Many smart stationers produce notebooks for wine connoisseurs to keep records of the wines they drink. In 2010, I decided it would be quite nice to produce a Port-specific version.
Taking advantage of digital printing which allows single books to be produced cheaply and quickly, I decided that such a book should contain my existing records and space for new ones.
After several test-runs at Port tastings, I decided that practicality was essential. The notebook would be spiral bound so it took up little space and have clear sign-posts throughout so that finding records would be easy and have a good index and table-of-contents with Ports indexed by year, shipper and Quinta.
I find such a work very useful to have at a tasting. It lets me see, at-a-glance, whether (e.g.) all Dow 1977s I have drunk have been corked (mostly true); whether 1975 is a waste-of-time (mostly untrue); and whether the Taylor’s Finest Reserve Ruby is actually quite nice (definitely true).
I also included a list of major years, quintas and grapes and some statistical information.
A sample notebook is available to download.
Would you like a Port notebook for your records?I am happy to produce personalised notebooks for fellow Port-enthusiasts. All that is required is that you have your Port records in a database or spreadsheet with some level of organisation (e.g. at the simplest level, one column for the Port’s name, the next column for the tasting note).
If you are interested, please send me an email at port@Jacob-Head.com and we can talk about what is possible. There would be no fee (although a glass or two of Port would never go amiss!)