For The Love Of Port

Unfortunately, Roy will not be able to be with us in London on May 8th and will likely not be available in London again until the late Autumn.

Because Roy was so keen on having the opportunity to taste all 13 vintages of Vesuvio at the same tasting, I have decided to postpone this tasting until Roy is next in the UK - keep watching this forum!

In the meantime, if people are still interested I am still willing to organise another offline - but of the "bring a bottle from your cellar" variety and at a cost of around £35-45 per head.

If you would be interested in attending a UK based offline then please either PM me, email me or post a reply here giving me the following details:
- dates you would be available to take part in an offline
- where you would like the offline to be held
- where you could attend, if the offline was not held where you would like it to be
- suggestions for themes for the tasting or your preferred choice from the list below

Themes that I have had suggested so far are:
1) Effect of decanter time on port, as discussed in a recent post by Uncle Tom
2) A tasting of 98 point wines
3) A traditional vertical or horizontal
4) A vertical or horizontal of a "second tier" producer or of an underrated vintage
5) A fine wine and dining event (which would be considerably more expensive than £34-45 per head)
6) An informal "bring a bottle to share" tasting where everyone brings what they fancy

Alex

Alex and others in the UK,

You have no idea how much I appreciate your understanding. I was with Rupert Symington this weekend and discussed the Vesuvio tasting with him and he assured me that when the time comes, one of the Syms will join us, if I give them some lead time.

So I thank you for being flexible, as I really am a huge fan of the Vesuvio lineup and there are still a few of them that I have not tried. Having them in vertical setting is going to be fantastic.

You guys are great!

If indeed a member of the Symington family will be joining this tasting, he should politely be asked to bring "The Missing Bottle" in the line-up: the Qta. d. Vesuvio Tawny (not sure whether it's a Colheita or not) - but the Tawny they only serve to guests at the quinta...now how cool would that be? 8) :)

It is Colheita Steven. I knew they where making some but that were keeping it for family drinking only. Indeed this would be a nice experience to try.

I don't think that would be an issue whatsoever.

Just to note that there have not been enough people reply to me in the UK to make it worth organising an offline before Roy's next visit to London later in the year.

Keep an eye on the forum after the summer holidays and I will post arrangements nearer the time.

Those who have been in touch with me I may well drop a note to privately when and if I next travel to the part of the country they are in and make separate arrangements to meet up over a glass or two of port.

Alex

bridgema wrote:Just to note that there have not been enough people reply to me in the UK to make it worth organising an offline before Roy's next visit to London later in the year.

Keep an eye on the forum after the summer holidays and I will post arrangements nearer the time.

Those who have been in touch with me I may well drop a note to privately when and if I next travel to the part of the country they are in and make separate arrangements to meet up over a glass or two of port.

Alex

Alex,

Sorry, I didn't catch the previous request.

I find it much more difficult to slip away from the office in the Autumn as all of my teaching takes place October-December.

Unless, you are thinking of the first week in November (when we have half-term)!

I think there'd be some merit in showing Roy how we "celebrate" suicide bombers here in this country! Unless it's been made illegal, by then, of course.

With apologies to any and all who were intending to be part of the planned Vesuvio vertical in London, this has been postponed indefinitely due to the wide range of Vesuvio wines tasted in Portugal last week.

However, if people are interested in re-visiting these wines in a year or two, then please let me know and I will happily look at organising another such tasting with the bottles having had the benefit of another couple of years of development.

Alex

OK, so Vesuvio is postponed, but what about some other theme if Roy is likely to visit? Maybe one could be arranged to tackle other debates that routinely crop up on the site, such as:

1. 63 or 66, which is better?

2. 70 or 77, which is better?

3. were there any greats at all in the 80s (except Dow 80? )

4. UK v Oporto bottlings of the same wine (now that would spark a debate :idea: )

Just some ideas - next year might be a chance to do a '77 30-year-on and/or a 97 10-y-o for example.

If and when Roy next visits the UK, I would be more than happy to organise an offline.

In fact, I don't mind organising one anyway or attending one that someone else organises.

And the theme of UK bottled vs Oporto bottled is both mischevious and interesting.

Alex