A stranger traveling in a strange way

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First of all, I would like to apologize for the following story, since my Shakespear is definitely not as good as my Molière. This post is meant to be, I hope, a simple way to give back to The Port Forum (TPF), for all the help I’ve received in the past and that I might never be able to give back. Maybe it will make one of you smile as you might remember from the past, or perhaps help a beginner some day.

As a first trip ever to Portugal, a small journey into Porto and Gaia was inevitable . The following included my girlfriend, and our 6 months old baby. No car was rented, and we depended sorely on ourselves, whether it by train, by metro, and by walk of course. One of my goal was to bring home 4 to 6 bottles of older Vintage Port (VP), somewhere around 40 years old or more, since it’s almost impossible to import alcohol bottles to Canada without traveling.

Even though our trip began with our baby’s first ever fever, and all the negative emotions related to our son’s health, we were lucky enough to see his fever disappear 24 hours before visiting Gaia on our own. On the last day of our trip in Porto/Gaia, before leaving to Lagos, to be precise. Therefore, you can imagine the anxiety rising, both for my son and the trip to Gaia!!

But before that, I visited Porto on my own, and got into the Taylor Fladgate’s small shop, where I noticed the 2nd edition of the Port book written by SIR Wiseman. A book that I also saw quite a few times later in my journey, both in Porto, Gaia, and Lisbon. I thought it was nice to see such a book in my many different port producers, since the book’s spirit appeared to me as a team work!

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Still wandering around Porto, I ended up in a small shop dedicated to selling many kinds of bottles, including some ports. After a few questions asked about their port bottles to a vendor, I was redirected to a second vendor. The man seemed nice, knew some things about the best declared years, etc. However, I was kind of suspicious that he’d try to sell me anything, as long as its costly! But, after maybe 15 minutes of chatting with him, we talked about tawnys, since I was not satisfied by the VP selection. Afterall, they had nothing older than 1980. While talking about tawnys, I aimed at something around 30 to 40 years old. However, instead of suggesting me the most expensive 40 years old bottle, he directed me towards a “mais 40 years old”, in Portuguese, from a smaller producer, with of course a less expensive price. For those who ignore it, “mais” in Portuguese means “more than”, hinting that the tawnys was older than 40 years old. Admitting that I didn’t even know that port producer, I was even more tempted to buy the bottle, which I did.

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The bottle was great, both of us loving it (“us” being my girlfriend and I ; not the baby and I – to avoid confusion), and it confirmed that the seller was indeed an honest man.

24 hours after the end of our baby’s fever, we got to finally visit Gaia. As soon as we got to the marina, we could feel the impact that the port industry has on the town, as you could see the Port producers' flag on each boat.

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For diner, I got to try the famous francesinha in a restaurant. It was delicious, even though there was no chance on Earth that I could finish the plate!!

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In the afternoon, and as suggested by some fellow TPF members, our main event was the Ramos Pinto’s lodge, museum, and shop tour. Of course, we had a few sneak peaks into Sanderman’s, Fonseca’s, along with some other port producers just before entering Ramos Pinto’s.

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With a baby, and no car, the visit was just long enough, considering the energy needed to get back to our RBnB with some bottles, and a baby on our shoulders. The tour took around 45 minutes. Even if I’m no port expert, I did learn many things about Ramos Pinto’s history, but not much about port wines. In our small group, maybe a dozen of visitors, none seemed to be port lovers. Consequently, the guide had to lower the deepness of the information transmitted.

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Once the tour, and the tasting were finished (which was pretty good, compared to the tastings I’m used to), I managed to buy a few bottles of 82’ VP, as some TPF members kindly pointed. These were the oldest for sale, at the exception of the 1924, and 1935 VP’s.

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Obviously, my newest 82’s VP were immediately sleeves, to higher the odds of getting home in one piece (and not wasted!!).

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The guide, who also sold me the bottles, was generous enough to offer me to taste the 82’ VP for free, before buying it. At that moment, I simply replied that it is not necessary, since my decision of buying the bottles was already made. She insisted, and I accepted.

Of course, as a sommelier friend taught me, I started by smelling the glass, empty. No odor, no finger marks ; the glass was clean as it’s supposed to be. Then, the guide poured the bottle that was opened in the same afternoon, and the smell alone was enough to bring a smile over my face. The feeling that maybe some people have forgotten – if it’s possible to get used to drinking such refined spirit - that only a few very special bottles can give you that feeling just by smelling it! So far, it happened to me less than a handful of times, and my last time was with a 85’ Taylor Fladgate VP. In other words, the moments when drinking become optional, and smelling becomes a whole experience by itself!

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Once the bottles sleeved, we headed back to Porto, to rest.

The next week was spent in Lagos, where port wines were temporarily excluded of my life. As a resume of the week, the city was lovely, and most likely one of our highlights in our travel.

Then, the last stop was Lisbon. After a bad start, with a cancelled boat tour because of a small rain (sigh), we did enjoy the city for a few days. Lisbon wasn’t our favorite city at all, but it was still nice! The day before heading back to Canada, we got to see the Garrafeira Nacional. As someone who’s never been exposed to very old bottles, I felt like a kid in a candy store!

At first, I couldn’t ignore the Coheita from 1900, that was for sale for 65 euros per small glass. Probably noticing my interest in trying it, and looking at me as if I was strange, my girlfriend told me that she can’t understand how someone would pay that much for such a small glass of wine. As if it was crystal clear to me, I replied that some people pay thousands to go sit on a beach for a week or two ; I simply prefer to live another kind of experience with my money! I guess you, gentlemen, will understand what I mean!

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As a beginner in port wines, and even more in Colheita and older ports (50 years+), I felt the 1900 port was good, but not that great. I felt some brown sugar, instead of the maple syrup I’m used to in tawnys, along with some leather. The tannins were impossible to me to detect. In the end, it was delicious, but I had much less fun than with the Ramos Pinto’s 82 VP! My girlfriend, on her side, didn’t even like the Colheita! However, it was definitely worth the experience, and I can now check the line in my bucket list : “trying a 100 years old port”.

As a side note, our baby did like the smell of the 1900 port, as we figured out by his arms stretched towards the glass! The employees and us did have a good laugh at him, and I suppose it proves that I’m his biological father!

The moment after, the hunt for 1 to 3 bottles of older VP began! The selection seemed wide to me, a beginner, with years and prices ranging from early 1900ies to 2021. Prices going from a hundred to thousands. Of course, I couldn’t help but notice the Romanee-Conti bottle for sale for only 25,000 euros!

Anyway, after some struggle to find the suggestions I’ve had from TPF, I got my hands on a Fonseca 1970 VP. Trying to look up the light, to see how full the bottle was, I asked the vendor for a stronger artificial light. At that moment, she replied that I shouldn’t put a bottle of VP in front of light, insinuating that it would ruin the wine! You can imagine my face, hearing that, while answering that this torture would last only 30 to 60 seconds and that I should not spoil the whole bottle..! A torture that was finally worth it, since the bottle was below the neck level! I, therefore, passed on that bottle.

Once we found in their only inventory a bottle of Dows 1970, we spent over 30 minutes looking for the bottle! If I’m not wrong, an employee from another Garrafeira Nacional finally came with the bottle. Which I, sadly (he he), couldn’t resist buying! Then, I found one of their very few Ramos Pinto’s VP, a 1970 too. I asked why they didn’t have more of Ramons Pinto’s, without getting a clear answer.

After giving it some thoughts for the third and last bottle spot I had, I figured a 2021 would be a good complementary for my purchases, considering that I have a few bottles ranging from 1990 to 2011 at home. My choice ended up being a Quinta do Noval, which I never tasted before. Knowing that the 2021 year may be one of the best years, after 2011, helped me choose.


Then began the most stressful part of my journey : our way back home, by airplane, not knowing how the bottles would be cared by the airport employees. Obviously, as we arrived home, I started unpacking the bottles, to find the followings :

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As you can notice, there were fresh traces of red stains on the white papers on two Ramos Pinto’s 82 VPs, that were not there prior to buying them. One of them, the worst, was still humid once I arrived home. The two older bottles did have some red stains on them, but it was there prior to buying the bottles.

With the help of two fellow TPF members, I put some paper towel around the neck of the bottles, along with some tape, to hold the paper. After a week, I couldn’t find any trace of red on the paper towel on any bottle, leading me to believe that the corks are still working fine. Obviously, I am relieved! The next step is going to be in a few years, by tasting these!

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I hope you enjoy this little story!

[Glenn E.]

What a great story! I very much enjoyed it.

Regarding DR Port... they're not as small as they may seem to be. The estate - Quinta da Levandeira do Roncão - has existed for a very long time, but was purchased by its current owners in 2001 and now sells wine under its own brand name. "DR" is the current owner's father's initials - Domingos Ribeiro.

Sadly, I have recently learned that they no longer intend to produce the 40 Year Old. With the addition of the new 50 Year Old category, they plan to skip the 40 and only produce 10-20-30-50. From a purely business planning perspective, this makes sense to me even though as a consumer who has loved their 40 year old for many years I am sad. The 50 will be too expensive for me to drink regularly, whereas the 40 was something I was able to drink quite often.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write up your visit to Portugal. I spent a very happy half hour reading the thread and imagining I was there with you.

[Mike J. W.]

That was a great read! So much so that I just reread it. Great pics as well. Thank you.

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I am glad you gentlemen enjoyed a bit this story! Also thank you @SIR Glenn for the story being DR's port wines! I was unaware of that!!

[mcoulson]

A very interesting read ... thanks for taking the time to share this with us all ....

[Andy Velebil]

A fantastic read, thank you for sharing!