ThePortForum.com

Name the novel:

The "Wensley!" gives it away: Wallace and Gromit

Almost. The first prize of a pallet of Graham's Stone Terraces is still out there for the first correct guess.

Obviously the record from a very poorly organised tasting - the Chief misspelt Warre.

Our Man in Havana?

PS: please do post literature mentions of specific VPs.

Hooray! JDAW, the man with the forklift is on his way to south London.

Yes I think we should collate these. And they do make an interesting little teaser.

An easy one:

• Det fanns tvättstuga, bastu, gym, förrÃ¥dsutrymmen och ett badrum med ett badkar i King Size-klassen. Där fanns till och med en vinkällare som var tom sÃ¥ när som pÃ¥ en oöppnad flaska portvin Quinta do Noval Nacional! frÃ¥n 1976. Mikael hade svÃ¥rt att föreställa sig Lisbeth Salander med ett glas portvin i handen. Ett kort angav att det var en stÃ¥ndsmässig inflyttningspresent frÃ¥n mäklaren.

I have to hand one the first few sentences from the official English translation:

• There was an enormous balcony with a fantastic view. There was a laundry room, a sauna, a gym, storage rooms, and a bathroom with a king-size bath. There was even a wine cellar, which was empty except for an unopened bottled of Quinta do Noval port Nacional! from 1976.

Of course, NN76 was never released.

Ah yes. The Girl With The Fictional Grand Cru Vintage Port.

Although not a specific vintage, Sherlock Holmes solves the mystery at the Abbey Grange with his knowledge of port sediment.

Also, whilst I do not remember the vintage (I think it was mentioned), Lord Darlington serves vintage port to Ribbentrop in "The Remains of the Day".

I have to mention Dorothy L Sayers. At various times Lord Peter Wimsey is drinking port, usually Cockburn. There is one ('Clouds of Witness'?) where Murbles the solicitor is left a case of the Cockburn 1847 by a grateful client in their will. Drinking the wine in the 1920s they pronounce it dead; 'a ghost merely', however Andre Simon reports it alive and well in 'Vintagewise' in the 1930s. I have a feeling that Ms Sayers and her ficticious paramour Lord Peter liked their port younger and fruitier than I do.

There is no specific vintage mentioned in The Warden, by Anthony Trollope, but Septimus Harding is described as reaching for the "green foil" when he needs a glass of port at the end of the day - green foil capsules being used only by Taylors at the time the book was published in 1855.

AHB wrote:green foil capsules being used only by Taylors at the time the book was published in 1855.

Seal colours were not widely recorded at that time. However, the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers’ stock list of January 1876, includes 4 dozen and 11 of ‟Beachcroft” 1847, ‟Green Seal”, purchased in 1875.


Of course, perhaps Beachcroft was a BOB for Taylor, and ’47 would have been rather young in ’55.

jdaw1 wrote:

AHB wrote:green foil capsules being used only by Taylors at the time the book was published in 1855.

Seal colours were not widely recorded at that time. However, the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers’ stock list of January 1876, includes 4 dozen and 11 of ‟Beachcroft” 1847, ‟Green Seal”, purchased in 1875.


Of course, perhaps Beachcroft was a BOB for Taylor, and ’47 would have been rather young in ’55.

Only on TPF could we enjoy discussing such details. I did laugh out loud when I read this response to my post.

i had to wipe purple off my screen

Dear all,

here's a literature quiz for sunday:

"Has a good palate for port".

1. What's the name of the book?
2. Who's the author?

Best wishes
Andre

Forster..?

We recently had a literature quiz and it was felt sufficiently worthy to be moved to Port Conversations rather than Meaningless Drivel. Perhaps an admin could unite these two threads..?

No, but he might have known E.M. Forster personally...

Threads merged.

The Ministry Of Fear, Graham Greene.

Hmm. Evelyn Waugh.

jdaw1 wrote:The Ministry Of Fear, Graham Greene.

Ah. Yes indeed.

Our second Graham Greene port reference. Have any TPFers read a biography of GG: was he a port enthusiast?

Congratulations jdaw1
It's Graham Greene's "Ministry of fear".
I'm not really familiar with Greene's biography, but think he just used the references to Port as a way of saying that someone was an "orthodox" Englishman. After all, Port is the Englishman's wine.

More from Saintsbury, nicely summing up the joy of collecting and drinking port: