Search found 41 matches

by John Owlett
13:05 Tue 06 Apr 2021
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: 21st birthday port — 2018 and 2019
Replies: 8
Views: 5352

Re: 21st birthday port — 2018 and 2019

I have done something similar for a godson, I have bought him a case and half of bottles and case of 3 mags of Taylor's 18, with the mags for later in life. Thank you for that: I hadn’t thought of that ... but I followed it up first thing this morning by speaking to my account manager at Berrys’ an...
by John Owlett
23:59 Sun 04 Apr 2021
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: 21st birthday port — 2018 and 2019
Replies: 8
Views: 5352

21st birthday port — 2018 and 2019

Hello again everyone, Two of my children have given rise to third generation small people—Stanley Senez, born in November 2018, and Oscar Owlett, born in December 2019. There is no way I am laying down a whole pipe of port for each of them—indeed, I believe that Portugal no longer permits port to be...
by John Owlett
22:03 Tue 19 May 2020
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Port for sale by retailer
Replies: 1537
Views: 787639

Re: Port for sale by retailer

Good evening everyone,

Berry Bros. and Rudd sent me an e-mail this afternoon offering

1985 Fonseca, Vintage Port - £321 per 6 bottles in bond

This is my favourite Port of the 1980s at a price I am willing to pay, so I ordered half-a-dozen bottles.

Later,

John
by John Owlett
17:36 Mon 21 May 2018
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: 2016 Declarations
Replies: 65
Views: 52380

Re: 2016 Declarations

H_Sterling wrote: 07:25 Mon 21 May 2018I understand that the Vinha Velha won't be released due to too little wine.
Rats!

But thank you for the information.

John
by John Owlett
17:11 Mon 23 Apr 2018
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: 2016 Declarations
Replies: 65
Views: 52380

Re: 2016 Declarations

uncle tom wrote: 08:42 Mon 23 Apr 2018... no word on Krohn
Krohn has declared to-day as well —

http://krohn.pt/our-port-wines/classic-vintage-port/

— but I can’t find a Fladgate Partnership press release, nor any news of Quinta de Vargellas Vinha Velha.

John
by John Owlett
16:25 Sat 13 Jan 2018
Forum: Meaningless Drivel
Topic: Apostrophe crimes
Replies: 2072
Views: 674973

Re: Apostrophe crimes

Remarkable attention to detail: I have a Casio digital watch exactly like that one.
by John Owlett
00:59 Thu 11 Jan 2018
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Port for sale by retailer
Replies: 1537
Views: 787639

1960s to 1980s bin ends at Berrys’ Basingstoke

Good evening everyone, Every now and then, Berrys’ seems to empty a port bin somewhere and put the rather shabby looking bottles on sale at the warehouse shop in Basingstoke. When I was there yesterday, there were a few dozen bottles from 1970 and 1977, together with a few from the 1960s and some fr...
by John Owlett
00:10 Wed 07 Jun 2017
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Best fortified wines?
Replies: 12
Views: 10434

Re: Best fortified wines?

Has anyone tried Banyuls? I visited Collioure, France on a cruise over the last couple of weeks and walked by a producer's shop. I wanted to go inside, but the place was very crowded and we didn't have time to wait around. Coincidentally, after we returned from our trip a friend posted a picture on...
by John Owlett
18:02 Mon 08 May 2017
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Buying En Primeur
Replies: 9
Views: 6555

Re: Buying En Primeur

Hello Flask and welcome to the forum. Your post triggered many happy memories since, 11 years ago, my wife and I moved to a house with an underground cellar and set about filling it. First, the bad news. Assembling a decent cellar will cost at least £50 a month; assembling a first-class cellar will ...
by John Owlett
16:39 Tue 09 Aug 2016
Forum: Meaningless Drivel
Topic: One quiz at a time
Replies: 9703
Views: 1784348

Re: One quiz at a time

1958, 1994, and 2000
by John Owlett
20:50 Mon 18 Jul 2016
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Price versus Provenance
Replies: 13
Views: 8683

Re: Price versus Provenance

i have an actively cooled cellar, I suffer from drinking my ports before they reach maturity, so i put stuff offsite for those i really want to age properly :lol: If that is an air-conditioned room, I'm well impressed. Even a Eurocave or similar is serious wine storage. Many of our friends drink wi...
by John Owlett
20:34 Mon 18 Jul 2016
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Price versus Provenance
Replies: 13
Views: 8683

Re: Price versus Provenance

There are a couple of things I would add to the accumulated wisdom: (1) You can buy a white wax pencil via the Internet very cheaply. Use it to write on bottles before the label completely deteriorates if your cellar is humid. (2) Oporto cellars are generally a little warmer than UK cellars but por...
by John Owlett
20:11 Sun 17 Jul 2016
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Price versus Provenance
Replies: 13
Views: 8683

Re: Price versus Provenance

Anyway, I like being able to visit it, and look at it which you can't do if it is at a merchant. Ooh, yes, that is good! :lol: After writing my last post, I went down to make sure they were all well. None of them had any complaints, but the hygrometer told me that the recent rain had put the relati...
by John Owlett
16:27 Sun 17 Jul 2016
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Price versus Provenance
Replies: 13
Views: 8683

Re: Price versus Provenance

That's interesting Julian. Our cellar is a "room" under our house, which is still, dark, runs at a temperature of between 11 in the winter and 16 in high summer, and runs between 70% and and 80% relative humidity. The humidity is not good for labels, I admit, but otherwise I had thought it...
by John Owlett
15:42 Sun 17 Jul 2016
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Price versus Provenance
Replies: 13
Views: 8683

Re: Price versus Provenance

Thank you Derek, thank you Owen. So, there is no panacea. External signs can help but aren't a definitive guide. And no supplier, no matter how prestigious, is completely free from risk. I think I shall have to accept that I'm rather good at being neurotic, and should shop at the lower risk end of t...
by John Owlett
20:23 Fri 15 Jul 2016
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Price versus Provenance
Replies: 13
Views: 8683

Price versus Provenance

(1) How much can the long-term storage of a port affect the enjoyment of those who drink it? (2) How on Earth can one tell whether a port one is thinking of buying has been properly stored? Occasionally, not often admittedly, I have had a bottle of port that has tasted dull in comparison with others...
by John Owlett
22:24 Thu 14 Jul 2016
Forum: Meaningless Drivel
Topic: Apostrophe crimes
Replies: 2072
Views: 674973

Re: Apostrophe crimes

The only places where I have ever seen the interrobang used are articles about the interrobang.
by John Owlett
21:04 Tue 12 Jul 2016
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Port for sale by retailer
Replies: 1537
Views: 787639

Re: Port for sale by retailer

No problem, Julian. It is just a matter of simultaneous equations.

The answer is that 250ml of the wine costs minus £1; the bottle costs £15.

Simples.
by John Owlett
15:01 Sun 10 Jul 2016
Forum: Meaningless Drivel
Topic: Apostrophe crimes
Replies: 2072
Views: 674973

Re: Apostrophe crimes

He's got them on the list -- he's got them on the list;
And they'll none of them be missed -- they''ll none of them be missed.
by John Owlett
15:14 Thu 07 Jul 2016
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Stored Labels
Replies: 9
Views: 5375

Re: Stored Labels

Must ask: are there old price catalogues? Cellar books? Sorry, Julian, I don't know. I was just a customer being given the "Tour of the Cellar". They gave me a copy of their 2007-08 Wine List, which I suppose is an old price catalogue within the meaning of the act, but I doubt whether it ...
by John Owlett
16:48 Wed 06 Jul 2016
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Stored Labels
Replies: 9
Views: 5375

Re: Stored Labels

Desultory browsing of the website yesterday evening led me to this thread ... for which I do have relevant experience. One of the wine merchants I use occasionally is Whighams of Ayr. Nowadays it is part of the Corney and Barrow organisation -- and on the ground floor it is a modern wine shop. But t...
by John Owlett
21:27 Sun 03 Jul 2016
Forum: Other Wines
Topic: 2002 Bollinger Grand Annee
Replies: 3
Views: 5097

Re: 2002 Bollinger Grand Annee

Pale colour, good fine mousse. Very light and dry with excellent clean lines. Some wood on the palate with an undertow of hedgerow flowers. Not noticeably aged, plenty of acidity to give it some zip. A stony finish. There was even more acidity -- too much for my taste -- until about 2013. Then the ...
by John Owlett
00:07 Thu 30 Jun 2016
Forum: Meaningless Drivel
Topic: Mac Duff's Port
Replies: 1
Views: 8626

Mac Duff's Port

All Scottish and Irish names that I am aware of that include "Mc" or "Mac" have these parts conjoined to the principle name. This is the only example I have seen with a space. This may be the case with Scottish names but it is not so with Irish ones. Names containing 'Mac' in Ir...
by John Owlett
17:49 Wed 29 Jun 2016
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: Berrys' Port Walk, 24-25 November 2016
Replies: 1
Views: 2280

Berrys' Port Walk, 24-25 November 2016

Is there any difference between the Thursday or Friday Port Walks at Berrys' in November, or are the two evenings identical?

Or does The Port Forum attend both evenings, the first as a Port Walk and the second as a Port Stagger? :?

John
by John Owlett
18:00 Thu 23 Jun 2016
Forum: Port Conversations
Topic: 2015 prospects -- Port for Juno
Replies: 11
Views: 7038

Re: 2015 prospects -- Port for Juno

... an enquiry we can get stuck into and use as an excuse to gently ridicule each other. More welcome comments from your getting stuck into the enquiry, and entertainment from your gentle ridicule. What would I suggest from 2004 as a cellar defender? Noval and Vesuvio are too serious a wine to sugg...