ThePortForum.com

Does anyone know the status of the BFT this year?
(Ben sadly passed away last year and Danny Cameron moved from RR)

I don't know. The BFT website does not currently load, though the domain is still owned by Danny; the last message on twitter was in October providing a possible date of 4th May 2017 for this year's BFT, but that was just before Ben passed away. With Danny moving on from RR I note that his linked-in page also shows him as director of the BFT until Sept 2016 (rather than "to present"), implying no ongoing involvement. At the moment I think it is looking unlikely, unfortunately.

Yes - that was my fear. I have not heard anything from the shippers.
I am not sure what other opportunities there will be around this time to taste most of the 2015 ports under one roof.

I emailed Danny last year to see if he wanted any help with organising the BFT in 2017 in memory of Ben. At that time he said that prior to Ben's sad passing he had been in he process of ending his involvement with the BFT and that there was no current plans to go forward with the event. I replied saying that if 2017 was to go ahead that I would love to be involved either with Danny or anyone else that wanted to take it on, but have heard nothing yet. The website has been disabled so it looks unlikely at this stage that it will be happening.

Thank you Simon - a big loss in the calendar - especially as the mood music is positive around the 2015 vintage. Dia expressed an interest in helping which I would support. However, producers have already made commitments for the year so it is almost certainly too late.

If it looks like a general declaration I certainly want to try the wines at an early stage and will seek samples - i suspect other members will feel the same. Would there be benefit to pool effort organise something low key for PF members ? If there is consensus I will start a new thread.

Would it be worth inquiring with Dirk or Oscar if there is a BFT-like event in another location that they know of, where we could attend? A day trip to Copenhagen/Paris/Porto might be fun! And probably much less effort than organising a one-off in London.

flash_uk wrote: ↑12:44 Fri 20 Jan 2017 Would it be worth inquiring with Dirk or Oscar if there is a BFT-like event in another location that they know of, where we could attend? A day trip to Copenhagen/Paris/Porto might be fun! And probably much less effort than organising a one-off in London.

Now that sounds like an idea...