For The Love Of Port

9/24/08 by the glass from the bar at the Pestana Porto

Golden tawny, still faintly red
Some bake on the nose, some VA, toasted marshmallow, christmas spices.
Pleasant acidity, marshmallow, and very faint apricot in the mouth.
Smooth finish, very faint caramel, and an aftershock of vanilla creme brulee.

WOTN (vs Graham 30, Niepoort 20, and Romariz 1963 Colheita)

Sounds like a winner.

Glenn,

Now you're talking. Great juice and not one that is easy to come by either. I don't know why it is hard to find in the USA? Actually, I do.


Moses,

How about your notes from the tasting with Sean at the Harvard Club? Come on brother, you must tried at least 50!

Roy Hersh wrote: Moses,

How about your notes from the tasting with Sean at the Harvard Club? Come on brother, you must tried at least 50!

Actually it was quite packed and I did not get to try very much! We were on a "mission" which yielded about 40 glasses. Barros and Burmester are the two I tried the most. I lean to the Barros style as I like the additional acid in it. I think we did have a Colheita from the 50's ('57 ?). The best tawny I tried was the Ramos 20.

If found the Quinta do Infantado to be an interesting line-up.

Wish I could've gone during the Industry part of the day. Lot's of eye candy when we did go

If found the Quinta do Infantado to be an interesting line-up.

In what way? I also tried their line up and curious as to what you thought about it?

Andy Velebil wrote:

If found the Quinta do Infantado to be an interesting line-up.

In what way? I also tried their line up and curious as to what you thought about it?

Drier style of port. I wish I had went to Providence last night to spend more time with their ports.

All of the Noval aged Tawnies are rare enough in the USA that I wasn't even aware they made them!

Which caused me some embarassment during our tour at Noval. When Rute asked what my favorite Ports were, I told her that my #1 was the Ramos Pinto 20-yr old. My wife chided me for not naming a Noval, to which I replied that I didn't think Noval made a 20-yr old. Oops!

Rute was very gracious, but our tour was rather abbreviated. She had just completed one large group tour that ran nearly an hour longer than it was supposed to, and so we only had about 40 minutes for our tour before the next bus arrived. We got to see the Nacional vineyard, the outer grounds, and the production/storage facilities, but we didn't get to do the inside part of the tour. She brought out a bottle of the 2003 VP for us under the huge Lebanese Cedar, but that was the only Port we were able to taste. That gave me the opportunity to redeem myself, as I was able to tell her that I have a case of it in my cellar.

This 40-yr old that we had at the Pestana Porto was wonderful, and I nearly bought a bottle at the Noval store in V.N.d.Gaia to bring back. I checked online prices, though, and discovered that I could actually get it in the US so I'll be ordering some soon.

I also need to write to Maria Theresa and order a couple of bottles of the semi-sec Port that my parents purchased at AVEPOD. (I don't recall the name... I'll have to get that from my parents first.) It was quite tasty, and very reasonably priced as I recall.

Glenn E. wrote:I also need to write to Maria Theresa and order a couple of bottles of the semi-sec Port that my parents purchased at AVEPOD. (I don't recall the name... I'll have to get that from my parents first.) It was quite tasty, and very reasonably priced as I recall.

Perhaps the Rol Roi Reserva 'Meio Seco' ? I remember having the 2002 at AVEPOD last year and it was very nice.

Marco D. wrote:

Glenn E. wrote:I also need to write to Maria Theresa and order a couple of bottles of the semi-sec Port that my parents purchased at AVEPOD. (I don't recall the name... I'll have to get that from my parents first.) It was quite tasty, and very reasonably priced as I recall.

Perhaps the Rol Roi Reserva 'Meio Seco' ? I remember having the 2002 at AVEPOD last year and it was very nice.

Yes! I'm pretty sure that's it - the "Rol Roi" name very much rings a bell.

I liked it a lot, because it was neither overtly sweet like a normal Port, nor overtly dry like even the sweetest (non dessert) red wine. For me it was a nearly perfectly balanced drinking wine. (I have admittedly sweeter preferences than most, so most of you will probably still think it is sweet though drier than a normal Port.)

Members.
I tried the 40 years old in 2002 while visiting Noval, an amazing wine, and yes I remeber the little redish golden copperlike color, a quite vibrant wine, full of life and energy, awsome complexity too. Great longlasting acidity. Unusual for me with my references, the youthness in this old wine.
I can still taste it, allthough I am having a Croix de Beaucaillou right now. :)
Happy Helloween weekend.

Moses Botbol wrote:

Andy Velebil wrote:

If found the Quinta do Infantado to be an interesting line-up.

In what way? I also tried their line up and curious as to what you thought about it?

Drier style of port. I wish I had went to Providence last night to spend more time with their ports.

Sorry though I had responded. I wasn't very keen on their line up at the tasting. Actually thought they all showed fairly poor, and I wasn't the only one who thought that. It was the distibutor who was there and I am assuming they chose the line up. I've had a little Infantado before and they showed better than this line up.

I just picked up a bottle of this from a local wine store for a very reasonable price. Given the notes on this particular tawny, I can't wait to taste it.

-- Gary

I was finally able to find it in the US for a reasonable price, so I have 2 bottles on order which should arrive at my office tomorrow.

Great stuff, and one of the few 40-yr olds that you can find for under $100. (Sometimes.)