For The Love Of Port

Complicated subject, and it is sometimes good to ask the restaurant about their tip-out policy first (tip-out requires waiters to share their tips with other staff (bar, kitchen, etc). I think most restaurants now ask waiters to tip-out a certain % of the waiter's total TIPS for the evening, but I b...

Very interesting and enjoyable reading. Thank you for the link

Thanks David.

Thanks Andy, I see the links now. Once functional, maybe the little envelope logo could be made larger or replaced with "Send Andy an Email" or something a bit more prominent?

Roy, you really need a CONTACT US link somewhere on the home page. If it's there, it's well hidden because I can't find it. I see a CONTACT link on the TNDB page, but it goes nowhere. I mention this because I know someone who wanted to contact you with a question about a very old Madeira in their po...

Tough to imagine a rosé at 20% abv being drinkable

Yes, in regions like Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley, a number of producers “Parkerized” their wines. However, that was pretty much the extent of the Parker effect outside the U.S . Rather than exerting a homogenizing influence, we Americans have instead become stalwart defenders of the artisanal, th...

Are these ultra-luxury tawnies going to receive the usual accusations about having been "refreshed"? Niepoort made the mistake of being honest about the Millenium bottlings, and they're only fetching $400 a bottle.

Watched the Bill Koch piece on 20/20 recently. My wife and daughter were with me and we all actually laughed when he started crying about how much he loves his rare wine and art. Dude came across as all about himself and his ego, there was nothing about him that inspired sympathy, he's really the ki...

The sad part is some producers have purposely lost that Douro charm in an effort to make an 'international' wine that will appeal to everyone. Agree completely Andy. Like Parker, Matt Kramer (among others) seems to think all wines should come to him ; far better to make the effort to appreciate win...

Well, I'm glad Kramer took the time to go to Portugal and share his expertise with them. That was easy enough. Now they can start making wine to please WS and we'll all be SO much better off

That's one obvious thing I was wondering about and is faced in our own country...if you're going to advocate irrigation during severe drought, where do you plan to get the water without stressing the system even further and causing problems for others who need that precious water?

The classic reason the French give is that lack of easy water forces vines to grow deep into the soil (or rock) and acquire greater expression of terroir. It definitely seems to work in the great Burgundy vineyards, where roots can grow meters deep and acquire very different nutrients and flavor pro...

Roy, I think you found more complexity in it than I did. But I didn't bother looking very hard, I was just very happy to enjoy the bright fruit and nice clean profile (this is the only Port I've ever consumed an entire bottle of in one sitting a few years ago!). In any case, it confirms this a vinta...

Frustration is understandable, but this is not a totally uncommon occurrence, at least it's happened to me a number of times in various types of auctions over many years. Ultimately, if there is an error in the description, the auctioneer typically has the discretion to cancel the sale or, as WineBi...

:soapbox: Rustic/traditional all the way for me. Traditional wine styles were developed regionally to suit local cuisine, which was often a bit rustic. Polished modern styles were developed internationally to suit critics who play to an overly broad and dumbed-down audience, much of which can't perc...

In my wonderful progressive town, I've been mourning the death of the hamburger joint for many years. We used to have several awesome local joints (I fondly remember Nibble Nook and Red & White), but they are long gone, replaced by tofu stores and organic soy milk co-ops (plus the occasional tas...

Hi Mahmoud. I don't want to stir up a debate about wines styles, people who have done much drinking with me know I have pretty strong opinions on the "Parkerized" New World style and how it has decimated the wine scene. But in essence, I've never believed that unbalanced wines come into ba...

Taylor Vintage Port Vertical (Los Angeles, California) : Deep and inky dark cherry color, with lovely purple flashes. The nose leaps from the glass, I could easily smell this across the table. The mixed basket of red, blue and black fruits is remarkably pure, immensely deep, with a freshness remini...

Taylor Vintage Port Vertical (Los Angeles, California) : Very dark, almost black, faintly cloudy, with garnet flashes at the rim. After 3 hours in the glass, the nose started to open. But on the palate, the concentration of blue and black fruits is stunning. Pure, primary, lightly peppery, very per...