For The Love Of Port

Type-2 diabetic here. I haven't monitored my blood glucose regularly for several years. I do get regular Hemoglobin A1c tests which measure an average blood glucose for the previous six months or so. I'm typically around 6.3% having crept up from my best (during an exercise program) of 5.9%. My doct...

Back for another “fleeting visit”. Very interesting tasting note on that old bottle of Nimrod. I have a single bottle from the final production over a decade ago. It’s in storage with all my other wines at a friend's warehouse. (He's a wine importer, so conditions are fairly good for keeping wine. I...

Ferreira Dona Antonia 20 year old. This is what my supplier has been delivering lately in place of the Duque de Bragança 20. Is it the same tawny? It seems very like it but the normal bottle variability makes it hard to be certain. I just opened a bottle of DdB20 bottled in 2018 and it seemed a bit...

Unfortunately, my experience with Nimrod was all with current-production (at the time) bottles. I started keeping track of my wine purchases in 2006, and from then until Warre's quit producing Nimrod in mid-2008, I seem to have purchased around 350 bottles (including my 13 case panic purchase when I...

I'm in the fairly odd position of going to the same restaurant twice a week, every week. We always sit at the same table, and only call to make a "negative" reservation (if for some reason, we can't make it). My inclination (having worked as a busboy for several whiles in my misspent youth...

My consumption has dropped. Trying to cut back on alcohol consumption in general. Making one or two glasses do where it used to be 5 or 6. I did get a pretty good deal recently on Ferreira 20 at $50 a bottle for a case lot. (Aggressive bargaining by Alan with the local distributor. It's NICE to have...

Ferreira 20 here...eating pistachios and wasabi almonds Talk about a strong food item to pair with. Does the wasabi overpower the Port? Not even close. I find that (tawny) port is pretty good with intensely spiced foods. Maybe not so much blindingly hot capsaicin style foods, but with most spicey f...

Ferreira 20 here. We generally have a glass or two (or three) after the MNATM (Monday Night At The Movies - our weekly mini-festival here at the house). Some kind of bubbly - usually a Prosecco - with popcorn during the movie, and then sit around with the port, eating pistachios and wasabi almonds w...

For long-term drinking sessions, I like to take about 200 ml of water for every 10 ml of straight alcohol - more or less a "standard drink" of 5 oz glass of wine, 12 can of (American) beer, a shot of liquor, or a 50 ml glass of fortified wine. That is about how much water it takes to metab...

My own feeling is that people who buy wine as an investment probably deserve what they get.

Aliens was an awesome sequel. I won't say better than the first outright, but certainly a worthy follow-on. And then it went downhill. I have heard that. I have all the Alien series, but I can't seem to get through the first one. I really dislike cheesy horror effects like building up tension and t...

My initial PMs to someone usually include: Fell free to send me e-mail at <e-mail address>, since this will be better. Not only that, I frequently cut'n'paste PMs into an email that I send to myself. My email archives go back into the 1990s. I never delete anything but spam. I did lose all my older...

On the flight home, I saw the movie The Book Thief, which my daughter recommended while we were flipping through all of the options, 120 films being offered. The movie was wonderful and sad, another tragic film about a young girl (daughter of Communists) growing up in Germany pre-WW2 w/ adoptive ne...

Roy, next time you are in SE Michigan, the Sidetrack Tap in Ypsilanti is said (by Esquire Mag) to have one of the 20 best burgers in the US. They are pretty darn good.

My favorite restaurant (MFR) has always turned a blind eye to the occasional outside bottle since state law prohibited bringing outside wine to licensed premises. Now Michigan law has changed to allow this, and MFR has instituted a $20 corkage fee, but waives it with a reservation for 6 or more.Deca...

Probably not fair for me to vote, as I've never taken in a bottle and been charged corkage. The only restaurant I've ever brought bottles to is my regular restaurant, either for a port tasting, or for a group of friends (including the owner) who occasionally each bring in a bottle or two of somethin...

[<snip> But here's an interesting thing. We just got a new case of 2013 bottling, and we (GoP) think (based on the first 2013 bottle opened) that it is quite a bit different than the 2011. Less hot immediately after opening, for one thing. I have brought a 2013 bottle home and plan to open a 2011 a...

For me, VA frequently smells like nail-polish remover (acetone).

I will agree that to be a commodity, a substance must be fungible.

So, Port cannot be a commodity, whether perishable or not.

<snip> 6. If in the company of Peter W. Meek, IF he insists on opening any bottle of wine in your presence, make sure to have a solidly built window/wall between you and him. Now, now... I've opened thousands and thousands of bottles of wine* and have yet to injure anyone (else). In fact, the self-...