How did you introduce Port to your kids?

[Andy Velebil]

Curious as to how you went about introducing your kids to wine/Port and what has been their reaction? Were there stages where they were interested, not interested, and if they are old enough are they still interested in wine as adults? Were their certain things they liked more than other thing?

[John M.]

At holidays I would just let them have a small taste, maybe the odd time now and then--depends. Or if I'm decanting several bottles I will end up with a glass of the dregs from all the bottles and let them try that.

I have a "Cheat Sheet" for port tastings with listings of typical colors, aromas and flavors which helps newbies to correlate the taste to a flavor (somehow by reading a flavor it triggers an "aha" moment with the wine)....and we'll sit and discuss it if possible. Take our time.

But until they take the time to savor on their own and are of age, that's it.

[R Bull]

I have always tried to include my boys in whichever wine and port were being served. My boys are all older and really enjoy the sipping nature of port as a stand alone drink, especially when sitting around a fireplace or on the lanai. Of course, I have "saved" them from trying some of the older vintages since I figure they need to wait to enjoy the best.

Bob

[Celia C]

I have to beat my 21 year old off the bottle. :)

[Mads Barnkob]

A finger dipped in the glass...

[Allan Engelsted Laurents]

My daugther was born in 1998, and I bought the most expensive Port in the grocery store. So I would have some Wine for the guests visiting at the hospital.

I got very surprised, that the bottle didnt have the ordinary T-stopper, But a Real cork

That was the first time, I ever had a bottle of REAL Port
(I didnt know anything about Port, beside a sticky and sweet liquid opend for Christmas)

Now 16 years later, my beautiful Princess shares a full bottle of High quality Port with her Daddy, in a few hours....

And she has been doing that for the last 2 years....

She will not be spending newyears with me, and for that she is a bit on the angry side...

At the table, there will be one bottle of Niepoort Colheita 1912.

To bad....
Allan

[Roy Hersh]

My daughter was born in Nov. 2002. At less than 3 weeks of age, during Thanksgiving that year, I "baptized" her by rubbing Taylor 1963 VP on her gums. She smiled and sucked it off of my finger. My wife and mother were screaming at me. Honestly, I really didn't care and saw nothing wrong with doing so. Even before she began her career decanting my Vintage Ports at 2 years and 4 months of age, she was allowed to take tiny sips of Port. Actually that amounted to tipping the glass, pursing her lips and barely letting any go past. But she did seem to like the flavor and from about 4 years on, she always tried to guess what fruit she tasted. Now at 12, she will take a couple of real sips from my glass and tell me what she thinks about it. Only once did she like it enough to say, "I'm not giving this one back to you." I think she's likely on her way to loving Port, and when she is older will be "tasting" some with me on a more regular basis. Someday, she will inherit a nicely stocked Port & Madeira collection.

[Monique Heinemans.]

When they reached 15 or 16 years or so I just had the boys taste some some wine and port whenever the occasion was there. Now, ten years later, my oldest son and his girlfriend both are really into sweet wines (port, sauternes, etc), so nowadays I sometimes have to defent my bottle...
But I'm sure my cellar will be in good hands when I'm not around anymore.

[Gerwin de Graaf]

I've allowed my two boys (now 8 and 10 years old) tiny sips from whatever wine is in my glass occasionally, from an early age on. They like (not surprisingly) the sweeter stuff the best. During our visit to the Quevedo winery in 2012 we got a great tour and tasting, and we had to defend our tasting glasses, since the boys were all too keen to finish the leftovers off for us (even before we had our tasting of our own!!).
And they both have a rack of birthyear wines and ports of their own in my cellar which they will get on their 18th birthdays (and my oldest one regularly checks the number of bottles to make sure I haven't taken one out from his rack ).