Lots of new faces ... please introduce yourself

[Andy Velebil]

Even though I've been a member for awhile, I've never introduced myself. My family and I live in Sunnyvale, CA (in Silicon Valley), and I teach elementary school in Santa Clara. I've collected wine since 1983, when I turned 21. Back then, had I known about Madeira, I certainly would have taken advantage of those 1980s prices, ergh...

I hope to learn and meet up with some of you!

The best,
Barry Sunderland

Hi Barry,

Thanks for the official intro!

[Roy Hersh]

Barry,

I had no idea you were a teacher. Thanks for sharing that. For some stupid reason, America doesn't put enough value on the work teacher's perform ... and some seem to ignore that the future of our local areas, state, country and world ... which all depend on having our youth become highly educated.

Having been raised by parents who stessed education, with my mother a life long teacher in NYC, (public and Catholic schools) I value the job that my own daughter's teachers do. It is a much more difficult job than people realize.

I hope to meet you some day and share some outstanding Port bottles together.

[Carl D]

Having been raised by parents who stessed education, with my mother a life long teacher in NYC, (public and Catholic schools) I value the job that my own daughter's teachers do. It is a much more difficult job than people realize.

Hear hear! My father taught in public schools in Sacramento, California for nearly 40 years and is still teaching now, in his 80's - teaching teachers through a continuing education program through UC San Diego. It's a much harder job than people realize and one that is under-valued by our society.

Keep up the good work, Barry!

[Teresa F Gouveia]

Hi, I'm Teresa, I'm English and I live close to the Douro Valley. I teach in a university in Porto.

Where we live, Port is common place, and we are regularly given a lot of it, of all types, ranging from valuable LBVs, to unlabelled bottles produced locally, which never made the trip down the Douro river to the Port wine caves in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Most of our port goes into the larder. My husband and I like Port, but only drink a little, occasionally, so our big issue is storage.

[Andy Velebil]

Hi, I'm Teresa, I'm English and I live close to the Douro Valley. I teach in a university in Porto.

Where we live, Port is common place, and we are regularly given a lot of it, of all types, ranging from valuable LBVs, to unlabelled bottles produced locally, which never made the trip down the Douro river to the Port wine caves in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Most of our port goes into the larder. My husband and I like Port, but only drink a little, occasionally, so our big issue is storage.

Hi Teresa,

to the Forum, great to have you with us and many thanks for the introduction.

As for storage, have you thought about getting a small wine refrigerator? That way you don't have to worry about them getting to warm.

[Teresa F Gouveia]

Thanks... I've thought about that when I've seen these fridges for sale, but it would have to be quite big. We've got a lot of Port.

[Eric Menchen]

Thanks... I've thought about that when I've seen these fridges for sale, but it would have to be quite big. We've got a lot of Port.

All the more reason to store it properly, since you won't be drinking all of it soon.

[Roy Hersh]

Teresa,

Nice to have you join us. How do you come by some of these hard to find Ports?

[Teresa F Gouveia]

Teresa,

Nice to have you join us. How do you come by some of these hard to find Ports?

They're gifts!!! It's the Port production area!

[Roy Hersh]

Well, that makes sense I guess. It must be nice!

[Clare D.]

Hello, My name is Clare, and my husband and I are empty-nesters living in Germany. (My husband works for the Air Force.) He's an engineer and Belgian-beer lover; I'm an author of young adult (i.e., teen) books and brand-new port lover. We lived in Germany for seven years of the last decade and hope to be here for five years this time--lots of time for interesting trips to Portugal. Also, there's a tight-knit enclave of Portuguese immigrants living in the city nearby, so we hope to explore their shops as well. I found the forum while learning about port.

At this point, I can't say I've had any excellent ports, but I intend to plunk down money on a bottle of 20-year-old as soon as I can find something worthwhile.

Cheers,

Clare

[Andy Velebil]

Clare,
Welcome to the forum and many thanks for the introductions. We've got a number of members in Europe so hopefully one day you can meet up with them for some nerdy Port talk and drinking:) Of course, in mean time please feel free to post whatever questions you have no matter how trivial you may think it is. We're all here to help each other learn.

[Peter W. Meek]

Welcome, Clare. Your question about "home-casking' rings a bell, but I can't think of where the thread that discusses it can be found, either.

[Bjarne Mouridsen]

Hello, everyone. I am a danish freelance journalist and writer, and I have Portugal as one of my main interests. I have been writing articles and done radioprogrames about Portugal for about 20 years. Last year I published a book about portuguese culture.
And then of course, I am a port lover as well. I am member of the board of The Vintage Port Club in Denmark - a club for portlovers with a lot of great tastings. I am writing about port as well on my own blog - and where ever I can...

Regards from Odense, the city where H.C. Andersen was born.

[Andy Velebil]

Hello, everyone. I am a danish freelance journalist and writer, and I have Portugal as one of my main interests. I have been writing articles and done radioprogrames about Portugal for about 20 years. Last year I published a book about portuguese culture.
And then of course, I am a port lover as well. I am member of the board of The Vintage Port Club in Denmark - a club for portlovers with a lot of great tastings. I am writing about port as well on my own blog - and where ever I can...

Regards from Odense, the city where H.C. Andersen was born.

to FTLOP, glad to have you with us!

[Eric Menchen]

to both Bjarne and Clare. Nice to have a good mix of people from all over the world here. BTW Clare, I was born just a few miles from your current location, in Landstuhl.

[Kiran S.]

Hello everyone,

My name is Kiran Singh, long time lurker on FTLOP and employee at the company Old Liquors in The Netherlands.
I decided to finally make an account to get in touch with the port community as I have always loved the passion and dedication the true lovers show.

My interest for port started out a few years ago. As a young individual (27 years currently) I drank the usual stuff, such as beer and wine and several liquors on occasion.
During a vacation in Portugal I got in touch with port, which was a real eye-opener. The complexity is mainly what blew me away and I started trying different kinds of port once I got home.
Nowadays I have a small collection at home but luckily I have the opportunity to expand my knowledge (and taste) about port and other liquors at work.
I am sure I will have questions in the future as I find out new things each day

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask! I hope to get to know you all better and maybe meet up in the future!

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Kiran,

Thanks for joining us here at FTLOP! Andy will likely send you an email to please convert your account name to your real name, as that is our policy here.

Moreover, I hope you will enjoy sharing your knowledge and experience with Port and The Netherlands market with us. We have many subscribers and Forum participants from your country who are at various levels of Port enthusiasm. It is a welcoming community and we hope you will feel comfortable to join us whenever you feel comfortable doing so.

In the meanwhile, enjoy some great bottles and please share your impressions!

[Andy Velebil]

Hi Kiran,

glad to have you joining us after being a lurker.

I've sent you an email, when you have a moment.

Look forward to your involvement here

[Kiran S.]

Hello Roy & Andy,

Didn't quite notice the policy there but no problem at all, would be happy to change my username. Andy, I replied on your e-mail so any help would be great.
I'm positive I can learn a lot here and will also try to contribute any news and experience I may have.