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Julia writes on jancisrobinson.com and has just published an article on the 2024 Vintage Ports and on the 80YO / VVO tasting at the BFT.

The article sits behind the paywall on the site, but if you are a subscriber you can read her article using the link above.

As of 28th June 2026, RP82 was still available by the glass at a price of €29 for a decent pour. I like this wine so much that I try to call in to the RP tasting room whenever I’m in Gaia.

I came across a bottle of Warre Otima 10YO White while in Porto - the Symington’s first white with an indication of age that I am aware of. Needless to say, there was only one thing to do. Was it to yell "why?! Why?! Why would you do this?" and dash your tambuladeira to floor in the middl...

I came across a bottle of Warre Otima 10YO White while in Porto - the Symington’s first white with an indication of age that I am aware of.

Needless to say, there was only one thing to do.

The eagle eyed among you will have spotted that I've just posted a dozen or so tasting notes of various Porto dos Santos Ports. That's because Frederick's Wines are now Alexandre's UK distributor and the first parcel of his wines have just arrived in LCB. I've placed a cheeky first order for 6 bottl...

Drunk at lunch at with Alexandre Botelho. This was a bottle from Alexandre's own stocks. Porto dos Santos White 20YO, a blend of wines from the Baixa Corgo. Bottled in 2024, pop and poured. Rich orange, 20% opaque. A little oloroso notes on the nose, a little dried apricot. Medium sweet on the palat...

Tasted at the Zwolle Port Fair on 18-Oct-2025.

NV Porto dos Santos White 10YO. Bottled 2022. Lovely smooth peach nose. Peach palate, a little honey but very smooth. A lovely mouthful of peach and red pear on the aftertaste and a finish which holds very nicely. 91/100.

Bottled in 2022. Deep golden orange colour, 40% opaque. From a straight sided water glass this still managed to deliver an attractive butterscotch and apricot nose. Lovely texture on the palate; rich flavours meld together to give a lovely smooth fruit-forward palate where the ripeness of the fruit ...

Gentle tropical fruit on the nose. Elegant and rounded with a balanced sweetness - caramel oozing over the top of a fresh cut lime. But the texture on the palate is so interesting, a little burnt apple, dusty with a bit of grip. A very nice example of a 10YO white. Impressive finish. My score: 89/10...

NV Porto dos Santos Reserve White. The new blend from early 2025. Peach and pear on the nose. Sweet peach with a gentle bitterness on the palate. Persistent bitter quince finish. 86/100. Tasted 18-Oct-25 at the Zwolle Port Fair.

NV Porto dos Santos White Reserve. Open 2 days. A dark golden colour, 20% opaque. Soft, sweet tropical fruit faint on the nose. The fruit is much more obvious on the palate, with just a little tannin holding the sweetness in check. The fruit is a little subdued on the aftertaste, but settles in with...

NV Porto dos Santos 20YO Tawny, bottled 2022; pop and pour. At cellar temperature (12°C) this doesn’t show much on the nose but on the palate this is full of red toffee apple, candy floss and burnt sugar (and later, when a little warmer, this changed to be clover honey). The huge levels of acidity r...

Porto dos Santos Tawny 10YO, bottled 2022. A dark chestnut brown colour with a touch of brick in the tone; very dark in the glass, 90% opaque. Rich balsamic on the nose, sweet and sour combining with an opulent umami. Concentrated date and grapefruit, dried figs and so much complex dried fruit. Yet ...

A little dried fruit on the nose. Impressive complexity on the palate with dried fruit, dried alpine strawberries and just the right amount of acidity. Bright and full of flavour. My score: 90/100; awarded a bronze medal and 88 points in the 2024 DWWA.

Porto dos Santos Tawny Reserve NV. Popped and poured at cellar temperature. T-stopper, no bottling date but probably within the last 2 years. Deep brick red in colour, 90% opaque. Spicy on the nose, menthol and red peppercorn. Much more balanced on the palate, still plenty of tannins in the wine but...

Drunk at lunch at with Alexandre Botelho. This was a bottle from Alexandre's own stocks. Porto dos Santos 1989 Colheita, bottled 2023. 670 bottles filled from a single cask originating from the Baixa Corgo. Gentle bronze colour, 20% opaque. Rich and sweet caramel on the nose, very nicely integrated ...

Porto dos Santos Reserve Ruby NV, open 2 hours. Sealed with a driven cork. Lavender and bramble on the sweet and dense nose. A little more refined on the palate with generous levels of young fruit wrapped in a fresh wrapper and soft tannins that only really show up on the aftertaste. A long finish o...

Oh my, this is something rather special. Beautifully crafted with the fruit full of summer flowers, framed with gentle and dusty tannins in a way that is just so harmonious. With the structure and fruit to reward a year or few in the cellar, this is one of the best reserve ruby Ports that I have tas...

Attractive fruit on the nose, with a nice depth to it on the palate. The tannins are well balanced within the fruit, supporting and not dominating giving the wine a wonderful texture. Very nice indeed. My score: 94/100; awarded a silver medal and 91 points in the 2024 DWWA.

What a lovely nose, fresh flowers and fruits of the forest - so many berries crammed into a glass! Sweet and smooth in texture but a sudden harshness to the core of fruit in the wine. Big tannins grab hold and don't relent giving the wine an extraordinary and unexpected dimension. What a fabulous fi...

Re: Christopher & Co. the oldest bottle for which I have photos of their bottlings is a Noval 1945 bottled 1950 [sic] (note still labelled as Vintage Port) at which point they were at 94 Jermyn St, London SW1; they were still at this address when bottling Fonseca 1955 in 1957, but had moved to ...

Last Thursday the AEVP organised a Port Festival in London, which included a dozen or so producers showing their 2024 Vintage Ports. Below are the tasting notes for the Ports I have not already reported on. Most are available in the UK, but if anyone wants to know where they can be bought, let me kn...

Now that Blackett have produced more than one vintage Port, we should have an abbreviation for them.

The obvious abbreviation is Bl, but is this too easily confused with the existing BI? If so, should we use Bk, which is currently under no threat of being confused with any other producer?

Poças 2015 White Colheita, bottled 2025. This has become a staple of our summer. There is no time better to drink a glass of this wine than after a hard afternoon working in the garden in temperatures of 27-28C. It is full of fruit, has enough sugar to be satisfying yet enough acidity to be balanced...

It is one of those wines made to a price point so it can be sold at a discounted price by a supermarket in the run up to Christmas (and remaindered just after Christmas). There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, but neither is there anything special about it. It’s a good wine to recommend to people...

Thank you Phil!

jdaw1 wrote: ↑21:32 Thu 18 Jun 2026
uncle tom wrote: ↑16:00 Thu 18 Jun 2026a Dow 1896 with excellent provenance.
Please share that with others.

Perhaps Dow should be the theme of a future Old Port dinner...

Simple maths says that 1813 + 155 = 1968 as the earliest bottling date so we're looking at a wine bottled in the period 1968-1978.

And just in case you didn’t know, this isn’t quite exclusive to The Port Forum but we are the single biggest buyer in the UK of Quinta do Noval olive oil.

IMG_8877.jpeg It has actually happened! The long delayed delivery of Noval Olive Oil has taken place. 24 cases of olive oil are now at my house, just in time to miss our last tasting which took place on Wednesday. People who have ordered are welcome to collect by appointment or to request I bring t...

The list on the first post has just been updated with the producers who are showing their wines at King’s Cross this morning.

Good news! After many weeks of delay, due to reasons I've not been told, the Olive Oil will be delivered on Friday. (But we've been here before. I'll believe it when it arrives.) If that's the case, once I have a pallet of olive oil in my house I will start bringing bottles into London when circumst...

NigelM wrote: ↑20:52 Tue 16 Jun 2026 Julian, do you have another room for the 43 onwards people?

We can apply for a licence to close the road and have a street party for the younger wines. We can call it the Sandeman Jubilee Event.

CPR 1 wrote: ↑20:45 Tue 16 Jun 2026 Can I add the 1943 then for some additional context?

That would be fabulous! Thank you.

Apologies, but circumstances now mean I won’t be available to attend on 10th November.

cem wrote: ↑15:42 Tue 16 Jun 2026 Challenge accepted. I''ll play if you'll play! I can also contribute a Mag of 1955 and a bottle of 1945.

I can’t play the size game, but I’m happy to play the “bring another vintage” game.

If you bring the 1945, that gives some context for the 1946!

Glenn E. wrote: ↑16:51 Tue 16 Jun 2026
Alex Bridgeman wrote: ↑21:07 Sun 14 Jun 2026 I’ve just realised I’m in danger of being knocked out!
I feel like there should be a default rule #0 for all tastings:

0. The organizer gets a seat.

The organiser gets to set all the rules, at any time…

Alex, exciting as this is, would it be a good idea to set a final date after which no further changes to the attendees list can be made? Or you may end up with someone being 'offed' the week or even the day before the event I think for the Taylor tasting the cut-off was 3 weeks before the tasting. ...

OK. I've now elected to bring a bottle of 1920, my only bottle of 1927 looks a bit pale so I don't want to bring that vintage.

Sorry Harry...

NigelM wrote: ↑14:20 Mon 15 Jun 2026 I was contemplating buying a 1920 to get on the list, but that wouldn't seem right, so I am going to bow out gracefully and stay at home and wash my hair.

All I can say is that if I had a choice of spending money buying 1920 Port or shampoo, I know which I would be buying...

I’ve just realised I’m in danger of being knocked out! Right, so there’s two new rules being implemented as of now. If you get knocked out, there is nothing to stop you from coming back with an older bottle which gets you back around the table. But if you do, you have to bring not just your “winnin...

I propose another rule: “AHB is dictator”. His acolytes are vaguely aware that the dictator likes old, that the dictator likes large, that the dictator likes tappit hen more than tregnum, that the dictator likes good fill levels, and that the dictator likes time to write his tasting notes. Another ...

I’ve just realised I’m in danger of being knocked out! Right, so there’s two new rules being implemented as of now. If you get knocked out, there is nothing to stop you from coming back with an older bottle which gets you back around the table. But if you do, you have to bring not just your “winnin...

I’ve just realised I’m in danger of being knocked out! Right, so there’s two new rules being implemented as of now. If you get knocked out, there is nothing to stop you from coming back with an older bottle which gets you back around the table. But if you do, you have to bring not just your “winning...

CPR 1 wrote: ↑16:08 Sun 14 Jun 2026if we include the 2007 I would like to suggest we also include the 2011

That’s a great call. Dow 2011 was an absolute rock star 10-12 years ago. I haven’t opened one in the last decade and would be really interested to see how it’s developing.

NigelM wrote: ↑11:41 Sun 14 Jun 2026 I can offer S55

You're on the list...at least for now...

And, just in case others are also considering options, I've booked myself into the Cross Keys Hotel in Saffron Walden.

That was a fascinating tasting, such a change in style around 1980 with the older wines having been made in a more delicate and elegant style and the younger wines more extracted and with more fruit and less subtlety. While I agree 1970 and 1926 were splendid wines, I also really liked 1997. I took ...

First post updated with the proper arrangements for the night. As usual, all bottles will be opened with tongs and we will use our best efforts and our fading sight to identify what we open and - in most, but not all, cases - drink.

I've now had the chance to look through my cellar list in detail and also to give some thought about shippers we haven't tasted recently in London. With both of those things in mind, I've decided to make Sandeman the theme of this year's old Port dinner. Our last London tasting of Sandeman was 15 ye...

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