ThePortForum.com

Mike J. W.

Justin K wrote: ↑16:13 Sun 17 May 2026
Mike J. W. wrote: ↑15:23 Sun 17 May 2026 8 x 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio won at auction for $50 per bottle. To be split with John M.
That's a great price for a great Port

It's my favorite 1994 Port with the Fonseca not far behind. This will bring me up to 25 bottles.

Mike J. W.

8 x 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio won at auction for $50 per bottle. To be split with John M.

Mike J. W.

Thanks Alex. I appreciate that.

Mike J. W.

Has it been released yet? I don't see it for sale on their website nor anywhere else. Regardless, Pocas is somewhat hard to come by in the US.

Mike J. W.

I know the placemats will change due to the addition of the 1887, but shouldn't the '94 and '97 be flipped for consistency's sake?

EDIT: Or is the '94 an Ervamoira and thus separated from the regular VP's?

Mike J. W.

I never thought about it before, but that's a very valid question. A counterpoint question would be is there an overall improvement in the quality of Ports because of improvements in vineyard practices and vinification in the last 2 decades or so? That's probably a slight counterpoint and not a full...

Mike J. W.

I'm game. Yes, please.

Mike J. W.

2 x 1937 Barros Colheitas won at auction. I'm unclear as to what year they were bottled, but based on the label style I would say it was most likely between 2000 and 2010. From the pics, the bottles look to be in excellent condition.

Mike J. W.

When would these typically get released into the market? Summer? Fall?

Mike J. W.

Thank you again Neil for organizing this. These virtual tastings are always a lot of fun and it's great to soak up the knowledge from everyone else for all things Port...or whatever else we digress to.

Mike J. W.

Alex Bridgeman wrote: ↑22:22 Wed 29 Apr 2026
Glenn E. wrote: ↑16:29 Wed 29 Apr 2026 Received, thank you!

Themes that have been proposed:

1. White Port
2. Port with a date that ends in '6' but not 1966
3. VP that is 15 years old or younger
I have prepared for number 3.

Same.

Mike J. W.

The price on the Skeffington is an absolute steal. They're hard to come by in the US, but I've had a few of their releases and they drank well. I'll be curious to see how the 2024 is rated.

Mike J. W.

Is this still on for next week? If so, how about a theme of VP's that are 15 years old or less? It would be interesting to see how more recent, younger Ports are doing similar to the 2011 tasting you all had in the UK the other day.

Mike J. W.

I'd be interested.

Mike J. W.

akzy wrote: ↑16:01 Mon 13 Apr 2026
Do we have a Port Intelligence bureau?

This is begging for a joke, but I will leave it at that.

Mike J. W.

I just picked up 2 x 1961 Krohn Colheita's at a decent price (relatively speaking). I'm unsure when they were bottled, but based on the pics of the front of the bottles I'd say somewhere between 2006 and 2016. They will be delivered on Friday so I will update this post then. Edit: The bottles arrive...

Mike J. W.

Ramos Pinto made an absolute blinder with their 1982. It’s a candidate for Port of the 1980s. I've never had the 1982 but have heard very good things about it. That said, Port of the 1980s seems a fair stretch given some of the competition. Then again, y'all seem to have gotten all of the lackluste...

Mike J. W.

The RP is fantastic, I ripped through my only case of 6 in five or six years, after this bottle there will be only one left. The '82 Ramos Pinto is an excellent Port. It's so smooth and elegant. I won 10 of these at auction four years ago for under $35 a bottle. A few I traded to John M. and I'm do...

Mike J. W.

And yet no Cockburn as part of the blend...even stranger still.

Mike J. W.

Alex Bridgeman wrote: ↑21:26 Mon 30 Mar 2026 And I thought the problem with tastings was that we ran out of Port too early in the evening.

Yes, with the 1970 Horizontal held this past October being the perfect example.

Mike J. W.

4 x 1985 Taylor VP with 2 of them going to BigLove (John M.).

Mike J. W.

mosesbotbol wrote: ↑11:57 Fri 27 Mar 2026 The easiest solution is for me to buy one of the port houses. Taylor Fladgate Botbol. Has a nice ring to it.

Will you be providing a "Friends and Family" discount?

Mike J. W.

On the approved TPF model, the correct amount of port to own is an amount that your descendants unto the fourth generation will not be able to get through at the same rate. So, for your 75 bottles a year, somewhere around 9,000 will see you through. Him + 3 children (let’s assume per generation). +...

Mike J. W.

Picture is very nice .. cellar is excellent ... Only issue I can find is your clearly running out of port and wine as I can find at least 9 empty slots in the picture. I would advise buying more port immediately to avoid a disaster !! :-) It's hard to keep up. My wife drinks as much port as me. In ...

Mike J. W.

Stopped in Portugalia Marketplace in Fall River, Massachusetts, USA yesterday. Huge Portuguese wine selection (1700 SKUs per the owner) including this Wall of Port (and some Madeira). Could not get the whole wall in photo (people)--but this is most of it. That's a great pic, John! Portugalia is a f...

Mike J. W.

The two mystery Ports for the Ferreira vertical were a 1977 Dolamore Crusted (brought by me after discussion with John aka Big Love) and a 1958 Krohn Colheita (bottled 2003 and provided by Roy). Both showed very nicely and the Krohn was the WOTN for me. I haven't seen the overall scoring yet to see ...

Mike J. W.

winesecretary wrote: ↑21:29 Wed 18 Mar 2026 @ Mike J.W. - apparently a blend of 5 of Sandeman, 5 of Fonseca, and 1 of Taylor. I am sure there was Taylor in it, as the heat is an unmistakable characteristic.

Interesting. Thanks George.

Mike J. W.

This was a delightful evening with a significant number of very good ports many of which could have been WOTN in other tastings. While the Fonseca AHB and Fonseca PW were predictably strong, I particularly enjoyed the Avery and Ferreira, both of which were new to me, and the Sandeman, which was a p...

Mike J. W.

As a result of overwhelming demand from the Port drinking world Muppet Labs Inc (who never sleep at night) are proud to release on the unsuspecting world the limited edition 'Dirty Harry' .44 Magnum cork stand. . Limited Edition 44 magnum.jpg . Produced in a strictly limited edition of 44 units, ea...

Mike J. W.

a Mystery Port. Suitably mysterious Port? 2026-03-12 16.25.56.jpg Very cool bottle. Is that an old SQVP by Ferreira? Maybe you can fly in and join us this Thursday (and bring the bottle along please)? The one John and I picked isn't even as remotely mysterious as that one, but we're certain that Ro...

Mike J. W.

Will this come in a variety of wood stains? Harvest stain perhaps? I did try that with the Mk1 and then laser cut the stain away but it was a massive pain .... The Mk3 naming is literally a John Bull Printing set with an ink pad .... How about applying peel off adhesive letters and then stain? Or a...

Mike J. W.

Provenance known by the current owner: "All of the bottles were presented as gifts to my father years ago during a couple of business trips he made to Portugal when he was employed at the Hoover Co. in North Canton, Ohio. As for storage, the bottles have, for the past several years, been in a ...

Mike J. W.

Will this come in a variety of wood stains? Harvest stain perhaps? I did try that with the Mk1 and then laser cut the stain away but it was a massive pain .... The Mk3 naming is literally a John Bull Printing set with an ink pad .... How about applying peel off adhesive letters and then stain? Or a...

Mike J. W.

Despite great personal injury from his use of the laser engraver on the Mk1 and 24 hrs in hospital I'm pleased to report that Beaker under the personal direction of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew from Muppet Labs Inc and a trip to Hobby Craft have perfected a scalable solution for Branding the Mk2 Cork Stand....

Mike J. W.

I always thought "The Book" aka "The Book of Books" referred to the bible? Not that I ever cracked one of them open, mind you. Well, we're in TPF, and so 'The Book' is "Port Vintages - The Chronicle of Vintage Ports, from the Beginning". (No disrespect to anyone) Fair ...

Mike J. W.

Dow 1842 cork from the bottle Yea! Page 101 of the book (2nd ed) indeed has D42. Phew. Not sure that I would have modelled the Mark 2 with a 2013 cork though. I would kindly request that you capitalise "the book" ("The Book"). I always thought "The Book" aka "The ...

Mike J. W.

On the off chance that someone from the U.S. sees this and is interested, John M. and I are hosting a Ferreira vertical next Thursday, March 19 at a country club in Central Jersey. Dinner will be served and the all in cost per person will be approximately $200. A total of 11 Ferreira's will be serve...

Mike J. W.

The bottle was a gift, and while I’d describe myself as more of an all-rounder than a regular port drinker, it certainly won’t be wasted on me. That's a nice gift! Enjoy the bottle. I think we'll all be curious as to who the producer was and how the bottle held up after 99 years. 1927 was considere...

Mike J. W.

Granmaa wrote: ↑07:28 Tue 10 Mar 2026 Thank you, both. Will the year be on the cork? I plan to open it soon and will let you know.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you acquire this bottle? Was it inherited or acquired at auction? Are you a regular Port drinker?

Mike J. W.

Yes, that's the one! In that document, there are 64 Tinto and 46 Branco that are authorized for Port. Plus an additional 1 Tinto and 4 Branco that are only authorized for Douro wines. Also note that Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay, are only allowed in Douro DOC sparkling wine, not in DOC st...

Mike J. W.

Thank you for your comments, Julian. You make some fair points and I agree the placemats are a little cluttered (and somewhat redundant), but I was going for pizzazz my first time out. I also wanted to test things out seeing as I've never played with code before. I think going forward my placemats w...

Mike J. W.

Glenn E. wrote: ↑23:27 Mon 02 Feb 2026 I also have a PDF of Diario da Republica no. 243 from 12/2017 which may be slightly more current. I would attach it, but PDFs do not appear to be allowed as attachments.

I think this is what you were referring to, Glenn?

Mike J. W.

I have to say that this placemat software and the Placemat Wizard are great. It took me a little bit to figure out how to manipulate the data and change fonts, backgrounds, order of the glasses etc., but if you spend enough time reading Julian's notes and going through the code you can create your o...

Mike J. W.

Thank you Mike for posting the score sheet.

Interesting that the 1970 Ferreira was far and away the winner. We're doing a Ferreira tasting later this month so I'll be curious to see if this performs as well.

Mike J. W.

Does someone have a score sheet that they can post, please?

Mike J. W.

That was a really interesting and enjoyable article, thank you for posting it.

Mike J. W.

3 x Warre King's Tawny @ £10 each - Waitrose Cellar offer. 3 x Dow Bomfim 2014 @ £20 each - ordered from Amazon in November, just received. Amazing price on the Bomfim! That's roughly $27 US. Unfortunately, Amazon can't sell wine or liquor in the U.S. The only place that is selling the 2014 Bomfim ...

Mike J. W.

winesecretary wrote: ↑15:36 Mon 23 Feb 2026 It was shouting ‘DNPIM’, but in the interests of science I did, and very much regretted it.

That's really taking one for the team.

Mike J. W.

That's a great looking glass of White Port. Quevedo is pretty much impossible to locate in the U.S. so I'd have to order directly from them once it's released. Their 30 y.o. White is 101€, so my guess is this will probably be in the 200€ + range (and then I'd have to add on the 15% tariff and shippi...

Mike J. W.

...A stunning line up of Ports by any bodies standards ..... how often do you do to a tasting where an excellent F66 comes 5th !!! I thought the same exact thing about the F66 when I saw the score sheet last night. Even the F85 & F94 barely registered as well. Crazy, but understandable based on...

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