Port Wine | Sarah Ahmed - The Wine Detective

Life on the Douro – a film by Zev Robinson

Posted Saturday 5th November 2011

Yesterday’s report (here) of the Symington’s remarkable Single Quinta Vintage Port tasting (2006-1950) may have given you a sense of the Douro Valley - the place, the people and, of course, the Ports, but there’s no substitute for seeing the region yourself. And if you can’t go any time soon, the good news is that Zev Robinson’s understated film, Life on [...]

Port: 20% off fine aged tawny & 2007 Vintage Ports at Halifax Wine Company

Posted Saturday 13th November 2010

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Award winning Portuguese wine and fortified specialist Halifax Wine Company is offering a discount on Calem 20 & 30 Year Old Tawny Port and a mixed case of top 2007 Vintage Ports from today, Saturday 13th November until Saturday 27th November (or whilst stocks last). Presented in a free wooden gift box, so perfect for Christmas presents, [...]

Portuguese fortifieds round up, including a Carcavelos & 2 Golden White Ports

Posted Friday 18th June 2010

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The Big Fortified Tasting in April and London Wine Fair in May presented an opportunity to taste Portuguese fortifieds from some unusual suspects, including my first Carcavelos (pictured), from Quinta da Bela Vista, a vineyard last harvested in 1969 and single vintage white ports, Dalva’s Golden White 1952 and 1963. You can read my tasting notes for [...]

The Douro, dynamic, diverse, red, white & pink!

Posted Friday 4th June 2010

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Ask anyone why the Douro Valley is famous and they’ll say Port – most likely vintage port, which accounts for a measly 1-2% of all Port wine. At London Wine Fair I was delighted to be asked to talk about the Douro by the Instituto do Vinho do Porto. It’s one of my favourite wine [...]

Taylor’s: a tawny blending masterclass & a very special pre-phylloxera wine

Posted Monday 10th May 2010

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Taylor’s (owned by Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman), is the brand leader for aged tawnies, so I grabbed the chance to participate in a hands-on 20 Year Old Tawny blending masterclass with Chief Blender, Natasha Bridge (pictured with blending material) last week. She is the eldest daughter of Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman’s chairman, Alistair Robertson, who [...]

For the Love of Port 2007 Vintage Port Forecast – the heads up

Posted Saturday 27th February 2010

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In my September Douro Boys’ report here, I wrote about a unique “Time is on my side” tasting of 2007 ports organised by Dirk Niepoort. A tasting gauntlet, it challenged us to taste 60 hours’ worth of 2007 vintage port in 2 hours. To explain, we tasted 15 different ports from the recently released 2007 [...]

The Douro Boys – 2007 table wines & port report

Posted Friday 18th September 2009

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Just to say I’ve posted my full report of my visit earlier this month to meet with the Douro Boys here. It features tasting notes of new releases (2008 whites, 2007 reds and ports) and a report of vertical tastings with each of the famous five – Quintas do Vallado, do Crasto, do Vale Dona [...]