DISQUS

ah...now I have vented and feel better. thanks for bearing with me!

I agree with the points here, but would add that it isn't enough just to "use" the internet. One has to put the same types of effort into internet promotion as one would put into traditional promotion and customer service. I just received an interesting 1967 tinto from a Ribatejo quinta, so I submitted a message on the quinta's website, asking about tasting notes from that vintage, plus availabilities of wines throughout the 60s and 70s as I was hoping to set up a vertical tasting. The response I got back was, "thanks for your message!" No response to the questions. So, instead of taking ten friends to stay in the quinta's lodge and have several meals plus the tasting, I'm just going to drink the wine and then forget about them. Good thing they have a website, right?

napoleoes? I always see those referred to as mil feuilles (thousand leaves), but lots of things have multiple names in Portugal, including grapes. also worth noting that the convents and monastaries produced a lot of wine; also using the egg white fining process.

i'm hungry now too.

we once had a wine tasting event with the diplomatic corps in copenhagen. the traditional players -- france, italy, US, etc. -- all participated along with what were then newcomers like spain, chile, australia, etc. one surprise arrival was the chinese ambassador with several bottles of a sweet, fortified wine that we all sampled after eating. it was the star of the show. can't remember what it was called, but I can imagine that being a wine promoter in china would be a lot of fun. opportunities abound!

"a winery in Mozambique Kenya"? will it be in Mozambique or Kenya?

apropos of nothing, here is a link to a fascinating article about physiological differences regarding wine appreciation. it holds that one's density and type of taste buds will affect how you judge wines. while this concept seems painfully self-evident, it is an interesting read. it isn't as simplistic as the supertaster versus the dull, but about how even extremely well-versed and educated palates can interpret wines differently. Anyway, recommended:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

and yes, very jealous of your time with the Douro boys. I should be up there today, but with far less interesting company....

1968 wasn't a vintage year for port, so my wife gave me a Calem colheita from that year. She said she had thought about just giving me a 40 year old tawny, but realized that would be cheating since those aren't really 40 years old. No tasting notes yet, but I hope to open it soon. I had a Burmester '73 a few weeks ago that was a friend's birthyear wine. Much plum and tobacco, but, like Ryan's description of the '75 Noval, had a lot of alcohol on the nose and palate that did not dissipate. I wonder if this is typical, or at least typical of wines that might not have been handled properly over the decades? I suppose I'll have to try more older vintages in order to have a larger statistical sample (not that one needs an excuse to drink more vintage port).

Stay away from the lutefisk! The Scandinavians specialize in man's inhumanity to fish. Have fun, though, and feliz navidad (god jul in norwegian).

I swear, even before I read Jill's response, I was going to write 12 million. Then I did my own google search and came up with the same answer. So, to be different, I'll say 13 million. And I think December records the most sales too, based on Christmas and New Year's celebrations.

just for sheer giggles, I am going to enter the exact answers you had in the example (directly cut and pasted):

T,T,T,F,F,T,F,T,F,T,F,T,T

and by God, I stand by them! :-)

the person with the comment about the secretary on a fixed salary with no motivation to help is probably spot on. her vested interests have nothing to do with yours or with the company's. an interesting comparison is in Sweden, where you cannot be fired for incompetence and salaries are high. there is just no reason for anyone to put the slightest amount of effort into pleasing the customer.

it is a shame that this person at the winery is such a dismally unhappy person, but that winery will have to do without the good publicity. we all know that there are many vibrant and charming folk in Spain; that's probably why you moved there. do business with the nice people and forget about the fools.

Has a newsletter come out yet? I signed up a few weeks ago but haven't seen it yet. Let me know if I need to try again.

Having a 1970 Taylors tonight, courtesy of a friend. Will report back tomorrow....

Ah...bless you Adrienne. Even as an alfacinha (Lisbon resident), I agree that Porto is absolutely magical. I head up there as often as possible. My basic strategy is to eat only in places where the chef is standing in the doorway chatting with the passers by. It is easy to love everything about Porto except the damned Dragons. As a proud Benfiquista, the Dragons arouse only hatred.

I'd love to hear your comments about the Minho...

incredibly petty, I know, but it's "je ne sais pas" or, more appropriately in this context, "je ne sais quoi". sorry, I'll stop now. ;-)

yeah, yeah...even the best and even the driest white ports don't have the complexity to warrant the name. that isn't to say that I haven't had a few of them -- even recently -- just that the dear dark versions do so much more for me. remember, I did caveat my original post that everyone had his own taste and was entitled to his own opinion (even if they are wrong!).

Again? No, Ryan, you are a teenager STILL. Remember, you're only young once, but you can be immature forever (my life's credo). One of the directors of a port house once described white port to me as "a sexy blonde; flashy and sweet, but at the end of the day there isn't a lot there." Apologies to the feminists I have just offended.

RichardA: British naval tradition is to always pass the bottle to the left (ie, to the port side). Some go so far as to pour for the person on the right and then pass the bottle to the person on the left to get their own glass filled, others insist you must only use your left hand. My favorite port decanters have a round bottom, so they cannot be put down. As the bottle or decanter is passed around the table, should it get held up somewhere, you can ask that fellow, "Do you know the Bishop of Norwich?" If the confused fellow says no, you say, "terribly nice fellow but he never remembers to pass the port."

Everyone has their own taste and is entitled to his own opinion, but for my money:

-white port is for teenagers
-ruby port is for cooking.

Don't let anyone sell you either for sipping. Even with those two broad categories shoved aside in a ham-fisted totalitarian manner, there is a wide range of options. For those to whom money is an object -- and seriously, isn't that everyone? -- the older vintage ports can be quite the extravagance. Given that the wine changes dramatically with age, the older tawnies are a good cheapskate's way of enjoying the benefits of an old vintage without the price.

Remember that they declare a vintage on potential, not achieved results, so that 5 to 10 year old vintage hasn't yet achieved what it probably will. They say it is drinkable, but why waste it? Another cheapskate way around vintage prices is to select a colheita. The whole industry has to agree that it is an exceptional year in order to declare a vintage, but in years where some houses think it is but they don't reach consensus, those individual houses might release their product as a colheita. So, a colheita from a house you like is essentially a vintage but at half the price (it is more complicated than that, but that's generally how it works).

That's my thoughts on being cheap, but you know what? Go ahead and treat yourself to one of those vintage ports from back in the 70s. You will be glad you did.

Thanks casal Opaz for making it Port month. I shall rededicate myself!

I don't know anything about Sherry, but I have a couple bottles stuck in the back of my liquor cabinet dating from God knows when. They have also made several international moves, meaning months at sea. I'm guessing from your comments about freshness that I ought to just throw the stuff out or give it to teenaged marines, right?

and given the language in which we are writing, we might have a residual British predilection for drinking it in the afternoon. must admit, it never occured to me to have a bottle of it with a meal...

by the way, Bill, eight carries for Peterson? you deserved to lose. ;-)

didn't know where else on the site to mention this, but the results of the 2007 National Competition of Bottled Wines (it sounds better in Portuguese: Concurso Nacional de Vinhos Engarrafados) have just been published. To my surprise, the Guia 2007 is translated in English throughout; in smaller typeface, but still.... The competition has 103 wine geeks divided into 8 juries blind tasting everything. Over three weeks, they tasted 570 wines. 144 of them were awarded silver, gold, or prestige rankings. The tasting notes are pretty scant -- a few lines for each -- but those who are looking for English language resources will be pleased. The guides are in our local bookstores, but from outside of Portugal one can probably order a copy through the publishers. Contact: "guiadevinhos@gmail.com" or "by_f@mac.com".

Great reviews (and a great example on writing one; I'll put a better effort into my next one). How could you mention Porco Alentejano without mentioning the clams?!? At least you can see them in the picture. For those unfamiliar, this dish pairs roast pork with clams. It sounds odd, but it works brilliantly. A lot of fat comes off of the pork, so a wine that can cut through it is necessary (like the reds reviewed here or, as Ryan noted, a white with high acidity. Kudos to both of you, though. I may have to hit a favorite Alentejano restaurant tonight.

Vitor Mendes! Where is your shop? I would like to drop by, but you didn't tell us the location or the name of the shop. I'm in Lisbon, but I get around the country a lot.

Hope to see you soon.

hmmm.... I was about to mention a NY Times article that mentions great value wines, including one each from Portugal and Spain, but now I'm worried that Ryan might tear into me! Ah well, here goes, for anyone who is interested: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/dining/review...

Not a particularly earth-shattering review, but any attention is welcome. I agree, by the way, that the Spanish newsletter and the behavior of the organization are laughable, but oh so familiar to anyone who has dealt with a traditional bureaucrat. There is nothing so important that a government won't screw it up (says this civil servant).

beautifully written...I would add Carla Pires and Aldina Duarte to the recommended fadistas.