For The Love Of Port

To this day, I've never even had Terrentez or Bastardo. Where do they fall out on the "dry - medium dry - medium sweet - sweet" scale? I read in Alex Liddell's book that Madeira still grows quite a fair amount of Muscat grapes, but because they fetch a much higher price as table grapes, th...

"OK, so the weekend has past a little....who cares!" Just what I was about to say! Anyway, the 2000 Quinta do Infantado LBV, which I'm very impressed by. I haven't had any 2000 Vintage Ports yet, so this is actually the first 2000 I've tried, and if its all typical, then 2000 was truly sup...

I'll go out on a limb here, but, with the possible exception of some old Moscatel Madeiras I've had, I don't pick up a lot varietal character from Madeiras. The most pronounced flavor I pick up is the distinct flavor of Madeira, and then the variations of sweetness across the range of different Made...

I've been away from this forum for awhile, but have been wanting to participate again. However, I find that I'm unable to update my profile and enter my new email address, as any time I hit the "update" button, I get a dialog box stating that the city, state, and country fields are mandato...

"Resturants with good selections of VP and Maderia would be Fleur de Lis (Expensive, get reservation now if you want to go, to my mind this is the best resturant in the entire Bay Area)" I found the Fleur de Lys menu and wine list here: http://www.fleurdelyssf.com/ It looks like a great re...

LBV Port: 97 Quinto do Crasto, though 98 Ramos-Pinto is my usual "go-to" port.
Crusted: I like Dow's, but I have nothing else to compare it to.
Reserva: I usually consider this category mediocre and overpriced, but I remember liking Ferreira 'Doña Antonia'.

Alvada is not a table wine, but a 5-year-old Malmsey/Bual blend. I don't know about Norway, but over here its very common, sold in supermarkets – nothing you'd have to wait for a trip to Madeira for. Alvada is nothing to write home about. Its sold in 500 ml bottles and is rather overpriced for a 5-y...

Your post got me interested in what would be the top hits if I googled "port wine". The results were mixed: 1) Into Wine: Enjoying Port ( http://www.intowine.com/port.html ) OK article on Port, but not definitive enough of being the #1 hit. 2) Wikipedia "Port wine" article ( http...

The Ramos-Pinto LBV is also unfiltered, but doesn't throw a huge amount of sediment. If you didn't feel like decanting it, you could get as far as the last glassful before having to strain it through cheesecloth, though I typically decant for a couple of hours to open up the wine. I'm going to pick ...

I wasn't aware of the differences in stock between different stores, but I guess that makes sense, considering that northern and southern Cal have different distributors. I've never been to their Santa Clara store – I just know they have one there. Have you tried the Ramos-Pinto LBV that the SF stor...

Does Spanish Table get Serra de Estrella at all of their stores? They just opened one a few miles from where I live, in Mill Valley, but I still haven't been by there.

Peter

There are Wine Club stores in San Francisco and Santa Clara. No need for someone from the Bay Area to go to Santa Ana for that.

Peter

Count me in as well for any Bay Area Port tastings. I attended the IVP tasting at the Fairmont in 2001 and have been hoping for any kind of Port or Madeira related event since then. I unfortunately missed the other one that was held in 2003 or 2004.

Peter

I have not tasted the Justinos ( Broadbent 10 year olds ), but I must say if I have to choose, I will pick the H&H and Barbeito 10 years. I'm told that even though Broadbent is bottled by Justinos, it is not the same thing as the Justinos 10-year Malmsey that they sell under their own brand. I ...

Roy Hersh wrote:Clever Peter,

Are you a fan?

Yes – one of my favorites.

I'm not planning on doing any traveling this summer, though, so I'm leaving the answer open. Has anybody who's actually trying for the prize figured it out yet?

Peter

Roy Hersh wrote:I never said this had anything to do with wine.

Not even a 1960 Chateau St Estèphe?

Peter

Roy - are Internet references like Internet Movie Database acceptable if the information isn't Googled? I know roughly what the clues are referring to, but am still trying to figure out how they fit.

Peter

10-year Malmsey is my "everyday" Madeira. My favorites are Broadbent and Henriques. Broadbent is a very intense, very sweet, concentrated, forward style, while Henriques is slightly less sweet (though still as sweet as one would expect from Malmsey), nicely complex, and a bit less forward....

Are those good 2000 VPs? Which do you recommend?

I have a BevMo "frequent drinkers" card - maybe I'll pick one of these up.

Peter

I was lucky enough to attend the 2002 Port Wine Institute tasting in San Francisco. Most major houses were represented, and I made a point of trying every LBV there. (I got fairly smashed, because I just couldn't stand to spit most of it. :)) The 1997 Quinto do Crasto LBV was the "best of show&...