Latest buy

JacobH · Post by **JacobH** » 12:27 Sun 03 Jan 2021

I suppose if he really wanted to avoid putting 2016 on the label, turning it into a Crusted Port would be the obvious way to do it. Although I've never been quite sure when or why Niepoort makes a Crusted and how they are supposed to rate compared to their LBVs.

JacobH · Post by **JacobH** » 12:34 Sun 03 Jan 2021

rich_n wrote:
uncle tom wrote:
I'm intrigued to see what the 2016-2018 LBVs offer over the next couple of years.
I'm looking out for the Niepoort 2016 LBV with interest. 2016 was the year Niepoort had it's big family upset, and Dirk couldn't bring himself to declare a regular VP, only declaring a small amount of Bioma. Officially, it didn't make the grade, but I got the strong impression that wasn't the real reason.

Will the best juice go into the LBV? I'm not sure, but I doubt Dirk is that keen to be reminded of those dark months by having large numbers of casks aging with that year on..
That is certainly good to know! The Niepoort LBV seems to be less widely available than some of the bigger houses so I'll have to keep an eye out. Portugal Vineyards was a useful source but I'm unclear on whether that's a possible option for 2021. Thanks for sharing the information!

Uncorked in Bishopsgate and Theatre of Wine in Greenwich / Tufnell Park / Leytonstone usually have it in stock and sometimes the older vintages too. It tends to be a bit more expensive than most supermarket LBV (except the undiscounted Warre) - perhaps £20-£25 a bottle?

rich_n · Post by **rich_n** » 12:41 Sun 03 Jan 2021

JacobH wrote:
rich_n wrote:
uncle tom wrote:
I'm intrigued to see what the 2016-2018 LBVs offer over the next couple of years.
I'm looking out for the Niepoort 2016 LBV with interest. 2016 was the year Niepoort had it's big family upset, and Dirk couldn't bring himself to declare a regular VP, only declaring a small amount of Bioma. Officially, it didn't make the grade, but I got the strong impression that wasn't the real reason.

Will the best juice go into the LBV? I'm not sure, but I doubt Dirk is that keen to be reminded of those dark months by having large numbers of casks aging with that year on..
That is certainly good to know! The Niepoort LBV seems to be less widely available than some of the bigger houses so I'll have to keep an eye out. Portugal Vineyards was a useful source but I'm unclear on whether that's a possible option for 2021. Thanks for sharing the information!
Uncorked in Bishopsgate and Theatre of Wine in Greenwich / Tufnell Park / Leytonstone usually have it in stock and sometimes the older vintages too. It tends to be a bit more expensive than most supermarket LBV (except the undiscounted Warre) - perhaps £20-£25 a bottle?

My favourite Bristol wine merchant normally has it (currently the 2015) in that £20-22 range which is fine for a single bottle but I rarely see them discount their ports. Maybe if the 2016 is spectacular I'll see if they'll give me a discount on a case.

uncle tom · Post by **uncle tom** » 12:41 Sun 03 Jan 2021

I'll bung an email off to Raymond - Dirk's UK agent - to see when and how much he's expecting to get.

uncle tom · Post by **uncle tom** » 12:51 Sun 03 Jan 2021

Although I've never been quite sure when or why Niepoort makes a Crusted

One of my great revelations with port was discovering just how absurd making wines from a single vintage is. Blending stocks from a single vintage to make a good wine is far harder than working with stocks from different years. It is possible to create a first division crusted port from leftover second division stocks from a variety of years.

JacobH · Post by **JacobH** » 13:45 Sun 03 Jan 2021

uncle tom wrote: ↑12:51 Sun 03 Jan 2021 One of my great revelations with port was discovering just how absurd making wines from a single vintage is. Blending stocks from a single vintage to make a good wine is far harder than working with stocks from different years. It is possible to create a first division crusted port from leftover second division stocks from a variety of years.

Yes. Absolutely. The other advantage of Crusted is that, unlike most blended wines, there isn’t a particular need to be consistent from year to year. I sometimes worry that with other blended wines the aim for consistency means that they are produced to a lowest common denominator (so that even if there is a run of bad years it can still be made) rather than from a blank sheet of paper asking “what is the very best 10-year-old tawny we can make this year from our stocks?”

My particular curiosity with Niepoort is that their Crusted seems to be quite infrequently produced: their website lists 2007, 2011, 2012 bottlings and then, apparently, three different ones in 2014 but nothing since then. But I guess the Niepoort ranges change like the winds so nothing should surprise me!

nac · Post by **nac** » 16:01 Wed 06 Jan 2021

AHB wrote: ↑13:58 Wed 30 Dec 2020 In an effort to avoid JDAW cornering the market in £9 bottles of Graham 2015 LBV I visited Waitrose this morning and bought the only 4 bottles they had.

I hadn’t realised there was a range of colours of the tubes. I now have red, blue and gold.

Also took advantage of Waitrose offer and just received delivery of six of the Graham 2015 LBV (3 red tubes and 3 gold/orange tubes - sadly no blue). These were accompanied by two each of the Taylor, Graham and Noval 10-year old Tawnies (which were mostly on offer as well), so will be conducting a small horizontal tasting at some point.

rich_n · Post by **rich_n** » 22:52 Wed 06 Jan 2021

nac wrote:
AHB wrote: ↑13:58 Wed 30 Dec 2020 In an effort to avoid JDAW cornering the market in £9 bottles of Graham 2015 LBV I visited Waitrose this morning and bought the only 4 bottles they had.

I hadn’t realised there was a range of colours of the tubes. I now have red, blue and gold.
Also took advantage of Waitrose offer and just received delivery of six of the Graham 2015 LBV (3 red tubes and 3 gold/orange tubes - sadly no blue). These were accompanied by two each of the Taylor, Graham and Noval 10-year old Tawnies (which were mostly on offer as well), so will be conducting a small horizontal tasting at some point.

Likewise, my Waitrose order arrived this morning with 3 of each colour and 3 2015 Sandeman LBV since they were on offer too.

nac · Post by **nac** » 12:29 Thu 07 Jan 2021

Continuing the current LBV lovefest, have just ordered six bottles of Maynard’s 2015 from Aldi. £9.49 a bottle & free delivery.

Hopefully they deliver the correct wine this time as I really don’t want any more of the Fletcher’s Ruby.

JKristiansen · Post by **JKristiansen** » 18:44 Tue 12 Jan 2021

My latest buy - on my way to complete the collection of Graham's Single Harvest

Sendt fra min SM-G988B med Tapatalk

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 12:07 Sat 16 Jan 2021

That's a wonderful collection of the Single Harvest Wines!

Post by **flash_uk** » 16:47 Sat 16 Jan 2021

6 x Morrison’s 10YO. I ordered 12, but they tried to substitute six of them with Cockburn’s Special Reserve, which I declined...

JKristiansen · Post by **JKristiansen** » 21:44 Sun 17 Jan 2021

Added a couple of bottles of Graham's Single Harvest 1995 to my collection of Graham's Single Harvest

Great graham's fan - especially their single harvest collection

H_Sterling · Post by **H_Sterling** » 18:04 Mon 18 Jan 2021

Surprised to see a half-bottle of 1998 Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha on special offer at my local (not a national chain) supermarket. Already opened...

akzy · Post by **akzy** » 10:57 Mon 25 Jan 2021

Duty paid Dow 1994 for £45. Seems like a really great price (usually this much in auction before the auction tax) and you can buy them individually! https://www.laywheeler.com/product-detail?id=66940021

Alex M · Post by **Alex M** » 11:34 Mon 25 Jan 2021

akzy wrote: ↑10:57 Mon 25 Jan 2021 Duty paid Dow 1994 for £45. Seems like a really great price (usually this much in auction before the auction tax) and you can buy them individually! https://www.laywheeler.com/product-detail?id=66940021

Use code LW0631 for orders over £100 to get £20 off if it's used with new account details.

nac · Post by **nac** » 17:25 Tue 26 Jan 2021

Finally managed to visit a Morrison’s and cleared shelf of 6 bottles of the 10YO Tawny. Will open first one for the Virtual Tasting #2.
Must remember to thank AHB for leaving some.

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 19:29 Tue 26 Jan 2021

akzy wrote: ↑10:57 Mon 25 Jan 2021 Duty paid Dow 1994 for £45. Seems like a really great price (usually this much in auction before the auction tax) and you can buy them individually! https://www.laywheeler.com/product-detail?id=66940021

That is a good price. When I looked in December, the best price I could find was at Seckfords, who were selling bottles for £52.50 duty paid.

akzy · Post by **akzy** » 20:37 Tue 26 Jan 2021

Alex Bridgeman wrote: ↑19:29 Tue 26 Jan 2021 That is a good price. When I looked in December, the best price I could find was at Seckfords, who were selling bottles for £52.50 duty paid.

I thought so too. I'm glad Alex M pointed out the code, 3 bottles at £38.33 each... absolute steal!

JacobH · Post by **JacobH** » 09:30 Thu 28 Jan 2021

It looks like Julian hoovered up all of the Dow 1994 available from Lay & Wheeler! However, he left the Quarles Harris 1994 and Gould Campbell 1994. I’ve bought a little of each since I was previously quite sad that I didn’t have a Port from either of the shippers in my possession. I’m now going to keep my eyes out for some Offley and Ferreira.

Post by **jdaw1** » 23:30 Thu 28 Jan 2021

JacobH wrote: ↑09:30 Thu 28 Jan 2021It looks like Julian hoovered up all of the Dow 1994 available from Lay & Wheeler!

Not I. Bought none.

JacobH · Post by **JacobH** » 07:44 Fri 29 Jan 2021

Apologies for the false accusation! I got the impression you had been persuaded to buy some based on what was said at the virtual tasting.

Post by **jdaw1** » 22:32 Fri 29 Jan 2021

JacobH wrote: ↑07:44 Fri 29 Jan 2021I got the impression you had been persuaded to buy some based on what was said at the virtual tasting.

I’m not denying the Andresen 10Y white.

Christopher · Post by **Christopher** » 12:51 Sun 31 Jan 2021

Martinez 1955 bottled by Quellyn Robert’s and Co

winesecretary · Post by **winesecretary** » 15:44 Sun 31 Jan 2021

@ Christopher - Ah, I wondered who was going to pick those up. Well done. New bottler to me.

Christopher · Post by **Christopher** » 18:22 Sun 31 Jan 2021

Thanks
There was one low fill bottle that has been drunk already. They were all Martinez 55 ex a nice bottle of T63. Pretty happy with that lot.

vintageporthunter · Post by **vintageporthunter** » 14:40 Mon 08 Feb 2021

: gaivosa morgadio.jpg (143.6 KiB) Viewed 9346 times

Just added these 2 to my collection!

Axel P · Post by **Axel P** » 10:43 Tue 09 Feb 2021

Bought some of the Confraria Vintage Port bottles. I guess I am one of the few having had a vertical tasting of these. Quite nice after 2000.

Hope, everyone who was offered, bought some:

: Bottles Confraria Diverse (5).jpg (111.7 KiB) Viewed 9327 times

JacobH · Post by **JacobH** » 20:00 Tue 09 Feb 2021

Who makes the Confraria Ports? They aren't continuing the old tradition of a blend like the Factory House Ports, I hope?!

JacobH · Post by **JacobH** » 10:05 Wed 10 Feb 2021

vintageporthunter wrote: ↑14:40 Mon 08 Feb 2021 [Photograph of the Morgadio da Calçada & Quinta da Gaivosa]

Just added these 2 to my collection!

I like the label for the Morgadio da Calçada, although it is interesting to me that it seems very unlike most VPs: it reminds me of a trendy natural wine rather than a Vintage Port.

vintageporthunter · Post by **vintageporthunter** » 19:02 Wed 10 Feb 2021

JacobH wrote: ↑10:05 Wed 10 Feb 2021
vintageporthunter wrote: ↑14:40 Mon 08 Feb 2021 [Photograph of the Morgadio da Calçada & Quinta da Gaivosa]

Just added these 2 to my collection!
I like the label for the Morgadio da Calçada, although it is interesting to me that it seems very unlike most VPs: it reminds me of a trendy natural wine rather than a Vintage Port.

Very true. But Niepoort has always been very "different" when it comes to labels.

rich_n · Post by **rich_n** » 17:35 Fri 19 Feb 2021

During our most recent virtual tasting session I was persuaded that it would be a good idea to acquire some port that had entered its third decade for my cellar. At that point I had already consumed several glasses and so it seemed like the only reasonable action was to put in an order with Seckfords immediately (fortunately they do follow up to confirm any given order, but I was happy enough to go ahead with it). My order very swiftly arrived, and prompted some assembling of shelving in the cellar to better accommodate the growing collection.

A case of Dow 1997 and Warre 2000 are now in place ready to start several decades of exploration.

MigSU · Post by **MigSU** » 18:28 Fri 19 Feb 2021

The Warre's 2000 is a favourite of mine, fantastic choice.
I haven't tried the Dow's 97, but it's a great house and a great year, can't really go wrong.

MigSU · Post by **MigSU** » 18:31 Fri 19 Feb 2021

My latest purchases were a couple of bottles of Noval 2018, a case of Ferreira 2000 (at an incredible price), and a case of Barros 2018.

rich_n · Post by **rich_n** » 18:37 Fri 19 Feb 2021

MigSU wrote:My latest purchases were a couple of bottles of Noval 2018, a case of Ferreira 2000 (at an incredible price), and a case of Barros 2018.

The Barros 18 is a fantastic wine, delicious even this young.

MigSU · Post by **MigSU** » 20:39 Fri 19 Feb 2021

rich_n wrote: ↑18:37 Fri 19 Feb 2021
MigSU wrote:My latest purchases were a couple of bottles of Noval 2018, a case of Ferreira 2000 (at an incredible price), and a case of Barros 2018.
The Barros 18 is a fantastic wine, delicious even this young.

Good to know! An acquaintance of mine works at Sogevinus and got me a case of 6 for €120. It was always going to be good value, but I'm glad to know that the wine is that good.

hadge · Post by **hadge** » 15:39 Sun 28 Feb 2021

Dow's Quinta do Bomfim 2006 - £21 paid had a 7 pound roll back in asda, they only had the one bottle left sadly.

MigSU · Post by **MigSU** » 18:55 Sun 28 Feb 2021

hadge wrote: ↑15:39 Sun 28 Feb 2021 Dow's Quinta do Bomfim 2006 - £21 paid had a 7 pound roll back in asda, they only had the one bottle left sadly.

I have two of those in the cellar, haven't actually tried it. First one to open a bottle has to post their impressions.

winesecretary · Post by **winesecretary** » 20:48 Sun 28 Feb 2021

After a recent deeply pleasurable bottle, and since the comparative tasting that would allow me to acquire the breadth of knowledge of the vintage that I really need to buy more widely has been moved to 2022, I bought Lay & Wheeler's last four bottles of the Vesuvio 1992 to keep me going...

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 20:17 Mon 01 Mar 2021

I haven't bought anything yet, but Mrs B is down to her last bottle of Morrison's 10YO Tawny...

MigSU · Post by **MigSU** » 22:18 Mon 01 Mar 2021

Purchased today a couple of 2003 Ramos Pinto and a case of Calém 2018.
I very much enjoyed the 03 Ramos Pinto and found two bottles at a good price, didn't hesitate. Haven't sampled the Calém 18 but a trusted friend says it's worth it. Fingers crossed.

Post by **PhilW** » 07:27 Tue 02 Mar 2021

Alex Bridgeman wrote: ↑20:17 Mon 01 Mar 2021 I haven't bought anything yet, but Mrs B is down to her last bottle of Morrison's 10YO Tawny...

This month, or...

Justin K · Post by **Justin K** » 20:01 Tue 02 Mar 2021

Alex is that the reason she opened the T70 yesterday afternoon? It might be very wise to take the hint and get yourself down to Morrison’s fast and pick up a few dozen!

winesecretary · Post by **winesecretary** » 20:10 Tue 02 Mar 2021

I bought a 2020 Quevedo Advent Calendar during the last port zoom. I unpacked it today and the wood is now scenting my flat. I think it will provide me with many happy hours!

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 12:04 Wed 03 Mar 2021

Justin K wrote: ↑20:01 Tue 02 Mar 2021 Alex is that the reason she opened the T70 yesterday afternoon? It might be very wise to take the hint and get yourself down to Morrison’s fast and pick up a few dozen!

To my great surprise, what I thought was two glasses of Taylor 1970 being carried by Mrs B turned out to be one of T70 (which she gave to me) and one of Morrison's 10YO Tawny. They were almost the same colour!

nac · Post by **nac** » 07:15 Thu 11 Mar 2021

2 bottles of 1997 Quinta de la Rosa - the one with the foil label

Justin K · Post by **Justin K** » 16:42 Thu 18 Mar 2021

Finally after over 30 years of attending auctions a 1961 bottle came up and I got it!!!! Noval Crusted 1961 (Alex tells me it is a sort of vintage as it was bottled in 1964) for €240 plus commission so the most expensive Port I have ever bought...because I'm worth it.

nac · Post by **nac** » 17:17 Thu 18 Mar 2021

Justin K wrote: ↑16:42 Thu 18 Mar 2021 Finally after over 30 years of attending auctions a 1961 bottle came up and I got it!!!! Noval Crusted 1961 (Alex tells me it is a sort of vintage as it was bottled in 1964) for €240 plus commission so the most expensive Port I have ever bought...because I'm worth it.

Very nice - well done!

Doggett · Post by **Doggett** » 17:21 Thu 18 Mar 2021

Justin K wrote: ↑16:42 Thu 18 Mar 2021 Finally after over 30 years of attending auctions a 1961 bottle came up and I got it!!!! Noval Crusted 1961 (Alex tells me it is a sort of vintage as it was bottled in 1964) for €240 plus commission so the most expensive Port I have ever bought...because I'm worth it.

Congrats Justin... I look forward to sharing it with you

Glenn E. · Post by **Glenn E.** » 17:23 Thu 18 Mar 2021

Justin K wrote: ↑16:42 Thu 18 Mar 2021 Finally after over 30 years of attending auctions a 1961 bottle came up and I got it!!!! Noval Crusted 1961 (Alex tells me it is a sort of vintage as it was bottled in 1964) for €240 plus commission so the most expensive Port I have ever bought...because I'm worth it.

Congrats! It's always nice to pick up birth-year bottles.

Keep an eye out for 1961 Krohn, both VP and Colheita. They're very good.

European Wine Resources - which is in California - has 3+ cases available at $265+tax per bottle. Pricey, but not outrageous for something that old in the US. There's a place in Denmark that has it for $280/bottle.