For The Love Of Port

Being a European, my perception of the reality is of course different from the perception of a North American person... But for me a port in a box is something I just can't get my head around. I agree. Also, I don't see what it would add for the port industry. About 80% of all port is either consum...

I'm in a few general wine tasting groups which were all formed during different wine courses. However, getting people together for a full-fledge port tasting is hard. I've tried but failed to get enough people together to justify opening a dozen VP's. But I would love to start an actual Port tasting...

But it would be interesting if so (and the first time in about 4 decades?!), as i had always understood that the EU problem was one of chronic over-production - and that there had been a programme to subsidise the tearing up of hundreds of thousands of hectares of vines across Europe in recent year...

Today, I was told by the CEO of a major dutch wine importer that the extremely low yields for 2012 in most European vineyards are leading to a shortage of wine for distillation, and thus a shortage of brandy for the production of port and therefore a sharp increase in price for port. He claimed that...

By the way, the back label in the IVDP's database for my Colheita 1997 which I looked up yesterday has "Bottled 2012" on it. The actual label on the bottle says 2011.. Might this be a case of using up old labels instead of discarding of them? After all, Portugal is one of the financial cri...

Oke, as promised, I ran a few more Selo's. Kopke Colheita 1991 / bottled 1999: no hit (IM07/463037) Kopke 20 years old bottled 2011: no hit (SB04/113866) Grahams 20 years old bottled 2007: no hit (BW04/775436) Grahams 20 years old bottled 2012: data present (WF04/767325), bottling date corresponds w...

Data Engarrafamento 09-03-2012 .... Data Entrada 08-03-2012 Data Análise 1 08-03-2012 Data Análise 2 08-03-2012 "Data de Engarrafamento" should mean the bottling date, not when the Selo was stamped. At least that's how I would translate it, and the translation is as straightforward as one...

I took two random bottles from one of the participating houses out of my port storage, both got a hit: Pocas Jr Colheita 1997 bottled 2011: Selo VF04/007985 Registo 10992.007 Empresa 5003782071 MANOEL D. POÇAS JÚNIOR (VINHOS), S.A. Local Gaia Descrição POÇAS COLH.1997 PORTO-NEU* Características Alco...

Fitered and decanted for approximately 4 hours. When first opened, the wine was pretty closed and it just had oxidative tones on the nose - I feared for the worst. But it really opened up in the decanter! On the eye: In the glass, the wine has browny red, slighly transparant color, with an wide disc...

That's correct, Eric. All Port, not just vintage, must be bottled in Portugal. So although it is possible to purchase a full pipe, the producer would have to have it bottled for you and labeled, then shipped. Sorry if I was not clear. As far as I know, it is still possible to buy port in bulk. Howe...

I agree - pooring filtered, cheap port into your own cask won't make it a better wine. The cask (used wood) almost certainly won't add any complexity, it will only facilitate oxidation. And sure, oxidation could improve the wine in the short term, but no more than simply putting it into a decanter w...

I've just purchased a bottle of Greek brandy (a particular bottling of Metaxa) from a private party in England, but they can't/won't ship outside the UK. Any thoughts on how I can get it out to California, intact? If they are willing to ship it outside the UK, but inside the EU (Netherlands) and yo...

Eric Ifune wrote:Only covers California, but you might try the California Wine Institute. Those figures should cover the majority of wines from the US.

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, there are no seperate figures on fortified wines in their statistics..

Regards,

Roel.

Hi everyone,

I am currently doing some research on fortified wines. Unfortunately, I can't find any statistics or other figures on US domestic fortified wine production. Is anyone aware of any statistics on US (fortified) wine production that is available online?

Regards,

Roel.

Roy Hersh wrote:Thanks for the advice!

Did you get it fixed?

Pop-n-pour - some depot in the filter and the cork had a crust built up on it. On the eye: the wine has full ruby red color, with an slight transparent brown discoloration towards the edges. On the nose: Expressive. Very primary but also a lot of secondary aroma's hidden between the ripe, dark fruit...

Just opened a '97. So much better than the '96 from last week!

But if you are topping up your barrels at a rate of 3% per year from the glass or plastic containers to cover natural evaporation - well to me that feels different. Though perhaps it is not strictly accurate to say that it has been exclusively aged in wood (since the average "time in wood"...

My first instinct is: Keep them! They are part of the "brand" Port. Almost everyone knows them and recognizes them - to drop such a well-known part of your "corporate identity" is - imho - plain stupid. I guess that would also be the answer from any marketing firm to a company th...

The oldest Niepoort LBV I have had is from the 1975 vintage, bottled in 1979 and drunk last year. That was a little underwhelming, having lost most of its flavours other than the sugars. The next oldest is the 2005, so I can't help much with personal experience. I opened a '96 two days ago. Informa...