Complete Vesuvio Vertical at Berrys'

[John Owlett]

The Autumn 2008 tastings & dinners brochure arrived this morning from Berry Bros. & Rudd. It includes a "tutored tasting" with Paul Symington of all the Quinta do Vesuvio vintages since 1989:

http://www.bbr.com/db/product/TAS818/ex ... 0th-oct-08

It'll be in one of Berrys' cellars at St James's in the evening of 30 October; it costs GBP 125 for a ticket; and there are (or were) 24 spaces available.

Later,

Dr Owl

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John Owlett, Southampton, UK

[Roy Hersh]

John,

Welcome back and nice to see you again. Thanks for posting this here. I think that the price is very reasonable and Paul Symington is a very interesting speaker. He is acutely aware of the world's marketplace and its relationship to Port. I really enjoy his brilliant style and if you look at A Question for the Port trade in the current newsletter you'll get an idea.

To have the opportunity to have him guide you through a tasting with the 15 vintages Vesuvio has released ... with the possibility of a 16th ... either the 2006 which is great or maybe even a 2007 cask sample. If I was there, with the chance to revisit the greatest retailer in the world, it would be a no brainer. Spend the money and sign up for this one!

[John Owlett]

... the greatest retailer in the world ...

Thank you, Roy.

When I started buying wine from Berrys', I did not fully appreciate how highly it was regarded. It was just the best wine merchant I could find in Hampshire. It isn't the cheapest, but a combination of excellent service and a wide range of wines have made it by far my main supplier. In particular, I value the care it takes over the condition of the wines - when buying wines that are mature, I no longer have any concern about provenance.

I have never yet been to the shop in St James's, but my son and I are intending to go to the Vesuvio Vertical. Apparently the idea is to taste 17 vintages: from 1989 to 2006, both dates inclusive, excluding 1993. No mention of a 2007 cask sample, but I can hope.

By the way, as well as nits, figs and dried fruit, stilton will be served. If you are still trying to find out why (apart from sheer eccentricity) the English associate port with stilton, it might be worth an e-mail to Simon Field, who is hosting the event, asking him why he is serving it ... though I suspect his reason is just that his customers are eccentric English people who will expect it.

Later,

Dr Owl

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John Owlett, Southampton, UK

[Roy Hersh]

BB&R was the first place/thing I made my way too, about 30 minutes after unpacking in my hotel back in 2002, the first time I ever made my way to London. I walked the 10 minutes away from where I was staying and saw another wine shop across the street and up a block or so (Saintsbury?) but I was on a mission. I was meeting another Yank friend there who was a big Burgundy customer of theirs and she had wine stored in the UK too. We received the full tour, were taking to a private executive dining room upstairs and they opened a Grand Cru Montrachet white Burg for us before being taken down to roam the lower cellars for a couple of hours. When we got all the way downstairs, the very bottom level, my eyes opened wide at the ancient bottles of Port (Sauternes was up one level which was pretty great too, if I remember correctly). A true pleasure and although I have never been back, seeing where the building was moved off of its foundation about 4" due to the bomb that landed in the courtyard behind the shoppe, wow that was very cool. I had read so much about BB&R, it meant more for me to see that, then Big Ben or anything else in London. It was well worth the wait. Sadly I had left my camera behind at the hotel. On rare occasions one of their salesman contacts me (of all people) to help identify a bottle or provide some tidbit of historical information on a bottle they are buying/selling. I look forward to the day I get back there and maybe this Oct. will be the right time to make this happen.

If it is the St. James shoppe you are talking about, I have a feeling you and your son are going to have a marvelous time, although it will still be great, no matter where you're drinking Vesuvio with Paul Symington.

By the way, in addition to 1993, the other year in which Vesuvio was not produced is 2002. So ... maybe you ARE going to get to try the 2007!?!?!

[Chris G]

This has sold out in record time! not surprising. This will be one of the highlights of the port year, For anyone who sampled the amazing complete vertical at Vesuvio in 2006 on Roy's trip and trod the grapes they will know what I mean!
Vesuvio is so interesting because of the way it has built up such a cult status over a short period and how the first two vintages show the effect of the developments at Vesuvio!
Berry's arranging this I know has required a lot of work as getting hold of all the wines is not easy, fantastic work by Simon Field the chief buyer of port at BBR ( what a great job! ), I wonder if they had to call a man in Wokingham It is therefore fantastic for Port tastings in that it has sold out so quickly and the top merchants know there is a market for these tastings.

Peter Symington is a very interesting speaker and will be able to give a full view of all the wines and most interestingly the history of the Quinta. For those who have missed this there is the BBR port walk on the 27th November, this is as it says and is after a talk pretty much a free for all, the trick is to drink a lot of water as the ability to continuously top up if not quality controlled can lead to a tricky day in the office the next day! I also believe that the Wine Society are doing a limited Vesuvio tasting this Autumn.

As per the comment above re Stilton, it is fantastic and at the tasting I cannot get enough!

How many FTLOP members are going? if you are going please post on the site.

[Roy Hersh]

Be still my heart, a post from the venerable Port aficionado Christopher G. who has graced us with a few posts from time to time. However, they are always very much appreciated and make for fine reading. Mr. CG is a FTLOP legend, the first to join us on 3 tours of duty in Portugal and a very astute collector of Port and DOC Douro wine, with a fine palate as well.

Chris, you will be pleased to know that we are going to revisit Vesuvio again during the Harvest Tour 2008 and tread in the lagares. This time however, we are bringing along a video camera to catch all the action! It was great to see you in May, of course, and I hear our paths will be crossing again in about 10 weeks. I'm looking forward to enjoying some Port with you my friend. Have a wonderful holiday in August!

[Paul Eddy]

Hiya All, I going on my yearly trip to the big smoke; great timing by BBR so I have my invite and looking forward to it. If anyone wants to go on after for some food and more port (I am assuming our samples will be quite small and if not all the better) I would be more than happy to do so.

Paul.

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Paul,

I am coming to London in Oct. and it would be great to see you again and do some Port drinking if you don't hear from anybody here in the meanwhile. I hope you're having a great summer so far.

Best regards,


Roy

[Al B.]

I shall be at Berry's Vesuvio tasting (and the port walk) so it's good to hear from some other folks who will also be there. Although I don't expect that we will be short of port after the evening has finished, I could be tempted to head somewhere else and grab some food and perhaps some more port.

Or perhaps we should meet before the tasting for some food?