Lots of new faces ... please introduce yourself

[Eric Menchen]

Welcome Rob C., Melanie, Symon, Niels, Thomas, Rob H., and Nevin. I've been delinquent in this thread--busy drinking Port. I look forward to your contributions

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Rob,

What a fantastic first Port post and intro. Very nice to have you here and I hope you find this a friendly and welcoming place to learn and share. Do visit the homepage and check out some great bottle photos and other goodies in PORTraits as well as lots of cool videos in our new gallery there too.

I am wondering ...

Due to the fact that you are rather young (could be my son ; )... will you be a buyer of 2007 Vintage Ports? Just wondering your thought process on this.

Again, we look forward to having you posting her at least through the time you are 50.

Take good care and again ... aboard.

Cheers.

[Andy Velebil]

Rob,

Welcome to and thank you for such a detailed intro! For drinking Port, and more wine, for such a short time you've been quite lucky to have had some very nice ones and you're tasting notes are very good. So I'll encourage you to post your tasting notes into the Tasting Note section so others can read and discuss the bottle.

Again,

[Luc Gauthier]

Hi Rob,

What a fantastic first Port post and intro. Very nice to have you here and I hope you find this a friendly and welcoming place to learn and share. Do visit the homepage and check out some great bottle photos and other goodies in PORTraits as well as lots of cool videos in our new gallery there too.

I am wondering ...

Due to the fact that you are rather young (could be my son ; )... will you be a buyer of 2007 Vintage Ports? Just wondering your thought process on this.

Again, we look forward to having you posting her at least through the time you are 50.

Take good care and again ... aboard.

Cheers.

Roy , refering your statement " look forward to having you posting at least 'till you are 50 "
would that imply that I only have 2 more years to post ?

[Luc Gauthier]

Hi Rob,

What a fantastic first Port post and intro. Very nice to have you here and I hope you find this a friendly and welcoming place to learn and share. Do visit the homepage and check out some great bottle photos and other goodies in PORTraits as well as lots of cool videos in our new gallery there too.

I am wondering ...

Due to the fact that you are rather young (could be my son ; )... will you be a buyer of 2007 Vintage Ports? Just wondering your thought process on this.

Again, we look forward to having you posting her at least through the time you are 50.

Take good care and again ... aboard.

Cheers.

Roy , refering your statement " look forward to having you posting at least 'till you are 50 "
would that imply that I only have 2 more years to post ?

BTW, how do like the avatar , It's Andys suggestion

[Roy Hersh]

Luc,

The difference of course is that Rob is quite a bit younger ... like 20 years younger, so for you the "new 50 is actually 70."

Don't worry, I'll always be older than you ... at least while it counts.

Nice Avatar, it reminds me of the movie with the same name, but you'll have to guess which part I am thinking of.

[Luc Gauthier]

Roy , you had me worried for a while .
I was under the impression that once I reached 50 , I would leap past you

[Rob C.]

Thanks all!

- Roy - investing in the 2007 is an interesting one and something i considered. I don't doubt the benefits of buying young and holding, but given limited financial resources there's something of an opportunity cost to this. I spent recently a little over what it would have cost me to get a case of Graham/Fonseca 2007 in order to build up a small inventory for drinking over the next couple of years. I may spend the same again over the next 12 months on other VPs. If this went on a couple of cases of 2007, its hard to see what i would be able to drink for some time! (even if ports are becoming more approachable when young).

In that regard, the 2007s seem relatively expensive when, for instance, you can have a lot of fun with a number of already mature ports for about the same price (Gould '77 springs to mind).

There's also an argument, i would have thought, for a new collector to look to pick up a few well chosen cases of '77 over the next few years before prices go the way of the 70s, 66s and 63s, and then move on to other vintages.

[Roy Hersh]

Rob,

If you look in the Port Forum area and Port Basics too ... you will find many threads relating to "buying strategies" not only for those new to Port but also those who have been collectors/drinkers for many years. Please have a look at your convenience or even start a new conversation on that. I totally get what you are saying though and don't disagree. There's certainly a way to have your cake and drink it too, but this is not the thread for that.

[Scott R.]

Hi everyone!

My name is Scott and I'm thrilled to be here. I want to thank Roy and Andy for moderating these forums. I love Madeira, but there are too few resources for information about it. As such, I'm pleased as punch to join this community. I love fortified wines in general, but have a preference for Sherry and Madeira. That being said, I'll never turn down a glass (or bottle) of port.

As far as my background goes, I'm a wine professional. For the last five years, I've been the Director of Operations at International Wine Center, a wine school based in Manhattan; in the last year, I've begun to teach some of the introductory classes there. I've also been the wine buyer for an online retailer, DrinkUpNY.com, for the last three years.

I have always enjoyed fortified wines, but a trip to Jerez last October reignited my passion. It was only a short while before I found myself searching out sources for information (and bottles) of Madeira. I found this forum via MadeiraWineGuide.com and look forward to being an active participant here.

[Roy Hersh]

Scott,

Nice to have you here and of course, being a native NY'er, I am very familiar with the IWC ... if this is the same school started and run (at least in the 1980s) by the dynamic wine duo best known for: "WINE FOR DUMMIES." It is possible I am thinking of another school as it was a LONG time ago when Ed and Mary and I met.

Anyway, thanks for joining us. We don't do Sherry, but we definitely DO Madeira. In fact, I put together some of the most amazing tours of the island's nectar achieveable, in terms of where we go and what we drink. I'd invite you along but our trip in May is all filled up. If you want to put a group together, I'd be happy to do a 2nd trip this year.

Keep an eye on the homepage for the upcoming feature on Madeira. I think as someone interested in wine education, you will be very interested.

to and I am sure you are going to enjoy your time here.

Also explore some of the features on the homepage and check out the Madeira section of our Video Library as well as the PORTraits area on Madeira. I think you'll have fun!

Should you ever need a guest lecturer on Port or Madeira, I'm happy to do so!

Best regards,

Roy

[Scott R.]

Roy,

Thanks for the warm welcome. The IWC is the same school you're thinking of and Mary still runs it.

Thanks for making me aware of the Madeira tours you run. It'd be great to join you and like-minded individuals sometime in the future.

I look forward to exploring the website and participating in the forums.

[Andy Velebil]

Rob and Scott,

Thanks for the nice introductions about yourselves and I am happy to have you with us.

Scott,

Another NY huh? There's this one guy you gotta watch out for, he goes by a strange name of Roy.....


Rob,
The nice thing about Port is you can buy the young stuff AND the old stuff still at decent prices. So it really enables those newer into Port to be able to back fill with older vintages where wines from other parts of the world (Burgundy, Bordeaux, etc) are often price prohibited. Trust me when I say this group will have you buying young and vintages in no time flat

[Steve Timko]

Howdy:
I'm a wine lover. I like port. A combination of a lack of money and a lack of storage space severely limits my ability to explore port (or any wine now, really), so I want to educate myself before I make any purchases. This seems like a great place to learn more. Looking forward to the knowledge of others rubbing off on me.

[Andy Velebil]

Steve,
to the site and we're glad to have you. Please don't worry about being new or not having a lot of financial resources to buy some of the expensive stuff right now, we've all been there. There are lots of very good Ports that don't cost much money and I know this group will give you some good advice. So please feel free to ask any question, no matter how small you may think it is.

[Luc Gauthier]

Salut Steve ,
Like Andy says you dont need to break the bank to get some tasty juices .
Although in Montreal you come close
Familiarise yourself with LBV's , 20 yr old tawnys and colheitas .
Theres something to be said about the little guys .

[Dylan Howard]

Hi everybody,

Great to find a home for port on the web. I live in Atlanta, Georgia, US. I'm 32 (getting old more quickly than I expected). I'm a long-time cigar aficionado who liked to drink port from time to time who is rapidly developing into a cigar aficionado and wanna-be port aficionado. Most of my experience is with 10 and 20-year tawnies thus far, but I've purchased a couple of bottles of VP to lay down (found the 2003 Croft for $49.99 around the corner - can't wait to taste it in 20-30 years ). My wife and I are having our first child in June, so I'm very hopeful for 2010 to be the finest port vintage ever.

This seems like a wonderful site. Glad to be a new part of it!

dylan

[Andy Velebil]

Dylan,

to the fold and no worries about getting old. I'll soon be 37, or was that 27, I just can't remember anymore

While I enjoy a good cigar from time to time, racing bicycles precludes me from getting to serious about it. A good thing since this crazy hobby takes enough time and money on its own. But with the help of a couple of people from this forum, I've managed to now amass about 3 cases worth of stogies in the humidor

Congrats on the upcoming baby, I'll keep my fingers crossed that it'll be a good year for Port. That Croft is awesome and will be drinking great when he/she is ready to drink it...that is if you don't drink it first.

[Dylan Howard]

Thank you Andy for the warm welcome!

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Dylan,

Great to have you join us here at FTLOP.

I have been down to do Port presentations for the ATL Wine School and also a retailer that is well known for their Port and Madeira. Occasionally, I have worked with one of them to put up some fantastic bargains exclusively for

I may be getting down there in March, still being discussed and if so, I'd let you know the date as some great Port will be sure to be presented.

Watch in this coming newsletter as there is a feature about ATL and Port in there that I have a feeling you'd enjoy!

Again, welcome to our site and I hope you will enjoy some of the areas we feature on the homepage as well as our Forum.