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It will still take nearly a year before anything sensible can be said about the coming vintage, but I am definitely hoping for a good year. In april 2010 LadyR and I are expecting our first child. So if any of the Symingtons or TFP'ers read this, please do your utmost best to make it a declared vintage year.

Congratulations to you both! I am looking ahead to 2010 with 2008 in mind - the year Edward was born.

Congratulations!!

Does this mean that you will be returning to a Port-friendly country or will Roots The Younger will play for U.A.E. in the 2030 World Cup Finals?

Thanks!

We will stay in Oman until LadyR's posting comes to an end, which is anywhere between 2 and 4 years from now. Not quite enough for Roots Junior to reach great hights in football, but his first years will be filled with sun, sea and sheesha.

Wow!! congratulations indeed!!

Which lodge shall be considered the house port?

That is wonderful news - congratulations! Are you planning to follow Roys lead and name your first born after your favourite shipper? Fonseca Guimaraens 1976 Roots?

An even worse thought - does this mean that Lady Roots is off the port and you have to drink the entire bottle yourself?

We just returned from the Douro and LadyR had a very hard time having to spit almost everything. For the bottles we were allowed to bring back to Oman (max. 2ltr per person) we solved the problem by taking mostly half bottles. That way, she can still have a taste, and I don't have to feel too guilty for opening the bottle, and drinking most of it myself.

As for names, we haven't decided yet, but I think we can rule out Cruz Messias Vasconcellos Roots.

Right, stern post.

How am I supposed to guess from a thread entitled "A premature outlook to the 2010 vintage?" that you two are going to drop sprog? I don't even recognise this thread, it would be a blind spot with a title like that. My mind would have skimmed over it as a thread of extreme tedium about how the frosts and wet weather may affect the vines but nobody really knows. Had it not occurred to you that I might, just possibly, have replied to that if I'd known what it contained? I mean really.

Oh and yes: this is brilliant news, I'm absolutely delighted for the pair of you. Send my love to Maartje.

Ah, I see you are actually keen on hearing some weather news from the Douro. It was very wet when we were there last week. Lots of erosion in the vineyards. And although that may mean quite a bit of extra work, farmers won't mind too much I guess. A wet winter is very much needed in order to replenish water supplies. And we saw snow on the Marão peaks near Regua. A very nice sight.

That good enough?

RonnieRoots wrote:Ah, I see you are actually keen on hearing some weather news from the Douro. It was very wet when we were there last week. Lots of erosion in the vineyards. And although that may mean quite a bit of extra work, farmers won't mind too much I guess. A wet winter is very much needed in order to replenish water supplies. And we saw snow on the Marão peaks near Regua. A very nice sight.

That good enough?

Yep - nobody has a Scooby Doo.

So, the year done, it doesn’t look so pretty. Alas poor Roots Junior, who will have to drink ’07, or the QvA08.

Apparently, it's another "Vintage of the Century" in Bordeaux...

RonnieRoots wrote:Apparently, it's another "Vintage of the Century" in Bordeaux...

Didn't the French invent the metric system? They're aware that "century" means 100 years and not 1, right?

So, the year done, it doesn’t look so pretty.

A curate's egg, I think - they'll be a few decent SQ's I suspect..

Tom

That was my impression, too; and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is something like a Niepoort Pisca or Noval Nacional if those parts of those vineyards were successfully harvested at the right time.

JacobH wrote:That was my impression, too; and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is something like a Niepoort Pisca or Noval Nacional if those parts of those vineyards were successfully harvested at the right time.

I love my son very much, but not so much that I will buy Nacional for him.

But seriously: I must admit that I'm not entirely up-to-date with the vintage prediction for 2010, but the good thing nowadays is that even in substandard years, there are a few producers who are able to produce something good. I would be very happy with a couple of good SQVP's.

I am sure there will plenty of good ports to choose from. Vesuvio is a great one due to its packaging.