For The Love Of Port

"How long does a cork last?"

I remember reading old threads and the consensus was that it takes about 40 years for a Port cork to be saturated.

"How do wine enthusiasts usually deal with this issue?"

We drink.

It got better today with more air, it's quite a balanced port overall don't get me wrong, but after the Pocas tasting that we had recently, it's not doing it for me on the flavor front. Also, I must admit my experience with white ports is still limited at this point, so maybe it's a white port thing...

Andersen 10 White
Decent enough, but I wouldn't rebuy it as its a bit watery & spirity at the same time.

I was floored by the quality of these Pocas tawnies. All the Colheitas were very good. Only the 20 and the 40 tawnies didn't shine in the comparison, but were still good, everything else was stellar. Looking at retail prices now, probably the 30 ($65) and 1997 Colheita ($45) are the best QPR. And I ...

Enologo 20. Felt I should open a proper tawny to tune my palate for them before the upcoming Pocas tasting.

1985 Crasto for Christmas Eve

Very good. It has life left too.

I've had a Barnard Griffin, when I was still trying non-Port Ports. It disappointed me.

This thread reminded me I have a Terra d'Oro Zinfandel Port still lying around. Hopefully that will be better.

Was great fun and with truly great quality ports. The Crasto is the main one I would say drink up soon, it's fully ready imo. The Fonseca G, SW M, and Graham M should benefit the most from more time -in that order. Acidity seemed a bit too high in the Fonseca especially. The Taylor V also had elevat...

2011 Churchill LBV - not bad, which I attribute to the year. Still won't make for old bones though.

3 x 2011 Niepoort Bioma Vinha Velha won at auction for $45 each. One to John M. Incredible pickup. Congrats. With the way Niepoort is going, that's the Port equivalent of buying Bitcoin 15 years ago. Great house, great year and special vineyard, even in the unlikely event the Port isn't the best, i...

One question, should I keep this in the refrigerator now? I worry about how fast something like this will degrade once opened?

The importer label is the only label on the back. Thanks Mike. I had guessed very early 90s, so that's really incredible. I assume that because they were bottled young around 7-10 y.o. and by a good shipper, and presumably well stored, is why they have managed to survive that much bottle age without...

For sure, it was absolutely worth the gamble. I bought the lot thinking I would use them as gifts for the unitiated, but because they are so old, I'm not so sure about that anymore. I may just have to make the sacrifice of drinking them myself.

I got 10 of these basic tawnies at auction for only $6.30 each all-in. There were no pictures, and for whatever reason, I believed they would be young, but oh no they are not. Luckily, they are still drinking perfectly fine. Somewhat simple smooth caramel, reminiscent of a young Portal White actuall...

When I hear reports like this, it makes me question the whole "bottles should be stored on their side" custom all over again.

I wonder if you had stored them standing, one or two may have been oxidized due to overly shrunk corks, but you'd have no leaks or seepages.

Wow you guys are on an absolute tear this week.

QVDM Reserva, Lote 14 - I enjoy the Port of this house, they are not world beaters by any means but I find that they have a high floor.

This Port glut/low demand ratio will not last. As I said last year when they cut to 90K, they want to redouble their efforts in improving global distribution, not cut supply. And if a pipa is only 1K euro, then they need to get bottling & processing costs down to get that cheap port out there. C...

2015 Niepoort VP Young I know, but I wanted to know whether to pick more of these up. Yes, I will need gallons of this.... Lovely, massive red bouquet with citrus. And with what I'm learning is a NIepoort-style spicyness. Good as pnp for maximum lush fruit aromas, more winelike later in the day, 2nd...

I am pretty sure that if you were buying on release today, the best LBVs being sold, will in 20+ years give you a much higher ROI than the average VP. Simply because you can acquire them at a quarter of the price and, well, few people actually currently invest in cases of LBVs judging by their relat...

2014 Noble & Murat LBV

A solidly above average LBV, bodes very well for this new reborn brand.