For The Love Of Port

I value your opinions, so please let me know by voting and then if you'd like to add a comment, please feel free to do so:

Funny you bring this up, a couple of months ago I would have said yes. But now that it is summer time it seems I've seen less TN's on VPs and more TN's on other ports.

That being said, I am waiting patiently for you to put more of your notes in the "Tasting Notes" section. I would love to read current TN's about LBV's, and the cheap tawnys...stuff you don't always get current notes about.

But, what I really want to read more about is TN's on Cohleita's. Current notes on these seem like they are non-existent.

Excellent point. I can tell you that there are another 200+ tasting notes waiting for the new DB that Stewart is about to launch. Those will be in addition to the 500+ Port TNs (some of which already appear) that will be from the past. I still have 500-1000 more that are handwritten that will need to be transcribed at some point, but they are all pre-2002 TNs going back about a decade. Some are pretty raw.

Roy Hersh wrote:I still have 500-1000 more that are handwritten that will need to be transcribed at some point, but they are all pre-2002 TNs going back about a decade. Some are pretty raw.

I'd be more than happy to come up and help transcribe those notes. Of course a small "liquid fee" would apply.

*btw, PM sent.*

Still VP is my favorite Port drink and none can satisfy my need of knowing more about it. Since its the best quality Port of all, we need to talk more about this than other categories. If the vocation of the website forum was more about education I'd have another answer but right now it is just fine with me.

I'm too poor and impatient to buy vintage port with any frequency. I think the "common folk" are more interested in things that they can go to the store and buy.

Dear Randomguy,

Please go back to your profile and put in your REAL first and last name. As of August, those without their real names and city/country listed in their profiles will no longer be able to post on this FORUM until that information is clearly displayed. I hope you will have found enough value in being part of this community that you'll want to continue to take part. THANK YOU!

Now that the business is out of the way, my response to your posting:

It is exactly for the type of things you had to say in your last post that I have asked the question here. I am very eager to prevent this from coming an elitist community of Port aficionados who only drink the top end old VPs that are out of the reach of the average consumer who enjoys Port. So, thank you for your honesty.

Please DO feel totally at ease in reporting on a basic ruby or tawny Port as well as LBV and Reservas. Almost all of these can be found between $10 and $25. I am happy to personally respond to posts requesting information and if I can't answer a question and nobody else here can about a specific wine type mentioned above ... I'd go out of my way to purchase a bottle (if easily available of course) and report back. We also do VIRTUAL TASTINGS here every month and none of the wines selected so far this year has been over $25. So please have a look at that seperate FORUM and take part in our tastings.

If there is anything else we can do to make this more user friendly, we have an entire area on this FORUM, called WEBSITE QUESTIONS & SUGGESTIONS where it would be appropriate to offer your ideas for how we could make improvements. I hope that helps and you have my word that we are constantly trying to ensure that this site stays user friendly at all levels of knowledge and income.

I voted yes, but was doubtful wether to vote at all.

Problem is that I'm not sure what the alternative is. Does a broader focus mean including Sherry or red wine or whatever? Or does it mean more focus on port in general.

Was it up to me, this forum dealt with nothing but port - and another forum would take care about Madeira and a third would be on Sherry etc. etc.

I voted no. While I love VP and it is the detailed knowledge and discussion of VP that I really find interesting on this forum, I am quite happy for people to discuss other types of port or other types of drinks.

For example, until Fred's Virtual Tasting I had never tried Bin 27.

So I am all in favour of lots of discussion on VP and don't think we spend too much time on it. I am also very happy to read and learn about all other types of port. And I love the fact that the conversations about Douro Wines are in a separate forum as it gives me an easy way to choose whether or not to read those threads.

But above all, its most important to keep the tolerance and inclusion that there is in this forum.

Alex

I also voted No.

Thankfully we have a user community here that respects the views of others and have had only one or two intances of idiotic people posting rubbish that Roy/Stewart have had to censor and remove.

This means that the focus of discussion at any given point in time is in the hands of the people creating and responding to the threads. No port related topic is out of bounds and there are plenty of places to put the various types of thread (Port Forum, Basics, Marketplace, VT Room etc). There are a great number of Colheita, Tawny, White, Reserva and LBV threads already in exsistence and no one has or will ever prevent new ones from opening up. Anyone who is sitting back thinking "I wish those guys who love VP would talk about Colheita" should start a new thread and ask a question. I can't remember many questions raised on this forum going unanswered.



Derek

I voted yes. But its a "kinda" yes, vs as whole hearted yes

I love that there is a Madeira forum and a Douro table wine forum. I wouldnt mind seeing a Shery and/or Colheita forum as well. I myself, cant afford really good VP's, so dont drink it very often. I spend a lot of time exploring other areas of port, and other regional wines. (that said, I love to hear about people drinking VP's that are 80, 90 or more years old)

As Derek pointed out, everyone here is very open to all sorts of port topics. I've never seen someone state "Hey, thats a stupid topic!". So when I have a Tawny or Colheita question or statement I'll post it.

But, I think since the majority of people do talk VP, that might persuade people to not bring up possible alternate but interesting topics, which I think is a shame. Many of the threads that I've found most interesting didnt have anything to do with VP. Unfortunatly I wouldnt have even thought to bring that topic up, but enjoyed none the less.

So yes, I'd like to see a bit more focus on other areas besides VP. BUT, I think this site does a pretty wonderful job already.

Roy,
I voted no. The price of vintage port requires us all to do our homework. This site is the perfect reference source. The value of the tasting notes (and auction notes) is high.
Separate sections for tasting notes and auction trends by producer, by vintage would be ideal.
You are my favorite librarian Roy.
Dave

I voted no as well, as it is the wine I like best. I agree as well that the price demand research.

But I love the discussions about all types, LBV's, Tawny, and the Maderia section as well. I think the balence is great right now. And it's only a short post away to start a topic on whatever style of port or maderia someone feels is underrepresented.

Jay

Some excellent and well delineated points made above, so far. I hope others will chime in, as it is YOUR FEEDBACK that allows Stewart and me to improve YOUR Forum and the overall website/newsletter experience too.

Thank you!

I voted No. Because I love all kind of Ports, I like discussion about ALL kind of ports. But I think there just happens much more in VP section then any other Port sections like Tawnys or Colheitas (new vintages are declared, new producers arrives etc. etc.) thus it deserves more attention.

I think the balance of the forum is about right where people post what they've drunk vintage or other

I voted no, only because Port is far and away the most popular and talked about fortified wine. It was tough however because my first love is Madiera.

Roy,

Thank you for the reply to my message. Regarding your request to submit my full name and city information - Sorry, but I won't attach my name to anything online except my professional activities. There are many reasons for this, but the main one is privacy concerns in this day and age in information mining. I respect your reasons for requesting this info so that the users on the site are more "legit", however, I'm also sure you realize this will keep many people from registering. Sorry to say, I will stop posting here starting August.

Roy,

I voted no. I think that focusing the site on VPs is the right direction to go as this is the style of wine that most people will have come accross (apart from ruby I suppose) and creates most interest in the wine world. Keep up the good work!

Like Andy, I'm looking forward to your updated/additional tasting notes. Can I suggest you consider giving us some indication of when the note was made as this can be useful to know when thinking considering the evolution of wine over a time. Thanks.

hey, some advice for "Randomguy".......chill out, man. have a glass of Port. we're all friends here...