I arrived at Oporto Airport at 08:55, bang on schedule. I was very happy to find that the 6 bottles of wine/port that I had placed in the hold in a styro shipper had arrived intact. A few minutes afer I collected my luggage I saw a couple of old buddies emerge from a door at the other end of the arrivals hall. First came Stewart Todd (Web Guru and Porthead from Seattle) followed by Andy Velebil (AKA ADV, an LA Cop with a capacity for port that rivals my own). It was great to see these 2 guys again, exactly 12 months since I last spent time with them drinking more port and Douro wine than anyone is entitled to.
The rest of the group finally made it through to the arrivals hall. Conrad ( a Canadian Porthead), Brian (a retired Attorney from Denver), Sean C (one of the TPF bretherin with a passion for 1955's) and Marco (the luckiest man alive who had just picked up a free week in the Douro). They were accompanied by the gorgeous Sandra who is the USA export rep for the company which owns Burmester, Kopke and Barros. This was shaping up to be a very good day
After some luggage trauma we finally made it to the river of dreams. We decided that lunch was an essential first step to provide stamina for what lay ahead. The Porto Cruz Restaurant on the Oporto side of the river, opposite the Calem lodge, was irresistable. It was steaks all round with a few beers and a bottle of Cruz 20 Yr Old Tawny between 7 to wash it down. The Cruz lived up to expectation but couldn't be faulted at 30 Euros for the bottle in a restaurant.
We then set off to cross the bridge and hit some of those lodges. It was somewhere between 1 and 2pm so we only had a couple of hours before they closed. We will get 3 in if Stewart stops taking pictures, I thought as we crossed the bridge.
Andy does his best to look cool whilst Stewart takes yet another picture of VNG
First stop was the Noval shop, no more than 100 yards from the bridge. This is where the plan started to re-write itself. For those who haven't been to VNG before it is worth pointing out that, unusually, Noval do not have a lodge there. They now store and age all of their ports in a temperature controlled cellar in the Douro and have a small shop with a tasting area in VNG. We all sat down and were presented with 4 glasses at each of 2 tables. The glasses were filled with Ruby, Tawny, LBV and a white port. We all tasted these but within a few minutes it became clear that cheap port (even if supplied for free) was not going to satisfy this group.
Sean was the first to crack, ordering 2 half bottles of Colhieta to be served. More glasses appeared from behind the counter and by the time the 2 halves were poured I cracked and ordered a third. The pattern repeated itself and before long we each had 7 Colhieta's in front of us ranging from 1937 to 1986. Tasting notes will appear elsewhere on this site but suffice to say that this was an extremely pleasurable experience. The 1937 in particular was a stunning wine and many thatnks to Brian for his generosity in buying and sharing it with us.
From left to right, Conrad, Sean and Brian with all those lovely Colhieta's
From left to right, Marco, Andy and Stewart with my Blackberry in the foreground
The Colhietas
Not content to stop there I persuaded the group that it would be interesting to try the Noval Aged Tawnys against the Colhietas. So, 20 Euro each into the kitty and the 10, 20 and 40 yr olds were procured. To be honest, by this time it was difficult to tell how these were showing. I don't drink much Colhieta or Tawny and these were all starting to blend into one big nutty, sticky mess in my mouth. Only one thing to do, so I ordered a 1997 Noval Silval VP to provide a fruit explosion
I hadn't had this before and was impressed with it as a "drink now" VP....and so our time at Noval came to an end, around 1 and a half hours after all the other lodges closed
Our plan to tour around the cellars has been ripped up and thrown away and had been replaced by a really fun tasting that no-one had planned. This was a very enjoyable afternoon and one that I will remember for a very long time.
Always the gentleman, Stewart offers to help out behind the bar. The fact that there was an attractive young lady there was pure coincidence
Next stop was Vinalogia where we met Gustavo and his father who served us some very unusual and rare ports from small producers that are not well known outside Portugal. This was a great experience although I have to confess that my memory of this part of the evening is rather hazy
Strangely, Stewart manages to find yet more attractive women to talk to about port. You can tell that they're impressed
This is what the ceiling of Vinalogia looks like when you are lying on the floor
Next we were off to Vinalogia's new restaurant for some typical Portuguese grub and more drinks. After that we all went back to the hotel for some well earned sleep.
As the guys drifted off to bed I took one look at Andy and saw a glint in his eye that I have witnessed before. I can always tell when a man wants something so desperately that he can hardly contain himself. So, with great excitement, anticipation and expectation I invited Andy to join me in my bedroom for...
...a bottle of Berry Brothers & Rudd Vintage Character, believed to be around 30 years old
What a great day
Derek
