Hello there. I found Ravenscroft makes lead free decanters at least that what they claim. I bought couple of them several months back and I've been very happy with them. They have a very large selection of different sizes and shapes for very reasonable prices. The only online store that has almost a complete collection is
MC
After doing a little more research, I find that port decanters have just about any possible shape. After viewing the several port decanters now being sold in the urls below, I would say choose any decanter you like. And after viewing a book of illustrations of old Bohemian glass, I find decanters were being made in many shapes over
100 years ago. The dust cover of a book, Port, published in the 1970s by Wyndham Fletcher associated with the UK wine trade shows a very heavy cut glass decanter, that is shaped about the same as my large glass kitchen funnel turned upside down. Other inverted V shapes have a long neck. The port glass also shown is a V shape of heavy crystal. Riedel likely would have a hissy fit if you suggested that this glass was fit for port.______________________________________________________________________________________________
Hmmm. I'm going to need more evidence than "all those old British movies" to convince me there is a specific shape for a Port decanter. And are you sure it was Port and not Madeira that was being passed round? In my experience of formal dinners (Cambridge college, rather than regimental) both Port and Madeira are passed round.
But I am openminded. Convince me.
Mark wrote on Sat, 05 May 2007 15:05:33 -0400:
??>> Is there such a thing as a lead-free port or sherry ??>> decanter? A Google search proved surprisingly unrewarding!
ML>
ML> Mark Lipton
Ah so! It was the Google/products that did it and I had not thought of that!
James Silverton Potomac, Maryland
E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not
Several hundred years of using the same Port decanters in my family is pretty convincing although the family, for generations could have been using the wrong one!!! However, I don't think so as the families I know, all use the same shape decanter for port and like ours are probably inherited. As for Madeira, I have never seen this passed around as one does the port, and as you know, one can only pass the port in one direction only around the table.
I don't know about old English movies but I have experience of formal dinners both at Trinity, Cambridge and St. Catherines, Oxford where my husband studied for 6 years and port was always served as described above.
Are you convinced now??? If not, don't worry, apart from keeping a tradition, it's really not too important.
Judith
Ah. But my whole point is that the WRONG decanter shapes does not exist. If it is a decanter, you can serve Port from it. (Maybe I need to qualify that a little. There is a style called a Claret jug, which is presumably for Claret only.)
'Fraid not. I want to see a reference to a catalogue selling different styles of decanter for different wines. Or something else in writing referring to the different styles.
I do not dispute the tradition of serving Port in a decenter after a meal and passing it to the right etc. Just that there is any particular shape for a Port decanter - as opposed to a decanter for any other wine.
I notice BTW that amongst the links posted by cwdjrxyz there are a few "Port decanters" that are designed not to stand upright unless placed in a separate stand that stays with the host. These seem pretty gimmicky to me and must surely be a recent invention. OTOH perhaps this is the sort of thing that the OP is expected to buy....?
Ooops. Left of course :)
Why isn't port passed to port?
Jose
Steve, tut, tut, wrong side!!!
I will ask a friend who is a Sommelier what he thinks, but I think we just follow tradition here, jug for claret and Port decanter, as described earlier, for Port and Whiskey decanter for Scotch. Now nobody has advised me what I should serve sherry in? Should it be bulbous but with a long neck.
These days, apart from formal dinners,nobody really bothers and I am wondering if that is a shame? What do you think?
Judith
I think it's a shame, but I am nothing if not reactionary...
-E
Emery, why do you think it is a shame? Serious question.
Judith
Available to buy here in the U.S. are kits that you can test your china, crystal, etc. for lead. I've heard they are accurate. When lead in china and crystal became a big scare here a few years ago, I used one to test mine. Dee
There was a real problem with some earthenware(usually not high fired real china which is translucent) in the US a few years ago. Some glazes applied to earthenware contain much lead. Since some of this earthenware was not fired to a high temperature after the glaze was applied, it was easily leached by acid. This was no problem for earthenware that was not used for food. However some pots, etc. were made that could be used for cooking. When you added something rather acid to the pot - perhaps wine or vinegar, and cooked it for an extended time, such as in the oven, enough lead was leached out to be of real concern. Since most of this improperly fired earthenware was being imported, and some countries had lax controls, more inspections of imported earthenware were required, and earthenware that was not suited for cooking was supposed to be so marked. I don't much care for earthenware for cooking anyway, and if you want something for cooking, real high fired porcelain with a white glaze is a much better choice, in my opinion.
Some of the rich ancient Romans used lead pots for cooking. Most likely some foods cooked in these pots had a high lead content. Some have speculated that this lead is what made Nero and some other Roman rulers so crazy. However some very strong drugs(mostly plants) were often used then that could cause severe mental and/or physical problems. Thus I consider all of this just idle speculation that likely can not be determined one way or the other at this very late date.
[]
People like and need structure. Some go in for religion. I think a little ritual around the table is a fine thing.
Most of us here put a lot of thought, time and money into our food and wines. Whatever increases the enjoyment is a good thing. Note I am not espousing lack of relaxation, just that things are done in the correct way. Including table manners! :)
Even though our kids are young and don't always eat with us, we do have a "family dinner" at least once a week which is fairly formal. If they are called on to dine with HRH I expect them to comport themselves accordingly. (And if called on to dine with GWB, I expect them to pick up their pie when he does.)
;)
-E
Far worse for the Romans was their use of lead pipes to carry water. I also believe that the lead toxicity issue in Rome isn't just idle speculation, but based in part on bone analysis. As you most likely know, atomic absorption spectroscopy is quite sensitive and can quantify the presence of e.g. lead in a small sample. Also, the use of lead pipes is reflected in the English word plumbing (from L. plumbum, lead).
Mark Lipton
When we bought a house 30 years ago, a Victorian one, we had to have all the pipes stripped out as they were lead. Did I imagine it or did the Ministry for Health ban lead pencils in schools at some stage because kids kept on sucking the point?
" snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
Gosh! I remember one of my Elementary School teachers saying just that!
GW is dining with HRH tonight. I expect he'll have problems when it comes to eating his pie. Apparently, Laura is taking no prisoners and will have a long sharp stick handy. ;) ;)
Our Victorian home also has at least one lead water pipe. Pencil "leads," however, are made of graphite and have been since the 16th Century, so either your teacher was very old or perpetuating a misconception. ;-)
Mark Lipton
Mark, she was old and a Nun! Holwever, isn't graphite lead based??
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