Tongs Anyone?

[Elyas Beria]

I'm in need of some port tongs. Anyone in the NYC area know where I can get a pair, or have a pair for sale/rent? I need them for the weekend of the 21st and can't find them anywhere. Help!

[Andy Velebil]

Elyas,

Welcome to FTLOP. I'm not sure where in NYC you can buy some, but hopefully someone here can point you in the right direction.

Before you buy some the thread below is worth reading. There are good Tongs and ones that are really ment for decorations. I know of someone who had their first pair literally fall apart when he heated them up.

http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... f=1&t=5482

[Elyas Beria]

So they say that necessity is the mother of invention. Well, I'm opening a 1966 Graham's this weekend and would love to use some tongs but unfortunately can't get my hands on a pair in time. So I devised a questionable poor man's way of tonging a bottle which I call the Beria method of tonging or bonging for short.

I took a fairly heavy gauge wire, wrapped it around the neck of a bottle to form the desired shape, heated the wire up until it was red hot, applied to neck of bottle while tightening, and then used the ice water-drenched towel to break. Doesn't give you as good a break as using tongs and the wire will defintiely fall apart after a few uses but will do in a pinch and if you only need tongs once in a long while (or live in a 700 sq. ft. apartment in NYC and can't justify to the wife getting a pair of port tongs) this works. I tried it on a cheap empty bottle. See photos:

[Andy Velebil]

Wow, I never thought about that. But glad to see that in a pinch it works. Was the picture the practice bottle? As it doesn't look like a '66 Graham's VP bottle?

BTW, were you able to order a pair of tongs for future use?

[Elyas Beria]

Yes, the bottle pictured above is the practice bottle. The real test will come this weekend with the 66 Grahams. I'll post pics of the results, good or bad. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Oh, and I got in touch with Gustavo from Vinologia and he offered to ship a pair to me for 60€ including shipping. If I can hypnotize the wife and convince her we have room for yet another gadget I'll definitely order. Or perhaps I'll not so subtly hint that it would make the perfect gift for me. But it's good to know that if I don't find a pair here in the US I can always order then from Gustavo.

[Andy Velebil]

Please do and if you could post a tasting note to, that would be great. I hope the bottle shows its best and everyone enjoys it.

[Eric Ifune]

which I call the Beria method of tonging or bonging for short

I love it!

[Elyas Beria]

So I finally put the Beria tongs to the test and bonged open a bottle of Graham's 1966 VP. The result, I'm happy to report, was most satisfactory. Despite my wife's doubts about my makeshift tongs (doubts which are certainly justified based on past catastrophic blunders) it went off without a hitch.

The wine was absolutely fantastic. Showing perfectly. I had a sense that it was at the beginning stages of its maturity and could have easily aged another 42 years or more.

The nose was very hot with a burst of alcohol jetting out of the glass. Aromas of red cherries and other red fruits along with a nuttiness. Plush and creamy texture with notes of caramel, cherries, hazelnuts, plums, and a really interesting subtle smokiness. Really great. A crowd pleaser for sure.

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcHm1sGI5o0

Pictures:








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[Roy Hersh]

Elyas,

Welcome to FTLOP. Nice to have you here and I hope you will enjoy becoming an integral part of our community. Thanks for the fun photos of your "bonging" method which certainly will save some people a few dollars if they choose to emulate the way you open your Port bottles.

I could not tell from your tasting note (which you can benefit all if you'd copy the tasting note into that part of our Forum called: Port Tasting Note Forum) if you started to drink the VP right away or you if you let it sit in the decanter for several hours first.

Thanks for your posts here and we look forward to your continued participation!

Best regards,

Roy Hersh

[Elyas Beria]

Thanks for the welcome. It's great to be among people with the same weakness. I feel like less of a freak!

I will certainly add to the tasting notes forum, thanks for the tip.

After we opened the bottle we all took a little sip just to taste and note characteristics so we could then compare later. Then we let the port sit in the decanter for about three hours, it might have been a little longer. I hate to say this, but honestly it hadn't changed all that much. Perhaps it didn't breath long enough. Some of the heat was gone but the flavors (which were phenomenal) were pretty much the same as when opened. Just a little clearer. But no complaints because it was delicious nonetheless. We drank some of it with a sticky toffee pudding that I made using sour cherries in the cake batter instead of the dates that it normally calls for. It paired very nicely, but mostly we just savored it on its own.

[Roy Hersh]

I asked the question because you made note of the heat and I know the 1966 Graham's quite intimately, having had it from Mag a few times and 750, many.

From 750, for my palate, I find that six or seven hours is great to see the wine really reach its apex in terms of drinking pleasure. What starts off as a bit "spiritous" will definitely become a far more integrated drink with a longer decant. The body weight does not change much (unlike many other VPs with longer decant times) but the aromatics become more pronounced, the finish gives a perception of greater length and overall, the '66 Graham's provides better balance. Just my


P.S. I am moving this thread to our PORT FORUM as it is germaine to the discussion of Port and will receive more attention than if it remains in the MARKETPLACE FORUM.

[Elyas Beria]

I knew I should have asked how long to decant first! But then I couldn't have put on a show by opening the bottle in front of the guests. It's a catch 66!

And, yes, it makes sense to move this thread. Started out by me looking for tongs...

[Roy Hersh]

A little trick. If you are doing this for a group which limits your ability to decant way ahead of time, try this:

Have a bottle of LBV available too. Use the tongs to open up the star of the show soon after your guests arrive. While waiting for that to properly "blossom" you can slowly enjoy the LBV with them, especially if they are not very experienced with Vintage Port. This works best with at least four guests and up to a dozen or so (six or so being optimal so you each can have a second pour). The step up in quality from the LBV to the VP will provide it with an even better impression and provide you with a few hours more in which to leave the centerpiece Port in decanter.

Of course, if you only want to feature the one bottle ... this plan won't work.

[Elyas Beria]

That's definitely a good strategy. But if you want to decant for 7-8 hours you still have to do it well ahead of time. I guess the solution to that is you get TWO bottles of the same port. Decant one well ahead of time and then one when the guests arrive then everyone can compare the one that has only been decanting for a few hours vs. the one that has been decanting for 7 or 8 hours.

I can dream can't I?