Good books on port

RonnieRoots · Post by **RonnieRoots** » 14:25 Tue 03 Jul 2007

I thought it would probably be useful to start a thread about good port books. Just to see how many there are (or we are aware of) and how they are appreciated. These are the ones that I have at home and enjoy:

Vintage Port - James Suckling
Although terribly outdated it is still a fun book to read

Port - Henrik Oldenburg
Lots and lots of information on the different port houses and on the history of port, which makes it a very useful book. Given that it's from the late '90's, a good deal of the information is already outdated.

Port and the Douro - Richard Mayson
Very informative, well written book. A must for every port fan. Latest update is 2004, so everything is still relatively up to date.

Port - Godfrey Spence
Good for basic information and some details about producers. In desperate need for an update.

Vintage Wine - Michael Broadbent
Although not a specific port book, it should be in the collection of every portlover because of its immaculate collection of tasting notes, starting in the late 19th century. I have the version from 2002, so information up until 2000 is available.

Any others that I should have?

Conky · Post by **Conky** » 14:34 Tue 03 Jul 2007

I dont know of any, but I'll second those remarks about Maysons Book. A good read.
And, it goes with the brown leather suite in our lounge! Very thoughtful of him.

Alan

Post by **DRT** » 17:28 Tue 03 Jul 2007

Rich, Rare and Red by Ben Howkins - mainly focused on the history of the wine rather than specific wines and vintages like some of the others listed above.

Derek

uncle tom · Post by **uncle tom** » 09:21 Wed 04 Jul 2007

Mayson's book is undoubtably the best, but be sure to get the second edition - I do hope he continues to publish further editions.

Tom

bman · Post by **bman** » 16:22 Sun 08 Jul 2007

Suckling seems to have lost interest in ports, judging by the dearth of stories and general reviews he's done in WS over the past few years. Still, when asked, he's always signalled an intention to update his book (one of these days), and to publish TNs on some older vintages, again, "one of these days". We live in hope.....

bman · Post by **bman** » 16:23 Sun 08 Jul 2007

Hallelujah, I'm no longer "cheap ruby"!

Not sure I'm much better off, though....

Post by **jdaw1** » 17:39 Sun 08 Jul 2007

Good ideas. Broadbent has been my bible, but I have just ordered the Mayson book (Amazon link, .co.uk) and Howkins Rich, Rare and Red: A Guide to Port (.co.uk).

uncle tom · Post by **uncle tom** » 19:36 Sun 08 Jul 2007

If you can get a copy, Alex Liddell's book 'Port Wine Quintas' has a huge amount of information, and some excellent photography. It was published by Sotheby's in 1992

Tom

Post by **jdaw1** » 20:39 Sun 08 Jul 2007

Port Wine Quintas of the Douro on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

ac-fast · Post by **ac-fast** » 19:10 Fri 28 Mar 2008

Henrik Oldenburg book port has been reprintet i 2004 with more notes.

Tasting details

Post by **jdaw1** » 19:53 Fri 28 Mar 2008

Portvin by Henrik Oldenburg on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Much cheaper in the UK.

Amazon also has a link to www.PortesAnciennes.com! (Which isn’t as good as you’re probably hoping.)

ac-fast · Post by **ac-fast** » 20:02 Fri 28 Mar 2008

In Denmark it cost 50 Eur (Oldenborg`s book)

Post by **DRT** » 00:29 Sun 30 Mar 2008

Advice please:

Port Wine Quinta's (Used) = £45
Portvin (Used) = £25

Are either, both or none worth this amount of money?

Thanks

Derek

PS: I ask this because Jo bought me a "very rare" book about port from Amazon at the knock down price of £80 for my birthday two years ago. I bought a second copy on Ebay 3 weeks later for £5. That copy now belongs to ADV. It was Suckling's book

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 09:04 Sun 30 Mar 2008

Who are the authors?

Post by **DRT** » 09:08 Sun 30 Mar 2008

Alex Liddle and Henrik Oldenburg respectively

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 09:10 Sun 30 Mar 2008

Liddel's book is reasonably interesting but is not worth £45. I bought mine in a second hand bookshop in Truro for £5.

Don't know the other one.

Post by **DRT** » 09:12 Sun 30 Mar 2008

AHB wrote:Liddel's book is reasonably interesting but is not worth £45. I bought mine in a second hand bookshop in Truro for £5.

Don't know the other one.

Fine. Thanks. I'll borrow yours sometime

morteno · Post by **morteno** » 05:26 Tue 01 Apr 2008

RonnieRoots wrote:Port - Henrik Oldenburg
Lots and lots of information on the different port houses and on the history of port, which makes it a very useful book. Given that it's from the late '90's, a good deal of the information is already outdated.

Derek T. wrote:Advice please:
Portvin (Used) = £25

These should be the same, although the edition may vary. Latest is 2nd edition from 2004. Portvin is Danish for Port Wine. It can be bought (new) for £35 in Denmark. The Amazon price of around $100 (.co.uk and .com) is too high. I saw the book recently for about Ã¢”šÂ¬25-35 (new) a few weeks ago on Amazon as far as I remember. The posts above indicate the same.

I don't know if the book called "Portvin" is in English. I would expect it to be in Danish because of the title, though.

ac-fast · Post by **ac-fast** » 17:55 Tue 01 Apr 2008

Portvin is Danish.... Wuuhhuuuu
Portvin = portwine

I mean that the books name is port

Post by **DRT** » 20:21 Thu 03 Apr 2008

I received a copy of Michael Broadbent's Pocket Vintage Wine Companion for my birthday last week. It is a pocket version of the book "Vintage Wine" that was published in 2002.

The pocket version has new tasting notes for recent vintages and also has many updates to the notes from the original book. The new book was published in 2007 and is well worth £15 to bring this excellent reference set up to date.

Please note that not everything from the larger book has been reproduced, but I have not yet found any obvious gaps in significantly declared years.

Derek

SushiNorth · Post by **SushiNorth** » 19:43 Tue 27 May 2008

Suckling and Maysen's books on the way

RonnieRoots · Post by **RonnieRoots** » 05:22 Wed 28 May 2008

Derek T. wrote:I received a copy of Michael Broadbent's Pocket Vintage Wine Companion for my birthday last week. It is a pocket version of the book "Vintage Wine" that was published in 2002.

The pocket version has new tasting notes for recent vintages and also has many updates to the notes from the original book. The new book was published in 2007 and is well worth £15 to bring this excellent reference set up to date.

Please note that not everything from the larger book has been reproduced, but I have not yet found any obvious gaps in significantly declared years.

Derek

Sounds like a very handy book. Do you know if there is an updated version of the big one too?

JacobH · Post by **JacobH** » 21:56 Wed 28 May 2008

I wonder if this affected the first edition, but my copy of the Mayson is badly let down by a lack of proof-reading. There a lots of places with incorrect page-references (or references to “page 00†) and, one place gives the amount of port produced by independent shippers as “L1.5% [check ?]†! Apart from that it’s a great book!

Conky · Post by **Conky** » 22:23 Wed 28 May 2008

I think it's about time we had a new book based on some investigative journalism. A good throaty tale of what the bloody hell goes on in the IVDP. Insights into how the big companies are buying up all the independents. The tale of the underpaid worker. A few examples of dodgy dealing and Cartels.

I'd buy it.

Sadly, there's no chance. It's not a big enough subject to encourage an enterprising author to use his skills of coaxing out the stories of the disillusioned, or the whistle blowers, or pay for some inside info.
Plus whoever would consider such a project would of course become a pariah of the Port Industry.

Oh well.

RonnieRoots · Post by **RonnieRoots** » 11:28 Wed 27 Aug 2008

Those going to the Douro in the near future: do yourself a favour and buy Recipes for Port and Douro wines, which is published by the IVDP. A beautiful looking book with great recipes by Portuguese and international chefs, including suggestions for Port and Douro wine pairings. I bought my copy in the (very nice) Quinta Nova shop in the Pinhao railway station. I believe it was around Ã¢”šÂ¬25,-.

Andy Velebil · Post by **Andy Velebil** » 13:38 Wed 27 Aug 2008

I do hope to pick up some books about Port when I am there next month. I made the mistake of not getting some last year and I regret it. Then again, at that time, I didn't have much extra space to carry books home.

ac-fast · Post by **ac-fast** » 08:39 Sat 30 Aug 2008

Right now im reading Godfrey Spence - Port.

I like Oldenburg,Portwine better. It had more details

Michael M. · Post by **Michael M.** » 09:41 Sun 31 Aug 2008

I do not know the book of Oldenburg although I only read good things about it. Must have a look for it. I find the book of Godfrey Spence very useful. Some pretty good evaluations at that time. During the last days I found his (unfortunately not updated) website while I was looking on the web for Fonseca Guimaraens 1976 which Ronald likes so much. Look here

http://www.portwinemagazine.com/welcome.htm

Luc · Post by **Luc** » 21:36 Sun 31 Aug 2008

"Phylloxera" , how wine was saved for the world .
Christy Campbell , 2004 .
Mostly how the various wine regions of France were affected and the step by step solutions ( some ludicrous )

One which I just finished reading "Port wine and Oporto", by Ernest Cockburn . 1940 ?
Some interesting black&white photos , and some interesting stories .

Post by **DRT** » 18:22 Tue 16 Sep 2008

I received this in the post today:

Published in 1990 it appears to be an interesting historical insight into possibly the most famous institution in the Port industry. I will be reading its 116 pages on my trip to the Douro, after which I would be happy to make it a team resource for other regulars here to borrow provided they agree to pass it on to the next member who wishes to read it.

Anyone who is interested in borrowing it please let me know here or by PM.

Derek

Andy Velebil · Post by **Andy Velebil** » 21:36 Tue 16 Sep 2008

Derek,
can you hang on to it at least until I see you..I'd love to read it while on my trip.

Post by **DRT** » 21:44 Tue 16 Sep 2008

Andy V wrote:Derek,
can you hang on to it at least until I see you..I'd love to read it while on my trip.

One other US-based member has already requested it. I'm sure we can work out a suitable sequence

Perhaps we should make it a rule that anyone who borrows it must have it stamped by a local administrative authority, such as Passport/Imigration Control or a local Police Station? That way we could record its journey across the globe

Andy Velebil · Post by **Andy Velebil** » 21:52 Tue 16 Sep 2008

I could take care of one of those stamps

and if the other person gets it first maybe I can convince him to mail it to me and I can forward it on to whoever else would like to read it.

Post by **DRT** » 22:01 Tue 16 Sep 2008

OK. Within the next couple of months we could have stamps from Oporto, London, NYC and LA. Very cool.

There are 6 pages in the book that are either completely or mostly white space. That's lots of stamps. Perhaps AHB can take it on a world tour

Luc · Post by **Luc** » 22:29 Tue 16 Sep 2008

I'd like to see Montréal , Canada .

Post by **DRT** » 22:33 Tue 16 Sep 2008

Current sequence is: Chesterfield >> Oporto >> London >> NYC >> LA >> Montréal >> ??

Note: Anyone who borrows the book must be prepared to pay the postage to the next location.

benread · Post by **benread** » 22:51 Tue 16 Sep 2008

Room for Reigate?!

Post by **DRT** » 23:09 Tue 16 Sep 2008

Current sequence is: Chesterfield >> Oporto >> London >> NYC >> LA >> Montréal >> Reigate >> ??

Post by **DRT** » 21:38 Sun 29 Mar 2009

Below are the recent additions to my Port library:

Port Wine Quintas of the Douro
Author: Alex Liddell and Janet Price
Published: 1992
ISBN: 0 85667 410 9

A fantastic book with lots of information and great pictures of the Quintas. A "must have" for the serious Port enthusiast.

Port Wine and Oporto
Author: Ernest Cockburn
Published: 1949
ISBN: not known
ASIN: B000XVF60A

This is a serious collector's item. Very rare and a mine of information going back to the middle of the 19th century.

The Englishman's Wine - The Story of Port
Author: Sarah Bradford
Published: 1969
ISBN: not known
ASIN: B001K23Q6C

Similar type of content to Mayson's Port and the Douro. I haven't read this book yet and have never heard of Sarah Bradford previously so it will be interesting to see how opinion has changed over the past 40 years.

Port Wine - Notes on its History, Production & Technology
Author: A. Moreira de Fonseca & Others
Published: 1981 with 2nd edition in 1984
ISBN: not known
ASIN: B000S349OC

The rights to this book rest with Edicao do Instituto do Vinho do Porto who published it in 1981, 8 years after the work was finished. They delay in publishing was due to the demise of the original sponsors, the Gremio dos Exportadores de Vinho do Porto. The preface says that no funds were available to publish the book until 1981. I have not yet read this book but it seems to provide lots of information and statistics relating to how the quality of vineyards and wines are assessed. There is also a section listing and describing the various Port-related Acts which came into affect between 1755 and 1967.

Port
Author: Henrik Oldenburg
Published: 1999
ISBN: 87 90179 16 1

380 pages of good info on all things to do with Port. For some reason this seem to be a reasonably expensive book (usually around £40) but worth having for the serious collector.

The Wine of the Douro
Author: Hector Bolitho
Published: 1956
ISBN: not known
ASIN: B0000CJKK3

More like an essay than a book. 23 pages in large print with little or no info, just the author's brief impressions of Port wine and the Douro. Don't bother buying one.

Notes on a Cellar-book
Author: George Saintsbury
Published: 1920 (I have a 1920 1st Edition plus an "editted and annotated" version published in 2008)
ISBN: 978 0 520 25352 0

I haven't yet read this book but thought it wrong not to have one.

Vintagewise
Author: Andre L. Simon
Published: 1945 (my book is an Edition from 1952)
ISBN: not known
ASIN: B0006DBZRS

A lovely little book covering the principle classic old world wines. The text relating to Port has already been reproduced on this website by JDAW so not worth purchasing unless you are interested in Simon's words on other styles or, like me, you just have to have it.

Thse of you who I know and meet on a regular basis are welcome to borrow any of the above for short periods. I will be happy to "borrow" samples of Port in return

Derek

SushiNorth · Post by **SushiNorth** » 13:42 Mon 30 Mar 2009

What if we penned a book on enjoying Port?
MagCloud, Lulu

Post by **DRT** » 23:58 Fri 03 Apr 2009

I have now added some previously missing ASIN numbers for the books listed above.

These have now been ordered from Amazon for a total of just over £40 all in including delivery

...

Port and Sherry, The Story of two fine wines
Author: George Sandeman
Published: 1955
ISBN: not known
ASIN: B000HF6YAS
Pages: 63
Comments: A short historical description of port and the port trade published by the house of Sandeman. Some interesting pictures and a "nice to have" if you are interested in collecting old books on the subject.

Port (Faber books on wine)
Author: George Robertson
Published: 1978
ISBN: 978-0571110230
Pages: 188
Comments: A quick browse through this book makes me think it is the same style and general content as Mayson's Port and the Douro.

Wine Lovers Guide To Port the Inside Story of a Unique Fortified Wine
Author: Joao Paulo Martins
Published: 2001
ISBN: 9722017810
Pages: 160
Comments: This book was sponsored by the Port Wine Shipers' Association (AEVP) and provides a concise reference to the history and production of Port. It does exactly what it says in the title.

Wine Dynasties of Europe: Personal Portraits of Ten Leading Houses
Author: Harry Eyres
Published: 1990
ISBN: 978 1852910884
Pages: 224
Comments: A historical review of 10 major wine producers, one of which is the Symington family.

The Wines of Portugal
Author: Herbert Warner Allen
Published: 1963
ISBN: not known
ASIN: B0000CLXRV
Pages:188
Comments: This looks like a very interesting book. Most of the pages seem to be dedicated to the history and roduction of Port with a few at the end covering the other major wines of Portugal, such as Madeira and Sebutal.

I will update with short summaries when they arrive.

Post by **DRT** » 01:04 Sat 04 Apr 2009

More have been ordered this evening...

Port - An Essential Guide To The Classic Drink
Author: Andrew Jefford
Published: 1988
ISBN: not known
ASIN: B000KKK532
Pages: 93
Comments: This appears to be very similar in style and content to The Port Companion by Godfrey Sence. A good, concise description of Port and the shippers although now somewhat out of date compared to Spence. One worry is the chapter entitled "Port from other countries"

Port: from the vine to the glass
Author: Geoffrey Murat Tait
Published: 1936
ISBN: not known
ASIN: B001PHBRUO
Pages: 169
Comments: This is partly historical but principally deals with the technical aspect of the port production process with a fair smattering of statistics and seven pages dedicated to the quality of port vintages from 1800 to 1934, each of which is rated on the scale: Very Bad, Bad, Ordinary, Fair, Very Fair, Good, Very Good or Very Fine Indeed.

- I am very pleased with this particular purchase.

Port
Author: Rupert Croft Cooke
Published: 1957
ISBN: not known
ASIN: B000O8HS12
Pages: 219
Comments: Mostly historical stuff but a nice chapter entitled "Port in the Kitchen" which includes a number of recipes that may appear on

sometime soon

Let's Talk About Port
Author: Valente Perfeito
Published: 1948
ISBN: not known
ASIN: B0007J7OX0
Pages: 100
Comments: A very brief browser through the pages shows that this will be a highly entertaining read.

They Went to Portugal
Author: Rose Macaulay
Published: 1946
ISBN: 978-0140095371
Pages: 443
Comments: This is a history of the British people who have migrated to or worked in Portugal over 8 centuries. The history of the British shippers is just one piece of what looks like a very interesting jigsaw.

Letters from the peninsula 1808-1812
Author: William Warre
Published: 1909 (2009 Edition)
ISBN: 978-1103050239
Pages: 312
Comments: A series of letters from William Warre to his parents during his time serving with the British Army in the Peninsular War between Portugal and France.

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 21:32 Sat 04 Apr 2009

That is an extremely impressive library that you are building up!

Post by **DRT** » 22:00 Sat 04 Apr 2009

AHB wrote:That is an extremely impressive library that you are building up!

That's the idea. I have been trawling through the bibliogrophy of each book I have and then searching Amazon. It's amazing what you can pick up. My copy of Vintagewise cost me £0.01 + £2.95 shipping

- many of the others have been acquired for not much more than that.

Post by **DRT** » 20:28 Sun 05 Apr 2009

Two more ordered...

Wine, the Vine and the Cellar
Author: Thomas George Shaw
Published: 1863 (reproduction published in 2007)
ISBN: 978-0548303085
ASIN: B0017XY5C8

A History and Description of Modern Wines
Author: Cyrus Redding
Published: 1833 (reproduction of the 3rd Edition of 1860, published in 2008)
ISBN: 978-1429012423
ASIN: B0017H63UG
Pages: 440
Comments: This looks like a very heavy read!! - Lots of statistical tables in the Appendices that may have some interesting data from the the 1700s and early 1800s.

My postman will not be very pleased this week

Post by **DRT** » 16:57 Wed 08 Apr 2009

The books I ordered last week have started to arrive so I have inserted some comments in the posts above to attempt to descibe the contents in case anyone else wants to buy some books. Once they are all here I will compile a list that I will post in the Reference section of

that can be added to as more are uncovered and by others who have books that are not on my list.

Post by **DRT** » 22:19 Fri 10 Apr 2009

More ordered...

Port
Author: André L. Simon
Published: 1949 (Second Edition 1951)
ISBN: Not known
ASIN: B0010QSP9G
Pages: 15
Comments: A cute little pocket book produced by The Wine and Food Society as part of their "Wines of the World" series. An interesting and entertaining 10 minute read and containing a grading of all vintages from 1847 to 1946 on the scale "0 = no good, 7 = the best".

The Fireside Book of Wine
Author: Bespaloff Alexis
Published: 1984
ISBN: 978-0671530693
Pages: 445
Comments: A book of quotations from a large number of wine critics and famous wine lovers including Franklin, Hemingway, Jefferson, Byron, Dahl and many others. A pick up and put down book.

Port
Author: William J. Todd
Published: 1926
ISBN: Not known
ASIN: B000XVDPTY
Pages: 88
Comments: A great little book that includes a fold-out chart measuring around 12 inches (30cm) square desrcribed as "A Diagrammatic Summary of Port Imports from 1678to the Present Day" and headed "Curves of Port Imports Plotted for every Decade from 1678 to 192-" - I will photograph this and post on

sometime soon.

Sherry and Port
Author: Herbert Warner Allen
Published: 1952
ISBN: Not known
ASIN: B0007J3E2A

Post by **DRT** » 23:43 Sat 18 Apr 2009

A Wine Primer
Author: André L. Simon
Published: 1946 (Sixteenth Impression (Revised) May 1964)
ISBN: Not known
ASIN: B0012OOBIU
Pages: 149
Comments: As far as I can tell this is a book which has the sole objective pof persuading people to drink various types of classic wine. No argument from me

Most of the books have now arrived and have comments updated in the above posts.

Post by **DRT** » 01:21 Tue 27 Oct 2009

I now have PDF copies of:

1. Oporto, Old and New by Charles Sellers, published in 1899.

2. Facts About Port and Madeira by Henry Vizetelly, published in 1880.

Both are fabulous old books with lots of historical information on the shippers and the port trade of the 19th century.

Post by **DRT** » 00:55 Wed 02 Dec 2009

I have started to build a reference list of Port and Wine related books here, starting with the books that I own. The header post in that thread contains an index list that provides links to subsequent posts giving details of each book. If anyone can come up with a nice clean method of ordering and/or categorising the books in the list I would be delighted to hear your suggestions. At the moment I am simply ordering it in the same order that I post details of each book but, if a better and more intuitive indexing system can be devised it will be easily re-ordered. At the moment I am inclined to go for a cronological index, but will be easily persuaded by a better suggestion.

Thanks
Derek

ThePortForum.com

Good books on port

Good books on port

Port Wine Quintas of the Douro on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.u

Portvin by Henrik Oldenburg on on Amazon.com and Amazon.

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port

Re: Good books on port