For The Love Of Port

Well balanced and well integrated tannin. Medium to full body with a persistent finish. (91 pts.)

Reticent nose. Lots of swirling coaxes out some nice red fruit. Moderate tannin and well balanced. (90 pts.)

6/9/2009 Intensely dark and extracted color. Intrigueing nose, seems open and expressive with aromas of strawberry, tar, plum, and black licorish. Huge coarse tannin, spicy and a bit of heat. Full body, intense, massive, tannic, and brooding. A bit punishing to drink now but there's a lot going on a...

6/9/2009

Gorgeous nose. Medium body. Almost smooth tannin. Spicy red fruit. Well balanced. (94 pts.)

6/9/2009

Cask Sample. Dark, opaque, nearly black in color. Very tight nose. Absolutely massive tannins, mouth puckering. Dark, brooding, and intense. Shows huge potential.

6/9/2007

Dark reddish black. Complex aromas of dark and red fruits. Strawberry and plum. The palate is big, sweet, and massive. Full body, thick, and viscous. Very strong tannins. Should be fabulous in 30 to 40 years.

6/9/2009 Dark red / purple. Nice enticing nose with dark fruit, tar, blackberry, and cherry. Nice and sweet on the palate. Tannins start soft but come on stronger towards the end. A bit tart and a sour quality to the finish. I really liked the aromatics on this but on the palate this is showing a bi...

6/9/2009

Very dark red. Nice aromatics, spicy red fruit. Firm fine grained tannin. Good acid and well balanced. A pleasing warm finish.

I was there as well. It was a nice tasting and the 2007 Taylor Vargellas Vinha Velha cask sample was a nice surprise. Here are my notes from the tasting: 2007 VINTAGE PORT CASK SAMPLES - Seattle, WA (6/9/2009) This tasting was a three-way venture, organized by FTLOP, Kobrand, and McCarthy & Schi...

Interesting. I wonder how it compares to Croft Pink Port and if this is the beginning of many other producers making a Rose Port.

Just about any Cotes du Rhone, though my favorite is Coudoulet de Beaucastel.

How about some new featured articles on the home page? I think it's been the same four articles since the sight redesign over a year ago...

Glenn E. wrote:I have considered an even sneakier blind tasting, but don't have enough guinea pigs... er, Port tasters... to be able to try it.

I'm game. Just name the time and place. I'll probably fail miserably but occasionally I get lucky.

I love them young and I love them old. It's the teen age years that are a little more difficult for me to enjoy.

Balance is important but I think acidity plays a smaller role in Port than the tannins. My perception is that the tannins diminish faster than the acidity as the Port ages so having a good doese of tannins when young is important. I rarely encounter a Port I would characterize as high acidity. I thi...

I'm not sure knowing the label always affects the results. For example, I was really looking forward to the 1970 Taylor and thought it would be 1st or a close 2nd in the flight. Except for the corked 1970 Ferreira, it was my least favorite. Except for knowing the big names, I had very few preconceiv...

I once ate the wrong kind of Persimmon when it wasn't fully ripe and the tannins in it were intense, stronger than any Vintage Port of any age that I've ever tasted.

I picked up a few bottles of 1994 Vesuvio recently. Nothing else on my radar but the last weekend of tasting told me I need to get more pre 1970 VP so I'll be on the lookout for good deals.

WOW! What a great weekend of tasting. I'm surprised that I feel almost sober at the moment. I'll try to get notes up over the next couple days.

Mr. Waterhouse said that the obnoxious, dank flavor of a “corked” wine, which usually renders it unusable even in cooking, can be removed by pouring the wine into a bowl with a sheet of plastic wrap. “It’s kind of messy, but very effective in just a few minutes,” he said. The culprit molecule in in...