, but we can always ask. Many years ago, I spoke to the lady who ran Quinta do Infantado (Paula Roseira, perhaps?) who I thought was really interesting: they were probably the first Quinta to ...

We really enjoyed this evening. Thank you very much to Alex for arranging it and for Sophia for taking part. One of the few good things about 2020 has been the number of online events with people in the Port industry and think Sophia was more interesting than almost anyone else I have heard. We trie...

I generally open most Port an hour or so before drinking it these days. But that is simply because it extends the drinking window: I’d rather have day 1 being a bit under-decanted, day 2 on the nose and day 3 a bit over-decanted then perfect on day 1, a bit over on day 2, and very over on day 3. Cle...

Could I change horses please? Was in Waitrose today and purchased a bottle of the Waitrose blend 2017 VP and so I will opt for that instead (as I don't believe that anyone else has). You shouldn't have said that! Now I'm going to have to make an emergency trip to Waitrose for [my essential shopping...

Feist is also either owned or was owned by BdV as far as I am aware. Is that a recent development? VintagePort.se says it was owned by Barros since the 1950s and then became part of Sogevinus in 2006 (presumably when they also bought Barros). Feist is imported and distributed by Sogevinus’ import a...

Thanks. I have some H&H 10 YO Malmsey open which compared quite favourably to the same from Blandy's in this tasting so I will keep and eye out for it.

Could I change horses please? Was in Waitrose today and purchased a bottle of the Waitrose blend 2017 VP and so I will opt for that instead (as I don't believe that anyone else has). You shouldn't have said that! Now I'm going to have to make an emergency trip to Waitrose for [my essential shopping...

Doggett wrote: ↑

13:59 Sun 22 Nov 2020

Feist is also either owned or was owned by BdV as far as I am aware.

Is that a recent development? VintagePort.se says it was owned by Barros since the 1950s and then became part of Sogevinus in 2006 (presumably when they also bought Barros).

Is anyone else troubled by the suggestion that an ultra-English establishment like the Kingsman would be drinking a tawny rather than a Vintage Port?

I was at a Port fare in 2007 when Croft launched the Pink Port and everyone thought "what is next?". Sparkling Port was a hot candidate at this time. From a business point of view it is vital to swipe the bad dust off the Port's image - make it more female and younger, but keep the good dust, all t...

The problem is that when the term “British wine” was invented, there wasn’t really a commercial wine-growing industry in the UK and so I am sure it was seen as a protection for consumer to inform them that what they were buying wasn’t “real” wine. For what it is worth, I don’t quite understand why t...

I’m sure there has been a concerted effort by some producers, particular the TFP shippers, to push up the prices of their Vintage Ports with the desire that, one day, they will reach the prices of some of the trophy wines, like the first growth clarets. Smaller production volumes will help this. How...

I’m interested in the history of these tawnies. As discussed above, they are made by Barão de Vilar which was the company set up by the van Zeller family in the mid-to-late 1990s after they sold Quinta do Noval to AXA. I wonder if it is their standard blend since the oddly-shaped decanters are also ...

Thanks for all of these comments which are really interesting. I’ve only visited Madeira once and quite a few years ago (perhaps 2011 or 2012?) but I can certainly see the attraction in going there recently. We were hopeful that we’d be able to move on there after our trip to Porto earlier in the ye...

This was good fun. Thank you to everyone involved in arranging it. It certainly made me want to visit the island again! A few thoughts: I was really struck by how much sugar was in all of the wines, including the dry ones. I think this must be why I sometimes find Madeira a bit fatiguing: it can jus...

I'm also testing out some of the whites and tawnies to see if there's some cellar defenders I might stock up on. The colheitas are worth trying, too, if you come across any, including the younger ones. And don’t be afraid of older dusty bottles: Dirk Niepoort has said that he likes them with a bit ...

I was intrigued by Tom's comments on the Cruz, too, since I'm not sure I've ever tried any of their products, despite it being omnipresent in Porto. I suppose I probably ought to acquire one and also a bottle of the Cruz Pink which I've been using for my avatar for years without trying!

I think I mentioned this to AHB but since I somehow managed to persuade 4 pairs of friends to take part, we'll probably arrange our own after party to avoid it being a takeover of the one. Next time, hopefully!

Once you have your criteria finally laid out, there are a few app platforms out there that could serve well for your list. Glide is the one I am most familiar with, and it requires no coding experience whatsoever. Thanks. I hadn’t thought about turning it into an App. Although where’s the fun in “n...

I wouldn't be surprised if any cosmetically damaged TFP ports are now destined to be sold by the glass in the lodge + restaurant / Yeatman / WoW. It would seem quite an efficient way of recycling them.

jdaw1 wrote:Also see A possible improvement to tasting-note technology (July 2009).

Thanks. I'd forgotten that we had discussed this before. At least I now have 11 further years of notes from which to compile a list of descriptors!

I sometimes regret not being able to take proper notes for some of the Ports I drink. The causes are usually one of these: Drinking socially so it would be rude / weird to scribble notes. At a walk-around tasting where there isn’t anywhere to write (and writing would take too long). Having drunk too...

The wear / scuff marks on the letter and Taylor label in Axel’s photo suggests they have been stored already assembled, too, which must make preparing them for sale a bit of a nightmare: I wouldn’t be confident that none of them had leaked without checking each bottle individually. I’m also intrigue...

Struggled to find as I very seldom come across this brand. Found out the agent is JN Wines and managed to get Quinta De La Rosa 2018 and LBV 2015. Have never tasted anything from this company. This reminds me that when I was buying the wines for our wedding I had to get the de la Rosa ones over fro...

Notes: Bottled 2006. T-cork disintegrated on opening. Quite a lot of sediment for a colheita and so needed proper decanting. The colour was orange in the middle fading quite quickly towards the end. It was very strong on the nose but not attractive. There were nice burnt oranges there but that was c...