Thread: i'm enjoying a glass of fine port tonight

I used to spend alot of money on ports and scotches before I got married. My favorite port that I can still afford is a 20 yr old Tawney from Taylor Fladgate.

My favorite that I've ever had was 2000 vintage Warres. That stuff will make you believe in God...

. You shouldnt have too many problems sourcing these from over in NZ. Cheers[/QUOTE]

Yes we have lots of good Aussie port over here. Brown Bros do a good Tawny (reserve) and Wolfblass tawny is even better. Just finished the last of several bottles of Sandemans. I usually get my port duty free when travelling but haven't been out of the country for quite a while

Originally Posted by jleeg

Here's a great baby gift idea. Give a bottle of vintage port to the parents of the newborn. No, they cannot open it, but must shelve it for the childs college graduation or some other noteworthy event some twenty years out.

I bought a bottle of 12-y-o Grahams port when my cousin was born with the instruction that it was to be opened on his 18th birthday. Last year my Uncle called me and said "So when are you arriving for Luke's 18th birthday?" I said I was on vacation with the family then, why? So he reminds me... this is the year!

But they waited until Christmas when we were next getting together. 30-y-o port... it was the most intense, smoothest port I'd ever tasted. Absolutely worth the wait. We polished it off in about an hour!

I've had this bottle since Christmas and many an evening I've had to restrain myself from cracking it open. This Christmas for sure!

I know that wine! I love Portos, in my opinion it's a fine sweet wine for dessert. I always drink a cup after dinner.

For everyone who like sweet wines, I recommend you to look for Montsant, they make spanish sweet wine. Similar to Portos, but with a distinctive flavor. You will not regret it!

Wines from Montsant

Originally Posted by Rosco62

The trouble is that I can easily drink 2 or 3 glasses a night. Any fellow port drinkers out there?

Yes! We used to have port evenings at my Hall when I was a student. A bottle and a half of fine tawny and a pound of blue cheese a head were not thought excessive - then again, what was?

What is your favourite port?

Of late, I like Quinta do Crasto. Their LBVs are very nice (and rather affordable too). One of the best ports I had to date is Niepoort vintage 1997, to my taste better even than Quinta do Noval vintage 1970 or 1967 or their own 1955. Niepoort is nice anyway, their ports are slightly less sweet than their colleagues'.

and what is your budget port?(you know, the one you bring out when your friends show up)

What happened to the idea one offers friends nothing but ones best? And prey what would be the pleasure in tasting something exquisite without being able to share and discuss the experience? If port that isn't your best should be reserved for anything, it would be for enjoying it when alone, absentmindedly reading a book in front of the fire.

Fortunately, within boundaries, there's no one on one correlation between price and quality with port. Good port can be had for relatively little. 'Budget port' - as in sweetened fermented grapejuice from Portugal (or worse: somewhere else) that costs less than the bottle and shipment - shouldn't be drunk at all.

YMMV

I love a nice port a bit too often. There's a wide variety here as you would imagine. I don't have a favourite, though. But the cheap ones are to be avoided because they are nothing more than sweet red wine...
Enjoy your ports!

Oh... by the way: if it's not made in Portugal, the grapes grown in the river Douro valley and bottled in Porto... it's not port. The grapes might be the same and also the climate. But it sure isn't port. Therefore no "port" will come out of Australia or California. They might be sweet generous wines (as we call them in Portugal) and of great quality, but they aren't port wines.

As an example of this: I might start making fine malt whiskies in my backyard... but would never be highland malts.

About 10 years ago my girlfriend worked for an "upper class" retaurant in our area. At Christmas they had a spiff for all of the servers selling a 4-bottle package (small bottles ... 250ML???) of Quita Do Noval ports. She won the contest, and as a reward she got a bottle (750 ML) of vintage 1927 ... yes ... 1927 vintage Quinta Do Noval port.

Let me tell you .... wow. Just wow. What else to say ... it came from port heaven! Liquid gold! So good! The bottles seem so small when you have a limited amout of something so fine.

Ahh, the memories.

Steve