ThePortForum.com

I tried that text with the Google language tools, and got this: Special categories of Port wine White The Wines of Porto may bear the words Reserve or an indication of age (10, 20, 30 or + 40 years) provided that completion of procedures included in the Regulations of the Port wine on this topic. Al...

I've just spent some time burrowing into the little recesses of the IVDP site in search of a definitive list of approved port types, but to no avail. Does anyone have an up-to-date list of port products that can carry the guarantee seal - especially the variants of white port, which I believe have b...

Message from Johnny Graham (Churchill):

"We are currently launching for laying down the 2006 Vintage [Quinta da Gricha] which won a Gold Medal at this year’s International Wine Challenge in London"

- So some good news!

Tom

and Pink

How could i forget that...

Tom

For the types, I have seventeen styles, including one obsolete style which needs to be included for historical purposes (vintage character), and a catch-all 'Special' for anything that doesn't seem to fit. Are there now categories for whites with indication of age? I'm not quite clear about recent c...

I was thinking along the lines of a spreadsheet, with the shippers/brands on one axis and the types on the other - for example you might look up Reserves on one axis and Cockburn on the other, and get an entry that might read: Special Reserve, (1976? - present day) Alternatively you might look up Cr...

We're pretty well informed regarding vintage port, and the vintage ports made in years past, but the other types of port seem to get lost to history with indecent speed. Is it worth maintaining a database of the shippers other products? It occurs to me that a simple matrix of producers and product c...

Another day and this continues to look very young; with greater depth and integrity than I recall from the M91. This is nowhere near mature, with a vibrant young nose and tannic palate. As the '91's have moved on from their 'Kevin' phase, I have begun to suspect that this vintage is one that will re...

+ 8 hrs

A young Turk with a good nose. Well short of mature, but not overly tannic either.

Is this the same as the M91? - I'm not sure. There are clear similarities, but I sense this may be a class above.

May be.. - need to do a back to back at some point. See where this one goes from here..

Tom

The Douro Insider Report for June has now been published - includes a good explanation of the issues and terminology regarding fruit set.

Tom

http://www.thevintageportsite.com/vinta ... .aspx?pg=6

One of ten bottles bought last year. This bottle selected for having signs of old seepage, although they might have resulted from a messy moment in the bottling plant. Cork showed no defects, was extracted intact, and was perfectly branded. Decanted 12.30. Very dark, moderate amount of fine sediment...

New colour scheme is a bit austere - is this temporary?

Tom

and hopefully ignore the slowly-growing pile of disks

If dated, we can always bin the previous one!

Alternatively, how easy is it to email the essential data?

Tom

The TN database is developing into a seriously useful resource - I would like to be reassured that the data is being properly backed up to more than one location...

Tom

If you are making bulk unfortified wines from vineyards on moderate slopes that are suitable for highly mechanised viniculture, then it is perfectly possible to turn a profit from very cheap products. But in the Douro, the very labour intensive cultivation coupled to the additional cost of aguardent...

According to my database, Cockburn declared three times in the 1890's -

1890, 1894 & 1896

I have no previous record of an 1895.

Tom

I see no mention of labor costs in the previous calculations. The least impressive lots of Ruby are not going to sell for a price that covers the cost of production; indeed I would not be surprised if all Rubies are inherently unprofitable, and that the better returns on the reserves, tawnies and s...

A couple more days and the wine is showing nicely now, with virtually no fire and quite a pleasant nose. I am certain that this is not corked, but it IS a little odd - in colour it is reassuringly dark, yet on the palate is shows quite light. It's flavour impacts my forward palate well, but to the a...

the 2 euro bottles at tescos would have reconstructed corks, ie cork bits that they've glued together or plastic caps.

Nothing as posh as that - they have plastic T-stoppers!

Tom

Do the current owners of Quinta do Ventozelo and Castelinho have lots of short-term borrowing? If so, that might explain the sale — and offer a purchaser comfort about the negotiability of the price. That thought crossed my mind also. Spain has seen wild property speculation fuelled by cheap money...

bottles and labels are 2$ per bottle .. 2400$ a year or so. A lot less than that, I think, although I don't have the exact numbers. It's possible to calculate that the cheapest supermarket rubies are sold 'ex works' for about 2 euros per bottle - including not only the wine, but the bottle, stopper...

Any idea what the asking prices are, or which agent is handling the sale?

Tom

One of the great mantras of business is that 'money goes to money', and when that money is invested in something bulky, that needs special storage, the costs of that storage can weigh heavily as well. So what should 2006 Vesuvio sell for at this stage? My initial take is that this is probably a reas...

24 hours on, and I can confirm that the Herrings are red..! Nose weak and slightly medicinal, no star on that front. On the palate this is now full, composed, and almost fire-free, although there is a slightly soapy note that is not entirely agreeable. But it is not corked. Although this wine has ex...

A couple of hours on, and a glass proper. The wine is showing in a very similar way to the GC77 we had at Joost's house - including, unfortunately, the 'I might be corked' nose... Indeed it's so similar, and yet quite a long way from the textbook 'corked' sensation; I'm wondering if this is a red he...