Back in the fold . . .

Luc Gauthier · Post by **Luc Gauthier** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:00 am

I have returned . . . (sigh !!) .
A defective memory card prevented me from hearing Alans rants , Todd wishing he could add more to conversations , who has the better cellar : Alex or Alex (of course , Todd wishing he had a cellar ) and of course Roy telling us all where It's really at . . .
It's good to be back . . .

Alan C. · Post by **Alan C.** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:01 pm

Welcome Back! :)
I was missing your occasional surrealism.

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 5:18 pm

Luc,

It is good to have you back. I tried to keep it real with my human DNA in port thread but I think it was lacking your input and faded away too quickly

Welcome home

Derek

Luc Gauthier · Post by **Luc Gauthier** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 5:48 am

Alan C. wrote:Welcome Back! :)
I was missing your occasional surrealism.

You want surrealism , talk to that Picasso fellow . ( I think he painted a bit )Theres one scary dude . . .

Luc Gauthier · Post by **Luc Gauthier** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:07 am

Derek , are you kiding ?
You mean to say the thread died even before It reached pubescence . . .
Personaly I would started off with a real eye catching , Phylloxera fact : At the height of the infestation , one of the proposed solutions was to let the boys out of school and they would go and urinate on the vines !!!!
The theory being , that the acid in the urine would destroy the insect

Damm those French were nuts .

Alex K. · Post by **Alex K.** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:07 am

Alex and Alex had a discussion at the Crusting Pipe last week. It appears that Alex's cellar was a better Port cellar whilst Alex's was a better broad-spectrum with both having about the same number of bottles. Conclusion: Alex has the best cellar.

Luc Gauthier · Post by **Luc Gauthier** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:06 am

The smart money was on Alex

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:04 am

Its absolutely true that Alex has the better cellar.

It is interesting to see how people's cellars change over time. 15 years ago I was an avid Bordeaux fan. I bought selectively en primeur and in the early release markets and usually bought 3-4 cases of wine for aging each year and 1-2 cases of more mature wine for more immediate drinking. Between us, my wife and I probably drank about that amount of wine each year so the cellar was in balance.

However, 2003 was the last vintage that I bought. I had already started to feel exploited when the 2000 vintage was released and prices had gone through the roof. When 2001 and 2002 were not substantially lower and then 2003 came out even more expensive than the 2000s I was totally put off. That case of 2003 Leoville Poyferre that I bought en primeur is the last Bordeaux wine that I will buy by the case. I still by the odd bottle from time to time either to hide away for a few years or to drink fairly soon, but these are few and far between.

I've always bought the odd bottle of port and have enjoyed port ever since I can remember. Around the end of the '90s, as I started to buy less Bordeaux so I replaced the volume of wine with buying port. These days I buy a mix of en primeur for wines that I want to be able to store in bond and have perfect provenance and also older wines as and when they come available at prices that I am happy to pay.

Over the last 5-7 years the profile of my cellar has changed from being roughly 70% Bordeaux, 10% port, 20% others to today's proportions of 65% port, 20% Bordeaux, 15% others.

Mind you, I am very much enjoying drinking my way through all those old and mature Bordeaux wines that I have on hand.....

Alex

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:03 am

Luc Gauthier wrote:Derek , are you kiding ?
You mean to say the thread died even before It reached pubescence . . .
Personaly I would started off with a real eye catching , Phylloxera fact : At the height of the infestation , one of the proposed solutions was to let the boys of school and they would go and urinate on the vines !!!!
The theory being , that the acid in the urine would destroy the insect
Damm those French were nuts .

Yes, Luc, the thread died with barely a whimper. I'll remember your advice on the urine thing and slip that into my next attempt at scientific exploration of the port world

Derek

PS: Having known both of them for 2 years now I can confirm with some degree of certainty that Alex does indeed have the best cellar, although Al-C is catching up quick now that he has 12 (or is that 11?) bottles of Warre's LBV 95

Alan C. · Post by **Alan C.** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:45 am

Derek T. wrote: although Al-C is catching up quick now that he has 12 (or is that 11?) bottles of Warre's LBV 95

Although I took some pride out of my inverted snobbery, in NOT having a cellar, and just buying what I drink, something strange has happened. I now have a small recess under the stairs cleaned out. It contains around 2 Dozen bottles of Port. Half LBV and half Vintage. Has a few good ones in there and a Birth Year bottle for next January.
I may be wrong....but this definately Could be the start of a cellar!
Is there a Doctor in the Forum?

Alan

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:44 am

Oh Dear .... Al C has started sliding down that slippery slope ..... another one corrupted - I mean converted.

The next thing you know, Alan will be asking us what we would suggest he does now that there is no space left under his stairs.

Shall we start a sweep on how long it takes for Alan to run out of space?

Alan - I have to say that I have always found it really nice to be able to have bottles lying around at home so that I don't have to plan to pick something up when I want a drink. Its also nice knowing that you have some special bottles (like the Harvey's) ready there when you want them.

Welcome to the brotherhood

Alex

Alex K. · Post by **Alex K.** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:36 am

Mine started with a case of mixed plonk, I think two cases of Port is well down the road.

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:03 am

Alan,

Congratulations on building yourself a cellar

Now that you have one you need to take some aditional security measures. I would suggest that a good place to start would be to hand out copies of the photos below to your neighbours (or at least the one's that like you) and ask them to keep an eye out for these two dodgy characters who are known to be the ring-leaders in a gang of international port cellar thieves. The one with the sunglasses regularly poses as a policeman whilst the other is known to be an explosive chemicals expert.

Derek

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:16 am

YEAH, my first mug shot

Jay, were infamous...can't stop now, gotta raid all the cellars quick, before they catch us......if they can :twisted:

Luc Gauthier · Post by **Luc Gauthier** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:20 am

Derek T. wrote:
Luc Gauthier wrote:Derek , are you kiding ?
You mean to say the thread died even before It reached pubescence . . .
Personaly I would started off with a real eye catching , Phylloxera fact : At the height of the infestation , one of the proposed solutions was to let the boys of school and they would go and urinate on the vines !!!!
The theory being , that the acid in the urine would destroy the insect
Damm those French were nuts .
Yes, Luc, the thread died with barely a whimper. I'll remember your advice on the urine thing and slip that into my next attempt at scientific exploration of the port world

Derek
Wow . . . A hole dozen Warres LBV '95 . There's no accounting for taste .
But then again , at least Alan has a designated area .
I , on the other hand , also have a designated area , however I do not know Its location . . .

PS: Having known both of them for 2 years now I can confirm with some degree of certainty that Alex does indeed have the best cellar, although Al-C is catching up quick now that he has 12 (or is that 11?) bottles of Warre's LBV 95

Todd Pettinger · Post by **Todd Pettinger** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:37 pm

I'm glad that (at present) Derek doesn't have a picture of me. I can sneak in to the neighborhood unnoticed.

Mind you, if Tom has been hanging out at Alan's house, then I could be in for some trouble with his cellar-traps.

Todd

Alan C. · Post by **Alan C.** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 1:43 am

Anyone who wants to take on the Gorgeous Deborah when she is in her 'Hating Men' mode, and Jessy the Dog (An aging Labrador who walks with a limp) is welcome to have a bottle from my World Class Cellars!

The real reason I am responding, is to ask has anyone else noticed that our Forums own Salvador Dali, has started replying to posts by hiding his words in the Posts of others! Have a read of Luc's last one, you need a degree in deciphering.
Very Good, Bud. Cant wait for the next installment. Beats the Times Crossword.

Alan

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 3:12 am

Alan C. wrote: has anyone else noticed that our Forums own Salvador Dali, has started replying to posts by hiding his words in the Posts of others!

Perhaps Luc doesn't really exist and is actually a supernatural product of the Collective Port Wisdom of this site (a bit like The Borg) and is gradually assimilating all of us into his Sureal Army by making us use his words in our posts :?

Resistence is Futile

Derek

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 3:07 pm

Perhaps Luc is a shortened version of Lucretia Borg - a sort of sinister leader of the collective whose only objective is to assimilate our port cellars into a single location while eliminating all rivals ....

Luc Gauthier · Post by **Luc Gauthier** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 12:48 pm

Alan C. wrote:Anyone who wants to take on the Gorgeous Deborah when she is in her 'Hating Men' mode, and Jessy the Dog (An aging Labrador who walks with a limp) is welcome to have a bottle from my World Class Cellars!

The real reason I am responding, is to ask has anyone else noticed that our Forums own Salvador Dali, has started replying to posts by hiding his words in the Posts of others! Have a read of Luc's last one, you need a degree in deciphering.
Very Good, Bud. Cant wait for the next installment. Beats the Times Crossword.

Alan

Alan , you're on to something ( notice I didn't say on something ) , but then again everyone knows or maybe not that you don't jump on Supermans cape . . .