For The Love Of Port

Here was the announcement: SYMINGTON FAMILY DECLARES 2024 VINTAGE PORTS The family’s first classic Vintage Port declaration in seven years marks a return to classical Douro harmony, with wines defined by remarkable elegance. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – April 14, 2026 - Symington Family Estates, a five-g...

I will be having the 1961 Krohn in less than 3 hours from now, amongst a big Krohn tasting event here in Tondela, (near Viseu) in Dao region. I have 5 at home, and have had it a half dozen times, over the years. For me, it is one of the all-time greatest Krohn's and a remarkable achievement in the w...

Eric,

Yeah, Portugal across all worlds here is equally shocked and saddened. This is really awful and the outpouring of love from the wine community and others, is incredible, and rightfully so.

P.S. I took a break from the newsletter, which I will have done soon, tomorrow is most likely ... But the story I discussed in the prior post, I found pictures of that evening with Carlos Raposo. It was September 18th 2019 to be exact just prior to the Port Harvest Tour 2. I will post a photo in the...

I was wrong, he was 41 years young. I knew his health was not good during the 4th quarter of 2025. Nobody was saying what was wrong with him. I had learned that he was in a coma most of this year. I have heard from one friend, where he was a consulting oenologist that he had contracted Pancreatitis....

I learned and am very sorry to report today that a good friend of mine, Carlos Raposo (of Niepoort and later his own project in Dao: Vinhos Imperfeitos) has passed away. I knew he was not well in 2025 and was hospitalized. He spent the past several months in a coma from an infection he developed whi...

I completely agree with Andy, corks can last for very long periods of time. A half century ... without even trying. That would be equal to 1977 right now, (ok 49 if you want to be technical). But most of us collecting since the early days of this website (2005) and a bunch of us that are older, or b...

While not YET official, Churchill's will be declaring their classic Churchill's 2024 Vintage Port, as well as their Quinta da Gricha 2024 VP, from predominantly old vines in that vineyard. They will make their declaration in a few weeks, on a specific day in April, to coincide with the birthday of t...

Hi Mike: How was the 1957 Niepoort Colheita? (That's my birth year) - mine too. While there will be a TN in the newsletter #125, as it is already written, I can say that it was a top performer and compared to other bottles, more light-medium ruby color mixed with tawny. But wonderful overall. That s...

150 year old Tawny Port cask sample. Unreleased yet.

1982 Graham's Single Harvest Tawny Port bottled 2018

Dos Santos 10 year old White Port

1957 Niepoort Colheita - bottled 1976

So, truth be told — two weeks ago yesterday, DR or Domingos Ribeiro, passed away in the presence of his family. Last week we attended his service held in Antas. DR started the eponymous named winery in 2001. RIP!

2008 DR White Colheita

A pair of Graham's 1966 VPs.

I don't think WOW was actually meant as a draw for Port lovers. The majority of people who come to Porto, or visit Gaia are not necessarily Port aficionados. Of course some are. But most are just Port-curious and not geeks like us. That said, I have visited 4 museums and enjoyed them, some more than...

I am finishing off a brief piece for the newsletter (FTLOP #124) on the project in Gaia known as World of Wine, and was wondering what your feedback is for those of you that visited the museums or dined at the restaurants there?

All feedback is welcome!

In the past, a company that wanted to join the Port wine trade, first and foremost had to be able to come up with 150,000 liters of Port wine stocks before they could begin to be approved by the regulatory agencies. In the past decade that quantity was reduced to just 75,000 liters and when that reg...

I'd have to go through my ratings to see, but off the top of my head, three that come to mind are the Noval, Taylor's, and DR for sure. I have had all three on many occasions and they stand out in the crowd.

Friday night, a 50 year old Quinta do Noval Tawny was just outstanding. I have now had it on a handful of occasions during the past 2 years and it is as good as any 50 Tawny I've had. I am sure there are still some I've never had, but that list is growing shorter. It is easy to love on these 50s, I ...

The "remastered" version of Romaneira 40 is still very nice, albeit not in the same out of this world realm the original used to be. Enjoy it Mike!

In my upcoming newsletter there are 9 top Terrantez and 6 old Malvasia bottlings tasting notes that appear in the subscribers PDF. Some incredible bottles to say the least. Definitely my best day of Madeira drinking this year.