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I hadn’t noticed before how declarations by smaller producers dribble out throughout the year. It seems to me that they are missing a bit of a trick here, publicity wise, since the wine press only really covers Port in April and at a Christmas. If it’s not possible to get the declarations out early ...

I’ve been surprised at the number of mechanical lagars I’ve seen pictures of posted on FB and Instagram. Wineries I had no idea were equipped with mechanical treaders. I wonder if they have been able to kit them out over the last six months? Or were just very good at hiding the mechanical parts sin...

I think the question of style is a really interesting one. A few general observations: A lot of the discussion about “style” is dominated by a discussion of Vintage Port. Unlike most other wines, this is not produced every year and has an almost infinite maturity period. With a very few exceptions—S...

In an article rather curiously entitled “ No foot-treading for Fladgate this year it has been announced that TFP are not foot treading this year. Apparently, that will mean there will be no wines produced at vineyards which don’t have mechanical equipment, most notably Quinta do Panascal. Adrian Bri...

A few more temperature charts from the (presumably private) weather station at Quinta do Bomfin. July: hot; August: a bit of a mixture, with some hot patches and the rest average; September: hot, again.

For a time the Symington's (and other producers) used the plastic foil first. IIRC, it was mainly for the bottles stored in-house for later release. I can only assume to help keep the top of the corks clean until time to apply a proper foil. To my knowledge the Sym's and most other producers have s...

I've never seen them for sale. I only came across them when I was looking at the Warre website for the non-filtered LBV (which I've also never seen for sale!). I did wonder initially if they are phasing out all non-Otima tawny ports but I don't think that can be the case looking at the dates on the ...

Noval's two LBVs are clearly distinct, though, so easily separated for marketing purposes. IIRC the unfiltered is their "Single Quinta" LBV while the regular Noval is the filtered, but I may have that backwards. That's the right way round but I'm not sure calling one "Quinta do Noval" and the other...

Noval's two LBVs are clearly distinct, though, so easily separated for marketing purposes. IIRC the unfiltered is their "Single Quinta" LBV while the regular Noval is the filtered, but I may have that backwards. That's the right way round but I'm not sure calling one "Quinta do Noval" and the other...

Before reading this thread, I hadn’t realised that Warre’s made both a filtered and unfiltered LBV. I agree with Tom that that is quite confusing since I would always assume the Warre LBV was the premium product from Symington’s LBV range and be quite disappointed if I accidentally got the unfiltere...

Given that Graham is now the anointed crown jewel in the Symington stable, I do find it odd that the Graham LBV is still a low end filtered offering. Logic would suggest making Cockburn their supermarket volume brand, and elevate the Graham to a superior age-worthy wine. I thought Dow was regarded ...

That’s excellent! (Although I am not quite sure the state rooms on an 18th Century warship had quite as much headroom as is depicted!).

For those unfamiliar with the opera, the best* summary is provided by Book a Minute Classics.

[* In terms of density of summation.]

After the endless to-ing and fro-ing about air corridors to Portugal, we have decided it is probably safe enough to try a little trip to Porto next week. The plan is slightly different from normal: a weekend break in the Yeatman, followed by renting an apartment in Bolhão to take advantage of the wo...

I'm not at all sure when the term 'Vintage Character' was first used. The term is used in some invoices sent to Sir Winston Churchill 1936–’38 ( † , ‡ ), copies of which are exhibited in the Graham’s Lodge. (These documents were unknown to the Symingtons until my letter of 22nd November 2009: house...

Do you think the guarantee is still valid? [Edit: sorry- missed the question! “Old Port” usually means a tawny of some description and I wonder if it might be a better quality one considering the addition of the word “choice”. I wonder if the three stars were a Fonseca logo during this period or, in...

Symington Family Estates on Twitter wrote:It has been very hot since the rain on 17th August. The grapes are in decent condition but yields are going to be on the low side this year due to the high temps.

I suppose that that might not be the worst thing to happen considering the logistical issues with picking / treading in the pandemic.

I opened this following the discussion of “ Cellar Defenders " since I realised I don’t drink as much Taylor LBV as I thought I did! Notes: Filtered. No bottling date but I assume 2019. Fairly solid red throughout. Dark but never quite opaque. Nose is good. Concentrated fruit with some grapes. Like ...

Niepoort with their Fahblehauf (spelling?) series of dry wines (all the same juice) and Quinta d. Mourao who also sells the same port under the names Rio Bom and S. Leonardo in diff markets. Does Dalva still use Presidential in the US, too? Another one for the list. Possibly a closer approximation ...

Forgive the world’s most drawn-out tasting note but, finishing the decanter tonight, it has fallen to bits and is not nearly as enjoyable as 48 hours ago. I often drink a bottle of Port over a week and so am quite used to them being past their prime by the time I finish them but the decline here is ...

I am sure it was quite a complex mess but it must have been capable of being unpicked in the past, so why not today. For example, in that Croft advert, they sold four types of white port, identically described. The only difference was price. I presume the more expensive ones were not just prying on ...

I'm not at all sure when the term 'Vintage Character' was first used. I am preserving a couple of good examples in the interests of posterity, since 99.9+% of it has now been drunk. That said, I'm not sure I've ever seen a Vintage Character bottle that clearly predated the arrival of the Taylor LBV...

As far as I can make out, the only thing Taylor invented was the idea of using a T-stopper on a premium quality ruby port. Everything else had been done before. However the mass marketing of the product did cause some upset at the time. Other producers felt they were exploiting and devaluing the wo...

I have many times over the past quarter-century or so encountered on Madeira absolutist statements by wine makers that, when challenged with documentary (or bottled) evidence to the contrary they row back from in a way that makes that clear that the absolutist statements were simplifications for th...

Almost all tawnies are produced and intended to be consumed within a few years of bottling. Sure you can age them a very long time. But you lose what the producer intended them to be like. If you want something that is flat and sweet, age then. If you want that crisp perceived acidity giving it a f...

If you'll forgive me for answering a question aimed at Tom, I think it can be quite beneficial in terms of softening and mellowing a young tawny. In some respects it's not dissimilar to a garrafeira- some time in casks and then some time in glass.