Port in Paris

Anything to do with Port.
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jdaw1
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Re: Port in Paris

Post by jdaw1 »

At Restaurant Au Relais des Buttes-Chaumont (86 rue Compans, Paris 19ème, +33 1 42 08 24 70) I spoke with Eléonor Descordes, who seemed happy to accommodate a port-drinkers’ BYOB other than at a weekend.
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Re: Port in Paris

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If their food is agreeable as their BYOP policy, this may be a good restaurant for us during our visit. I have arranged for a nice bottle to share while we're there. If I remember our itinerary correctly we will arrive in Paris on Wednesday the 21st, so perhaps we should tentatively schedule dinner for Thursday night?
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Re: Port in Paris

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Re: Port in Paris

Post by Glenn E. »

I only have limited internet access while in Paris, but wanted to at least mention that all four Ports were very good (though the T85 had been open too long) and the restaurant was exceptional.

Puzzling... we had reservations for Friday night, but there was only one other table (for 2) occupied during our time there. The service was good, the food was very good, the prices were reasonable (actually probably low) for the quality of the food, and the location is easily accessible by Metro. So why was it empty?

I'll post full TNs once I return to Seattle.
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Re: Port in Paris

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Glenn E. wrote:Puzzling... we had reservations for Friday night, but there was only one other table (for 2) occupied during our time there. The service was good, the food was very good, the prices were reasonable (actually probably low) for the quality of the food, and the location is easily accessible by Metro. So why was it empty?
Any vegetarian food on the menu? (Finding places which fit the criteria you list always seems a trouble in Paris!)...
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Re: Port in Paris

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JacobH wrote:Any vegetarian food on the menu? (Finding places which fit the criteria you list always seems a trouble in Paris!)...
I'm not sure. Once my eyes rested on the listing for the big slab of red meat with au poivre sauce I kind of lost track of anything else that might have been available. :wink: I suspect that there was probably something, but Julian will have to confirm or deny that for you.
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Re: Port in Paris

Post by DRT »

Julian is unlikely to have read any section of the menu that consisted mainly of green things.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
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smisse
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Re: Port in Paris

Post by smisse »

Julian,

The famous restaurant "La Tour D'argent" seems to sell port under their own name. (http://www.tourdargent.com/)
Surely there must be some nice port hiding in their cellars (contains +400000 bottles).
They recently discovered a few bottles of Cognac from 1788 :shock:

Did you try this restaurant?

rgrds,
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jdaw1
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Re: Port in Paris

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DRT wrote:Julian is unlikely to have read any section of the menu that consisted mainly of green things.
Nothing to add.
smisse wrote:The famous restaurant "La Tour D'argent" seems to sell port under their own name. (http://www.tourdargent.com/)
Note to self: must try.
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DRT
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Re: Port in Paris

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Please can JDAW or Glenn post a thread in the Review section to record the 2nd Paris port tasting in the history of the world for posterity?
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
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RonnieRoots
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Re: Port in Paris

Post by RonnieRoots »

jdaw1 wrote:
smisse wrote:The famous restaurant "La Tour D'argent" seems to sell port under their own name. (http://www.tourdargent.com/)
Note to self: must try.
This port geek googled it immediately. It appears to be bottled by Andresen. Still, the 20YOT may be worth it to try. The other options are Ruby, Tawny and White. And very expensive...
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Re: Port in Paris

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RonnieRoots wrote:
jdaw1 wrote:
smisse wrote:The famous restaurant "La Tour D'argent" seems to sell port under their own name. (http://www.tourdargent.com/)
Note to self: must try.
This port geek googled it immediately. It appears to be bottled by Andresen. Still, the 20YOT may be worth it to try. The other options are Ruby, Tawny and White. And very expensive...
I think that goes without saying, considering which restaurant it is...
La Tour D'Argent wrote:He who would be called the "Bayreuth of cuisine" reigned for over 40 years, creating and establishing his rites and imposing his rigor. Two bars of Offenbach and four lines of Ibsen ”“ that describes the outer man. Impassive and dignified, he welcomed his guests, with an eye to everything and a word for everyone. He very soon became known, recognized and esteemed ”“ very few of those who visited his restaurant did not immediately become his faithful friend, whether crowned heads, literary people, artists or simple gourmets. What they all had in common was a passion and respect for great cuisine. For Frédéric, cuisine was a serious matter and he did not take kindly to any disrespect for it!

Twice a day, Frédéric offered the wonderful spectacle of a consummate artist's contribution to the theater of excellent cuisine. In three strokes of a razor-sharp blade, a plump duck roasted "with a drop of blood", skewered on the end of a fork, was sliced into two portions: on one side, the wings and the legs, on the other the body. This was followed by the great ceremonial of the duck press.
Incidentally, does trying to navigate that website remind anyone else of those "point-and-click" computer games which used to (and probably still do) exist?
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Re: Port in Paris

Post by Glenn E. »

jdaw1 wrote:
smisse wrote:The famous restaurant "La Tour D'argent" seems to sell port under their own name. (http://www.tourdargent.com/)
Note to self: must try.
Fair warning: La Tour D'Argent is probably one of the most expensive restaurants in all of Paris, right up there with the Jules Verne at the Eiffel Tower. I would expect dinner to run close to 200 Euros per person, and that's without buying from their famously long (400 pages) wine list. Lunch at the Jules Verne two years ago for my wife and I was 300 Euros.

That said, some day I'd like to try it also. Perhaps right after I win the lottery. Note to self: must start buying lottery tickets.
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Re: Port in Paris

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I have just returned from the evening session of the first day of a much-promoted wine auction in Paris (see, for example, the BBC story entitled Paris restaurant auctions wine from famed cellar). There follow some example lots (prices excluding the ≈23% buyer’s premium).
  • 843: Andresen colheita 1900 @ €1000;
  • 845: 6×D60 @ €850;
  • 846 & 847: 3×NN63 @ €5k;
  • 850: 3×NN66 @ €1300;
  • 852: 3×N66 @ €530;
  • 854: 6×G70 @ €500;
  • 857: 6×Cr75 @ €320;
  • 858: 6×NN75 @ €1900 (I hope the auctioneers didn’t confuse my head-shaking with a bid);
  • 860: 6×T77 @ €1100;
  • 866: 6×F80 @ €380;
  • 871→873: 12×½s D85 @ €350;
  • 878: 12×½s N85 @ €550;
  • 884: 6×NN87 @ €1800;
  • 885: 6×V89 @ €350;
  • 905: 12×ChAA92 @ €550;
  • 910: 24×½s T94 @ €950.
I didn’t buy anything.

Odd auction. There were two auctioneers, calling out prices in near synchrony. A big screen behind them showed pictures of representative bottles from each lot. Fourteen rows of seats, fourteen seats in each, about two-thirds full, about two-thirds of them being male. Roughly half the women, and so a quarter of the men, seemed to be attached to their neighbour. Lot 807, an 1788 cognac, estimated about €3k, sold for €25k (plus extras). Yikes!
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Re: Port in Paris

Post by Glenn E. »

Some of those prices aren't too bad, assuming you've listed the lot price and not a per bottle price. Lot 854 seems reasonable (by US standards) for 6 x G70, for example.

I'm jealous that you're able to be there! I doubt I'd buy, but it would sure be fun to watch in person.
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Re: Port in Paris

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‟854: 6×G70 @ €500” is €500+bp ≈ €620 ≈ $950 per lot or almost $160 per bottle. That’s not auction bargain.
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Re: Port in Paris

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jdaw1 wrote: (prices excluding the ≈23% buyer’s premium)
Is that the normal buyers’ premium rate in France?
jdaw1 wrote:Lot 807, an 1788 cognac, estimated about €3k, sold for €25k (plus extras). Yikes!
I hope at that price that it didn't suffer the providence issues that plague older Cognacs...
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Re: Port in Paris

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JacobH wrote:
jdaw1 wrote: (prices excluding the ≈23% buyer’s premium)
Is that the normal buyers’ premium rate in France?
I don’t know. Maybe the sellers get it easier than in the UK?
JacobH wrote:
jdaw1 wrote:Lot 807, an 1788 cognac, estimated about €3k, sold for €25k (plus extras). Yikes!
I hope at that price that it didn't suffer the providence issues that plague older Cognacs...
The Cognacs from Rhode Island were never highly rated.
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Re: Port in Paris

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jdaw1 wrote:
JacobH wrote:
jdaw1 wrote:Lot 807, an 1788 cognac, estimated about €3k, sold for €25k (plus extras). Yikes!
I hope at that price that it didn't suffer the providence issues that plague older Cognacs...
The Cognacs from Rhode Island were never highly rated.
Opps...apparently I had had insufficient coffee before posting... :oops:
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Re: Port in Paris

Post by Portman »

These prices look God-awful from North America. Six bottles of Taylor 1977 for 1,100 Euro? That is twice what you can get it for here per bottle, not even adding the weak dollar/Euro conversion. Mon Dieu!
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Re: Port in Paris

Post by Glenn E. »

jdaw1 wrote:‟854: 6×G70 @ €500” is €500+bp ≈ €620 ≈ $950 per lot or almost $160 per bottle. That’s not auction bargain.
Oh right, forgot the buyer's premium. $125 per bottle is a good price for a G70 (in the US)... $160 is not. Low-end retail for G70 is about $150 in the US right now.

I don't assume that auctions will be a bargain and simply compare everything to the going low-end retail rate.
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jdaw1
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Re: Port in Paris

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Portman wrote:These prices look God-awful from North America. Six bottles of Taylor 1977 for 1,100 Euro? That is twice what you can get it for here per bottle, not even adding the weak dollar/Euro conversion. Mon Dieu!
I almost bid once. A lot’s current price was below my maximum, so I raised my card (number 47). One auctioneer saw me, the other saw somebody else, and the other chap was chosen. A few seconds later another bid came in, and my threshold was crossed, and then greatly surpassed. My bid card saw no further action during the whole evening. Afterwards I had two beers, both Leffe.

Pricing? ‟Mon Dieu!” is a good summary.
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Re: Port in Paris

Post by SushiNorth »

The F80 might have been a good deal, but in general the auction only suggests that frenchmen hold port dearer than I expected.
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Re: Port in Paris

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jdaw1 wrote:866: 6×F80 @ €380
€380+bp ≈ €465 ≈ $675, so $112/bottle. Wine-Searcher lists four US places selling it cheaper than $80/bottle.
SushiNorth wrote:in general the auction only suggests that frenchmen hold port dearer than I expected.
Several of the more expensive lots, and of the cheaper lots, went to a telephone bidder, who always took the whole parcel.
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Re: Port in Paris

Post by jdaw1 »

By chance the Wiseman Household recently reached a conclusion that had previously been reached by the Wine Committee of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors:
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I need 100 dozen of ≤1863s. If I find more for sale, we can split.
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