The Vintage Port Site has returned!

[Cynthia J]

SFE is very proud to announce the re-launch of the Vintage Port Site at http://www.thevintageportsite.com We have completely re-built the site and hope you will enjoy the features:

• dearest to all your hearts: the Knowledge Base – the searchable database of technical information and tasting notes for all Vintage Ports from all our brands and single quintas since 1945. We have enhanced the Search functionality so you can search for a brand, quinta, year, or critic – see all the wines he or she has reviewed – or even tasting note year.
• the Knowledge Base also includes a summary of the viticultural conditions for every year, whether declared or not, since 1945. This content is drawn from the notes made by the Symington family and all our winemakers and viticulturalists who were working in the Douro throughout the year
• the entire site has a fresh new look and straightforward navigation
• for those of you new to Vintage Port, or just wanting a refresher course, we have a great array of reference articles – about the history and making of port, how to buy, store and decant it, and much more
• we still have all of Miles’s great articles about Douro Viticulture – now illustrated with photographs (now you can SEE a socalco and how it differs from a patamar, or Touriga Nacional versus Tinta Roriz)
• Resource Lists – a list of websites to further your knowledge of Port, and a list of books that we enjoy and refer to ourselves, as well as a list of distributors for all our Ports worldwide
• Ask the Expert – if you have a question about any aspect of making or enjoying Vintage Port, or one of our wines, ask! We are committed to responding on line in two business days.

Most importantly, we are committed to expanding and maintaining the site going forward. I will be continuing to research and build the Knowledge Base – both pushing back in time from the current starting point of 1945, and expanding the breadth of tasting notes for each wine. I also have in mind some additional Reference materials to be added to the site in coming months, and we will add to our reference lists as we learn of additional material.

In addition, we will have a stream of News articles, in which I hope to (start to!) satisfy your thirst for knowledge about our Quintas, brands, and historical and technical subjects. And of course, the first three articles are the announcements of our 2009 wines. Take a look!

In addition to the Ask the Expert function, there is also a more general contact form on the site – so do send us your suggestions and feedback, we would love to hear from you!

One more thing: yours truly is manning the front lines on the Ask the Expert, with recourse, naturally, to all our staff at SFE to source the information to answer your questions. But please… go gently on me the first few weeks, ok? I don’t mind your nipping at my heels, but please don’t go for the jugular just yet!

Enjoy!
Cynthia

[DRT]

Congratulations, Cynthia!

I know this has been a lot of work for you and others and the results look impressive. I particularly like how uncomplicated the site is and am pleased to see that there are no videos or those useless "what age are you?" barriers to get through.

It's also great to see a link to on the site of a major producer

No I just have to think of a really difficult and controversial question to ask?

Derek

[jdaw1]

Very good—for much the same reasons as given by Derek. Full of content rather than glitz: good for us, good for search engines.

A small request. Attached to each vintage (e.g., GM51) is a description of the brand and its quintas and grape varieties. These descriptions are the same for each vintage, but actually apply only to a particular period of time. Please could this period be indicated, perhaps in the opening words? E.g., “From YYYY to time of writing (2011), …”.

[Cynthia J]

Hi. Thank you both for the kind words and encouragement.

These [brand/quinta] descriptions are the same for each vintage, but actually apply only to a particular period of time.

Julian - I know exactly what you mean, and my research is ongoing - trying to pin down which quintas were contributing to a blend or to the brand generally prior to (even since!) the age of computers is ... a challenge! It's one of those things I decided would have to go into the "ongoing improvements" list rather than "can't go live without it" list. It fascinates me how so many families have been supplying us with grapes for years, generations, and that some of the quintas we have bought or sold have supplied us before and/or after (as well as during!) the time of our ownership. I am trying to work out these things for each brand and will be updating the site as each one's history and sourcing becomes more clear to me.

[DRT]

Cynthia,

I just noticed that the website doesn't have one of those little icons that appear next to the url in the address bar of the browser and on Bookmark menus. Not a disaster, but I thought you might like to know.

Would you like to use this thread to collect similar feedback from the team here or should we email you instead?

Derek

[Cynthia J]

I spotted that too - on the list. Happy for you to use your judgment what suggestions you post here and what you email me privately! On a sliding scale of public embarrassment... Thanks!

[DRT]

I spotted that too - on the list. Happy for you to use your judgment what suggestions you post here and what you email me privately! On a sliding scale of public embarrassment... Thanks!

The good news is I haven't spotted anything worthy of keeping secret!

[DRT]

I just noticed that you have added Martinez and Cockburn to the data. Excellent!

[AHB]

I love the fact that Quarles Harris is featured as much as it is!

Great new look to the site. Thanks to all who have clearly worked so hard and put so much content at our fingertips - we'll be kept quiet for days!!

[Cynthia J]

- we'll be kept quiet for days!!

Oh good! Our ploy worked! Happy reading!

[JacobH]

I’m really pleased to see the site back; especially loaded with lots of information about your “minor” brands and recent acquisitions! (Though I wonder what the Roriz 1991 did to be excluded from the site )

[uncle tom]

Excellent work Cynthia - your transcription of the harvest reports back to 1945 is particularly welcome..

..dare I ask if you might venture back a little further in time?

I'm intrigued by years like 1929 - fabulous for Bordeaux, but I've never seen a drop of port from that year. Was it a wash-out in the Douro, or did a combination of excess stock and the Wall Street crash cause it to be passed over?

- I'd love to know..!

Cheers,

Tom

[Cynthia J]

hello all...

@Jacob H - yes, I know about that 1991 Roriz - on my to do list - I did not post it because at the time we "froze" content for go-live I had conflicting information, it wasn't clear to me if it was "real" or one of those wines that wasn't officially released but was made privately and then leaked out a bit (think Quinta do Bomfim in Denmark in the 60s). Somewhere I found a 19th century Roriz tasting note too! My biggest concern was to post only accurate, thoroughly verified information - and words cannot express what a delightful time I have had reconciling two or three different internal lists of vintages versus IVDP records versus rogue tasting notes from critics who must have been tapping someone's private stock versus publicly available wines, etc.... !!! I do love the Port trade!

@Uncle Tom - yes, absolutely! This site will continue to grow both back in time, and in breadth of information for years and wines already in there. I'm taking a little breather - or actually an extended nap this weekend! - and then will get back to work.

The plan is to post information pushing back a decade at a time as I can locate the relevant material - it gets harder to find anything at all and patchier when I do find it, the further we go back, and that is part of why we decided to go live starting from 1945. On the other hand, I have learned of guest books now in our possession from other quintas - I don't know yet what years they cover or what quality of information they contain, but I look forward to settling down with those at some point, to see what I can find to flesh out the site.

We also will be expanding our range of tasting notes to include critics from outside the usual English speaking US/UK axis - e.g. Rui Falcão and João Paulo Martins from Portugual are next up on my to-do list, and I am working with our sales team to identify major critics of Port wine from other geographies. Any suggestions, please feel free to drop me an email - through this site or use the blogadmin at grahams-port dot com

@Derek - If you refresh your browser or bookmark list - should get the little favicon now alongside our name.

One further off-piste comment - I am in a position (e.g. smiling slightly off the chair) to assure you that the Quinta do Vesuvio 1994 is drinking magnificently if you like 'em young. Wow. Though it was a bit disconcerting to be drinking it seated at a rather elegant table IN the lagar... !! Further explanation will be part of a blog story next week. Beijinhos.

[jdaw1]

words cannot express what a delightful time I have had reconciling two or three different internal lists of vintages versus IVDP records versus rogue tasting notes from critics who must have been tapping someone's private stock versus publicly available wines, etc.... !!!

You are having this problem with your employer, and wine that is only two decades old. DRT and I have had this pleasure with lots of ports over slightly more than two centuries. What joy.

[jdaw1]

One further off-piste comment - I am in a position (e.g. smiling slightly off the chair) to assure you that the Quinta do Vesuvio 1994 is drinking magnificently if you like 'em young. Wow. Though it was a bit disconcerting to be drinking it seated at a rather elegant table IN the lagar... !! Further explanation will be part of a blog story next week. Beijinhos.

My invitation was lost in the post. Consider that another criticism.

[Cynthia J]

Julian, with all those tables in the lagares there would not have been room for us to dance like last time - too cruel! But I do hope all you guys will be here again this harvest. And yes, I look forward to the task of hunting down the REALLY old vintages. 300 years + of heritage to puzzle through!

[Axel P]

Hi Cynthia,

thanks for posting as I really did miss this site. Lots of information and data especially about the good old days which are extremely hard to find elsewhere.

See you at the regatta

Axel

[JacobH]

Cynthia, it seems that a few of the buttons are showing up in weird colours when using Opera to browse the site:

example.png (10.45 KiB) Viewed 1066 times

(This may have caused me to send one question a couple of times by mistake; sorry!). Not sure what the cause or solution is, since most things that work in Firefox or Chromium also work in Opera.

[Cynthia J]

Jacob, thanks for this - I will forward this to our web designers for their review. If you like, you can always contact me at blogadmin at grahams-port dot com - easier to attach screenshots if need be! thanks!

[Cynthia J]

Hello again Jacob - When you get a chance, please take another look - we believe this is fixed now. Let us know how you get on. Not sure if you might have to clear a cache, depending on your browser settings. Thanks very much! Cynthia

[JacobH]

Hello again Jacob - When you get a chance, please take another look - we believe this is fixed now. Let us know how you get on. Not sure if you might have to clear a cache, depending on your browser settings. Thanks very much! Cynthia

Gosh, that was quick. I wish we had web-designers that quick in the UK. Looks sorted to me, now. Thanks!

[Cynthia J]

I will tell them you said so - but I will never tell you their names, lest you steal them from us! thanks again!

[jdaw1]

but I will never tell you their names, lest you steal them from us! thanks again!

Not even for a bottle of Graham 1927?

[Cynthia J]

Hmmm... When will you be in Porto next, Julian?

[jdaw1]

Is that agreement?