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Please could somebody write a simple list, explaining all uses of the term “Silval†? Silval is to Noval what Secundum is to Niepoort - a second wine, normally made with grapes from both the quinta and also from grapes bought in. Quinta do Silval has (I believe) no association with Noval and is pri...

Andy, Agreed that the smaller growers who have no vinification facilities are often farming small obscure low grade quintas with unknown varietal mixes. They get paid little for their grapes, and the wines made tend to end up as standard tawnies and rubies. But the re-planting of the A grade vineyar...

Wouldn't it be interesting to collect together information on the grape varieties that ripened well and which were used in the final blends in past years. It might reveal some interesting predictions for expected future development. Imagine if we discovered that 1950, 1958, 1960, 1975, 1982 were al...

Or maybe it's just because they don't drink much VP? It is tempting to think that 'mother knows best', but I can't find any evidence to suggest that this applies here. Once VP has been bottled, sold, and the money is in the bank, I doubt they give it much of a thought. Making the best of their best...

Did you get any impression that this was just a product of the Portugues economy? Yes, that weighs heavily - I know they invest in VP for birth years and special occasions. However, I am convinced that the Portuguese - even those who work for the producers - have not got a clue about serving vintag...

I spent much of my recent trip investigating the Ports that the Portuguese like to drink. The answer, simply, is standard Tawny - indeed I suspect they drink more of this than all other types put together. But this class of Port is hugely variable - at one end you have the Tawnies that are a blatent...

Noval 10 Year tawny

I tried this at the Noval shop in VNG three days ago - very pale and not terribly impressive - I'd give it a miss at that price.

Tom

Although my main ambition during my recent visit to the Douro and VNG was to get a better take on the wines the Portuguese like to drink, I also got into several conversations regarding the '07 vintage, talking (as is my preference) to the troops rather than the generals. I only encountered one pers...

Would you be happy to share your data so that we can merge our two datasets together and then link them to the TN threads? No problem - if you can match it your own lists and let me have the ones I've missed, that would be appreciated! I understand Alex's concerns entirely, and suggest we deal with...

I drove from VNG through the Douro valley back home via Spain a couple of days ago, taking a very scenic route, partly on purpose and partly due to my SatNav having a bad attack of Alzheimers.. There is an awful lot of abandoned and derelict property around, and also a considerable number of abandon...

Gosh! A few days away from a 'puter and I've missed out on a huge thread! I have a database of known vintage ports that currently runs to almost exactly 1500. Finding a consistant way of listing them is very difficult, for several reasons: Noval is now an SQ, but prior to '97 was a blend from differ...

OK, now for the bleedin' obvious... - You've decanted the bottle, but have left a big chunk of cork inside. - You want to put the wine back into the bottle, as taking a decanter on the bus is a bit awkward. - So you put some water in the bottle and give it a big shake to free off the old sediment. y...

One would expect the famous brands to get the best quality, which my own experience seems to confirm My question is: do the famous brands always blend old Tawnies to the same standard, particularly when supplying a very large, but price-aggressive customer, who is selling into a market that is not ...

As far as vintage port is concerned, I cannot imagine a producer running two separate bottlings of wine of differing quality, but carrying the same label - the commercial benefits from doing so would be minimal, while the consequences arising from being found out would be cataclysmic! The only possi...

The romantic notion of VP's 'two years in wood' conjures up images of the 550 litre pipes stacked in the lodges. However, I am told that the reality is a little more mundane, and that most VP is now stored in larger vessels of varying sizes. The reason I ask is that it seems an amusing notion to tak...

Oxidation uses up oxygen, so if the stopper is a snug fit it won't allow the air in the decanter to be refreshed, I guess. This would (theoretically) slow down the development in the decanter. While I stand to be proven wrong, it is my belief that the process of decanting causes a small amount of o...

It would be quite interesting (to me, at least) to learn which ports the different airlines serve on their different routes Until my most recent flight, Lufthansa (who I fly with most frequently) have always had unfiltered Niepoort LBV's on board - complete with sediment... Maybe someone has realis...

I shall be back on stream before long - I have supped Taylors 'fine Tawny' - which is a blatent blend of red and white ports, with no tawny hues and barely a trace of the wood claimed on the back label - you don't want a TN - no, really you don't! :D I also indulged Warre's Warrior on a flight back ...

A confusion arises with LBV's partly because of the IVDP's rules changes. I think I am correct in saying that there are now three official styles of LBV: Filtered, Unfiltered, and Unfiltered and bottle matured. The term 'traditional' was outlawed because there was nothing traditional about them. Off...

The risk of a leaker being compromised is a little greater than for a sound bottle, but as an immediate drinking prospect they can be sometimes picked up for very modest sums, and represent very good value. I would not give the same endorsement to table wines however. If I acquire a bottle that has ...

Julian, Have you considered getting wine supplied in double mags and then re-bottling? - it might be a whole lot easier..! Also, are you sure those big bottles in the Croft lodge are six litres and not five? I wonder where you would source 6L port bottles - I'm not sure who else would have a use for...

I drafted quite a long response to this research, after looking at the referenced texts, using a computer that had previously been TPF friendly, only be to logged out (losing my text..) when I hit the 'submit' button :evil: This instability of my log-in to TPF is a bit of an issue... In brief: Havin...

For a long time QH has been firmly at the bottom of the Symington list of port houses, and until recently was the company name in the small print on products such as Tesco own brand vintage port. As far as I can make out, the Syms blend a respectable wine for QH labelled product, using the stocks av...

Producer: Smith Woodhouse
Unfiltered LBV from 1984

I have an SW82 unfiltered - any older ones known?

Tom

Or I suppose I should be very nice to Uncle Tom, and ask to stock up with more Morgans.

Plenty available!

Tom