ThePortForum.com

Some 1980 Borges went too high yesterday so I'm consoling myself with a potential Morgan purchase courtesy of Unc le Tom. Potentially.

If anyone is looking to pass on some VP for whatever reason, please PM me.

Thanks,
Nick

thanks dude.

SushiNorth wrote:

TBird wrote:i'm staring at a few of these for $17.99, good?

g-man wrote:12 x 1994 Rozes LBV port

yes. get em. bottle needs to sit open for 3-4 days before drinking, tho.

Portman wrote:Bought at Arohmas do Vihno in Valenca, Portugal, one of the only places I've found in Portugal with decent port prices.

Bill

Hi Bill, is that shop the same one as this or this? Would you say it's worth the detour coming when based in Pinhao?

Ronnie,

I know they used to have a Website I cannot find it. Valenca is a bit of a detour from Porto, about 2 hours due north of the city, not really on the way to or from Pinhau, and they dont speak English. The shop itself is pretty small, and the pricing is variable on the port. You definately see a lot of non bargains like 1994 Grahams for 120 Euro. Come on. But every time I have been in there I have found something worth buying. This year it was the Niepoort 2000 at 50 Euro, last year I picked up some Fonseca 1995 for a song, another year got some Warre's 85 and some 375s of Dow 87 that were cheap.

Part of the allure is that the shop is in the middle of a perfectly preserved medieval town/fortress that has commanding views of the River Mihno with Spain on the other side. It is a beautiful spot. If you are there, be sure to stop by the other big wine shop in town, which is located just outside the fortress walls, called Garrefeira Vasco de Gama. The prices there are HORRIBLE but they have a nice selection of port, they sell some great cheeses like Serra de Estrella, and they have a very nice selection of Portuguese wine in the basement.

I would say you could have a nice day trip from Porto, check out Valenca, and then stop by Viana do Castello on your way back to Porto, maybe for a late lunch or early dinner. The center of Viana is beautifully preserved and there are some very nice restaurants there. Probably some wine shops too but I havent really done a proper job of searching Viana for port.

I read somewhere (maybe in Mayson's book) that Viana actually preceeded Porto as the preferred embarkation point for wine until the harbor silted up in the 16th century.

Though I have not yet received formal notification, the auction is now closed and it appears that I was the only bidder on a 1963 Noval for $85.

Sweet deal, Glenn!

Glenn E. wrote:Though I have not yet received formal notification, the auction is now closed and it appears that I was the only bidder on a 1963 Noval for $85.

Is that the one from Brentwood?
I did came across Noval '63 for 85EUR on a UK webshop.

smisse wrote:

Glenn E. wrote:Though I have not yet received formal notification, the auction is now closed and it appears that I was the only bidder on a 1963 Noval for $85.

Is that the one from Brentwood?
I did came across Noval '63 for 85EUR on a UK webshop.

Yup, this was from the Brentwood auction. I'm knutliott there (and various other places).

85 Euro is, um, a bit less of a deal than 85$. Like 50% less of a deal. So I will amend my post above:

"Semi-sweet deal, Glenn!" Bill

Portman wrote:Ronnie,

I know they used to have a Website I cannot find it. Valenca is a bit of a detour from Porto, about 2 hours due north of the city, not really on the way to or from Pinhau, and they dont speak English. The shop itself is pretty small, and the pricing is variable on the port. You definately see a lot of non bargains like 1994 Grahams for 120 Euro. Come on. But every time I have been in there I have found something worth buying. This year it was the Niepoort 2000 at 50 Euro, last year I picked up some Fonseca 1995 for a song, another year got some Warre's 85 and some 375s of Dow 87 that were cheap.

Part of the allure is that the shop is in the middle of a perfectly preserved medieval town/fortress that has commanding views of the River Mihno with Spain on the other side. It is a beautiful spot. If you are there, be sure to stop by the other big wine shop in town, which is located just outside the fortress walls, called Garrefeira Vasco de Gama. The prices there are HORRIBLE but they have a nice selection of port, they sell some great cheeses like Serra de Estrella, and they have a very nice selection of Portuguese wine in the basement.

I would say you could have a nice day trip from Porto, check out Valenca, and then stop by Viana do Castello on your way back to Porto, maybe for a late lunch or early dinner. The center of Viana is beautifully preserved and there are some very nice restaurants there. Probably some wine shops too but I havent really done a proper job of searching Viana for port.

I read somewhere (maybe in Mayson's book) that Viana actually preceeded Porto as the preferred embarkation point for wine until the harbor silted up in the 16th century.

Thanks for the info Bill! We're in Porto and the Douro in November, and we're always looking for new places to visit. This may be a nice tour, we've been to Viana already, but that's more than 5 years back, so it may be worth to visit again.

Portman wrote:85 Euro is, um, a bit less of a deal than 85$. Like 50% less of a deal. So I will amend my post above:

"Semi-sweet deal, Glenn!" Bill

Mine was $85 at Brentwood. The 85 Euro bottle was one that smisse found on a UK web site.

So one sweet deal and one semi-sweet deal!

I found, whilst surfing and supping, what was a surprising deal. 77s for under a tenner.

Excitedly, I called them yesterday morning though I kept my excitement very quiet. I enquired about them and asked if they had any left...fraid not. Still, I've left my details as she may get some more soon.

Nearly had a reasonable port at a great price.

Zelandakh wrote:I found, whilst surfing and supping, what was a surprising deal. 77s for under a tenner.

Excitedly, I called them yesterday morning though I kept my excitement very quiet. I enquired about them and asked if they had any left...fraid not. Still, I've left my details as she may get some more soon.

Nearly had a reasonable port at a great price.

Should there be more than you want / need / prepared to buy yourself, please do post details!

Oh I plan to do so. I was on this page when I called them ready to post!!

I won four Niepoort 2003 Vintage ports at auction this weekend.

$50 each. Pretty good deal.

An even better deal, again from auction:

4 x 2000 Fonseca @ $42 each.

Portman wrote:An even better deal, again from auction:

4 x 2000 Fonseca @ $42 each.

what auction is this if u dont mind?

i've been looking for the f2000

Wine Commune.

http://www.winecommune.com

Portman wrote:An even better deal, again from auction:

4 x 2000 Fonseca @ $42 each.

Wow, nice, i wasn't able to get mine that cheap off them.

Just bought 6 bottles of Morgan 1991 from our friendly Morgan distributor. Excellent current drinking.

Just bought 6 bottles of Morgan 1991 from our friendly Morgan distributor. Excellent current drinking.

Very few left now.. - can people remind me if I'm holding any for them pending collection - I think Nick wants three boxes - anyone else?

~~~

Picked some interesting items yesterday, including a Q. Sibio 1900, which cost a pretty penny..

..and a dozen Sandeman's Claret 1978 - tidy bottles with good labels and levels - for just £46 including BP..!

Can't go too far wrong at that price - might just pop a bottle in a minute to see if they're any good!

Tom

uncle tom wrote:..and a dozen Sandeman's Claret 1978 - tidy bottles with good labels and levels - for just £46 including BP..!

Can't go too far wrong at that price - might just pop a bottle in a minute to see if they're any good!

I didn’t know that Sandeman produced claret; shame that looking around the web suggests the more recent stuff is fairly low quality--why do they always aim for the bottom with the Sandeman name?

uncle tom wrote:

Just bought 6 bottles of Morgan 1991 from our friendly Morgan distributor. Excellent current drinking.

Very few left now.. - can people remind me if I'm holding any for them pending collection - I think Nick wants three boxes - anyone else?

Tom

Yes, can you please put a tag reading "Uncle Tom, SushiNorth, & TPF Co" on one of those so they don't all vanish before I get a chance to visit the UK and drink with you? I have no idea when that might be, but I'm working on it!

Somewhere last year I e-mailed a wineshop in Amsterdam to order a bottle of Niepoort 1987, to be brought to Oman by a visiting family member. When she came to collect the bottle, they informed her that there ought to be a case of this port somewhere in the cellar, but that they couldn't find it anymore. Bummer.

Last week I received an e-mail from this same merchant. "We found the case (of 6), do you still want some?" So I bought the entire case.

The Sandeman '78 claret is drinkable, but that's about it - should have been drunk at least a decade ago.

A wine to be drunk when cooking - some for me, and some in the pot..

..bit more for me.. bit more in the pot

Tom

I just picked up an '85 Fonseca and an '85 Graham as a gift, and added in a magnum of '94 Graham for myself.

Prices in the US have recently dropped rather significantly, so I think an economic adjustment has finally occurred.

Glenn E. wrote:I just picked up an '85 Fonseca and an '85 Graham as a gift, and added in a magnum of '94 Graham for myself.

Prices in the US have recently dropped rather significantly, so I think an economic adjustment has finally occurred.

i see auction prices creeping up all over the place unfortuinately

some quite significantly

i see auction prices creeping up all over the place unfortuinately

They have been pretty buoyant recently, but they are very prone to peaks and troughs.

My guess is that the merchants are hoping the Xmas season will not be quite as bad as they had feared, and feel the need to rebuild stocks.

In the last few days though, I'm sensing a loss of confidence on this side of the pond.. - if I'm right, then Xmas may be a disappointment for the merchants.

The first sales of the new year could prove good hunting!

Tom

uncle tom wrote:
In the last few days though, I'm sensing a loss of confidence on this side of the pond.. - if I'm right, then Xmas may be a disappointment for the merchants.

The first sales of the new year could prove good hunting!

Tom

I sense the same on this side of the pond as well very recently. I think you may be right about the new year bringing good hunting, if things hold or get worse.

g-man wrote:i see auction prices creeping up all over the place unfortuinately

Hmm, I'm not seeing that. What I'm seeing are lower reserves at auction and those lower reserves are getting people to come out and bid. That's pushing the hammer prices up to about where the reserves were before.

It's the internet retail prices I'm looking at... those have dropped significantly enough that stuff is starting to move. If you only look at wine-searcher.com once in a while you probably wouldn't see it because the "permanent" offers haven't really changed, but day-to-day I see plenty of offers appear below the standard listings and then disappear within a couple days. I'm assuming that they disappear because the wine was purchased, but of course don't really know.

1xfonseca 66
1xferriera 75
1xdelaforce 74

1 x 1970 Taylor @ $120 (chipped capsule)
1 x 1970 Taylor @ $115 (old sos)
1 x 1977 Graham @ $80

Was out-bid on a 1963 Fonseca which went for $230+premium. I realize that's still a good price (for the US) for that bottle even after adding 12% buyer's premium, but I just have a hard time paying that much for a single bottle. I'd have had to bid $250 (+$30 premium) to keep bidding.

g-man wrote:1xdelaforce 74

Was this a colheita? Or perhaps a Quinta da Corte?

Many of the super seconds from the Symingtons from 77 to 94 (definitely willing to give some away, if wanted), some 55 Sandeman, 47 Constantino and a single bottle of Taylors VVV 07 for tasting purposes.

Axel

AHB wrote:

g-man wrote:1xdelaforce 74

Was this a colheita? Or perhaps a Quinta da Corte?

Quinta da Corte

Axel P wrote:Many of the super seconds from the Symingtons from 77 to 94 (definitely willing to give some away, if wanted), some 55 Sandeman, 47 Constantino and a single bottle of Taylors VVV 07 for tasting purposes.

Axel

just cuirous on your price of the sandeman 55, trying to ask for bartering here in the states.

Romariz Colheita 1963

g-man wrote:1xdelaforce 74

There was once talk of an im memoriam Delaforce vertical, for which I have 1935. Please keep the Df74.

I have ten other Delaforce vintages - seems to be scarce for some years and plentiful for others - a vertical is a possibility at some point..

Tom

jdaw1 wrote:

g-man wrote:1xdelaforce 74

There was once talk of an im memoriam Delaforce vertical, for which I have 1935. Please keep the Df74.

As I've promised Josh as it is his Birth year wine.

He replied "only if he's invited".

This bottle shall be saved!

Re: Df74

g-man wrote:As I've promised Josh as it is his Birth year wine. He replied "only if he's invited". This bottle shall be saved!

This seems to be a pretty hot acquisition, g-man. Perhaps a solution exists in a london pub sometime

Some house port/cellar defenders from the 80's. (2 cases)
Some nicer stuff for tastings and aging. (1 case)

Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise about what it is -- but i'm too excited to keep my mouth entirely shut. It'll be showing up at some of our tastings, soon.

1x Quinta de Roriz 2003
1x Fonseca 85

A pristine bottle of 1995 Dow's LBV for $30. The markup seemed reasonable for an LBV with that much age, and I know it is good because they had it available at the tasting I was attending.

A rather dusty bottle of Vargellas '96.

12 - Pocas Vintage 2000
1 - Pcas Vintage 2001
4 - Gould Campbell Vintage 2000

g-man wrote:1x Quinta de Roriz 2003
1x Fonseca 85

didn't realize the roriz was a 30-50$ bottle

I found it for 15$!! .. they only had one left tho .

2 x 1983 Cockburn for $85 each.

That's a great price (in the US) for a pristine bottle of such a highly rated Port.

That's an outrageous price if corked.

Current odds seem to hover around 50:50.

Sushi and I had a friendly raid of hart davis

2x Fonseca Vintage Port 1992 750ml
1x Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port 1995 1.5L
1x Dow Vintage Port 1983 750ml

I've just taken advantage of Sainsbury's 25% sale. 3 bottles of Taylor 2003 LBV, 2 bottles of Crasto 2001 and 1 bottle of Grahams Crusted b2002