Port

[conroygc]

Gents,

Anyone here enjoy Port wine? What kind do you like? What brands do you buy? What makes tawny port different than normal port?

While I was vacationing in Oregon I had my first sip of port. I bought a small bottle of 2007 Port from a winery called Vitus Ridge. I enjoyed it a lot! I liked the red wine taste with the rich and sweet fig/raisin aftertaste. I've bought a couple bottles of Port here in Utah trying to find something similar, but I've had no luck.

 

[Matt_Bloodletter]

I've tried dozens of ports from mass produced horribly cheap to > 15 year vintage year stuff. Really, I have only tried one port I didn't like and it was less than $4 on sale. Other than that, they're basically all good.

Tawny is what happens to port as it ages, so a tawny is a "simulated" aged port. No port of actual vintage would have to declare it was "tawny". There are times I like a regular ruby port, but usually pick the tawny. Six Grapes, Fonseca, Warre's - basically anything at Trader Joes is great. Most store bought are fine.

One of the most important things with port is paring.

Impressing a fine lady - pair with chocolate, or get those little cups made from chocolate. Dried fruit, nuts and blue cheese, especially Stilton are a must try with port. True port from Portugal is usually called Porto but there are some good ports out there from Cali. You pay a bit of a premium for the Cali models and often a smaller bottle. Just buy the real stuff and celebrate the tradition that sailors have enjoyed for centuries.

 

[conroygc]

Matt,
Very well said, and thanks for the info. The bottle I'm currently enjoying is a Warre's Ruby.
When I go to Portland I usually stop at Trader Joe's and buy a box of different wines. Due to state laws, the 1st Trader Joe's in Utah (currently under construction) won't be able to sell wine.

 

[ReAndyMator]

Actually, I think you'll find that the primary difference between standard ruby port and tawny port is that tawny is oak aged, and ruby isn't (generally stored in SSteel vats, if it is oak aged at all, it won't be for long). Or at least, that's what the guy from the Port wine institute told me last week!!

 

[Slash McCoy]

Google and Wiki. Your friends.

The Tawny aging process is actually quite complicated. It is indeed aged in wood and it begins in one type of cask and finishes in another type. More port is added over the years to compensate for evaporation through the wood. Unlike Vintage port, Tawny has no sediment in the bottle. There is no need to decant, and there is no need to finish the bottle in one sitting. You can open a Tawny and drink it over a period of a week or two if you like, and that is what I often do. I often have a glass before bed or with a cigar.

Warre's and Sandeman's are two decent brands that won't break the bank. Try a 20yo of either brand for a special treat. "Fine Tawny" has no particular age associated with it and is usually 10 years old or less. At about year 20 a Tawny really begins to shine and there are offerings as old as 40 years but I don't find over-20's to be a very good bang for the buck, myself. Tawnies usually have very pronounced nutty components with usually a bit less fruitiness than Ruby. The overall characteristic is very complex with a bunch of different notes all coming out strongly. You might detect licorice, tobacco, walnut, honey, pear and raspberry notes all in the same wine, for instance.

A few other brands:
Taylor
Croft
Portal
Fonseca

 

[Kazeryu]

I "enjoy" it from time to time, but I don't know much about it.

 

[OldAF]

There was a thread about port and manliness not long ago you might like to read. I cracked a bottle of Graham's six grapes not long ago. Very nice. I especially like the tawnys but they are a bit pricey. I only have Sandeman 10 and Taylor Fladgate 10 left. Penfolds Club Australian Tawny (no age statement) is a great "bang for the buck" bottle.

 

[conroygc]

OldAF, I recall seeing that thread shortly after I first tried port. The bottle had a description of English gentlemen hunting foxes with a flask of port at their side.

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

I like the Fonseca BIN 27 (Full Bodied & Fruity), Port...with a cigar or with Stilton blue cheese (I pay around $13.50USD per bottle).

Did you Fonseca offers bottle (Vintage), and wood (full bodied & fruity, rich & mellow [tawny], and white), aged ports?

Read More: http://www.fonseca.pt/en/port/wood/ruby-port/fonseca-bin-27/

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"A cigar, blue cheese and good port is bliss. You can smell it, taste it, look at it, feel it and it satisfies all the senses." CBJ

 

[malocchio]

I don't have much experience with ports,alhough over the years I have grown to like a good cream sherry.The unfiltered Fonseco looks interesting,but in the description it states this variety has a note of "eucalyptus"...not sure if I want to drink sweet port that tastes like medicine,anyone tried this unfiltered bottle ? Which Fonseco would appeal to a cream sherry drinker ?

 

[Samurai-5]

+1 on the Fonseca Bin 27. Also like the Evenus Zinfindel Port. I get it at Trader Joe's for $10.00

 

[jesseix]

In my opinion a lot of the California 'ports' don't really measure up to a true vintage port, but then again they should be a lot cheaper too. The good thing about non-vintage ports is that they come in all price ranges, and most of them are perfectly fine for a small drink at the end of the meal. Especially if you've already been through several other bottles/cocktails by that point ;-) So try a few things out, like most beverages you'll find things that you like and don't like, and it will be fun to see what you enjoy drinking them with. And I've always thought that drinking port is more of an event that is fun to open up with people at the end of the night. Its like you're really doing something, and not just drinking... kindof hard to explain, but a feeling that I get while drinking things like port and scotch with friends.

 

[Doc4]

... cracked a bottle of Graham's six grapes not long ago. Very nice. ...

A favourite of mine, and one which you should try.

Tawny port tends to get a lot of barrel age, which mellows it out in colour and flavour.

There is also ruby port (and "vintage character") types, which can be pretty basic ... the cheap stuff is this ... but can also be very nice and inexpensive. The Graham's Six Grapes fits in the upper end of this category, so obviously there are good wines here. They are a deep, dark, bold red.

Then there is vintage port (and Late Bottled Vintage.) This stuff is from one particular year (vintage) and is meant for ageing ... and savouring. It's the best of the bunch ... made not every year but only in years when the crop is deemed to be 'good enough'. Vintage port spends very little time in the cask, and is bottled early ... and then it takes decades in the bottle to finish the mellowing process and then WOW!

But if you don't have that much time/patience, Late Bottled Vintage is a good option: most of the enjoyment for a fraction of the time and cost. It spends a little more time in the cask than Vintage, and still goes into the bottle early for bottle-ageing before release. It tends to be drinkable when released, but certainly capable of further bottle ageing if you are so inclined.

A good wine merchant can have older bottles of vintage and LBV port in his back shelves ... on purpose, not because he forgot them, LOL ... so you can score on of these and try it to see if ... er, how much ... you like it.

 

[knlgskr]

The age listed Tawny ports are excellent wines; they cannot afford to age inferior wine, age will make a good wine better but will only make an inferior wine older. 10 year old Tawny is excellent; 20 is outstanding.

 

[danek]

Connor, I'm not an expert and am 100% self-taught, but my basic knoweldge of Ports is this:

Techincally speaking, like Champange and Cognac, Port can only be from Portugal. It used to have to be from the Douro valley and cross the river bar at Oporto, Portugal to be called Port, but I think the rules have relaxed a little to include other areas of Portugal. Any other "Port-style" wine needs to be called 'fortified wine'.

All Ports start out the same: as wine. During fermentation the yeast is killed by adding grappa (a brandy made from grape skins, vines, seeds and lees) before all of the sugar is converted into alcohol. Hence, the 'fortification', higher alcohol content, and sweetness from residual sugar. Other fortified wines like Sherries and Madeiras are much dryer because the grappa/brandy isn't added until all (or most of) the sugar has been fermented.

From there, the wine is moved into oak to age. After 18 months-ish, if the vintage is deemed remarkable enough by the governing body, a Vintage Year is declared and that wine is moved to a SS vat (specific by vineyard) and bottled. If enough of the first bottling gets sold to warrant bottling the rest, the second bottling is usually labelled LBV in an effort to make it sound special; it's really a marketing ploy, IMO.

Most other wines are moved into SS vats after the first 18 months-ish in oak to be blended later with other years and vineyards to produce Ruby.

Wines that are left in oak longer than the original 2 years lose the ruby-wine color and are mellowed and pick up vanilla and carmel notes from the wood. They are later blended with other oaked wines to produce Tawny. The age in years listed on bottles (10, 12, 15, etc..) is the age of the youngest wine in the blend. Colheitas are wines from a single vintage that have been aged in oak (usually 20+ years) before bottling.

Sorry, got a little Cliff Claven-like there, but I really enjoy this subject. Drink, enjoy, learn, that's a big part of the fun.

Dane

Edit - here is a link to a write-up I created on Ports years ago. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...an’s-guide-to-fortified-wines?highlight=

 

[Doc4]

Techincally speaking, like Champange and Cognac, Port can only be from Portugal. It used to have to be from the Douro valley and cross the river bar at Oporto, Portugal to be called Port, but I think the rules have relaxed a little to include other areas of Portugal. Any other "Port-style" wine needs to be called 'fortified wine'.

... usually labelled LBV in an effort to make it sound special; it's really a marketing ploy, IMO.

Dane, thanks for all the usefull info.

I'm not aware of the regulations for Port being loosened for allowing wine from outside the demarcated region of the Douro ... but if you have more info on that I'd love to hear it. (Not trying to be a wise@$$ or anything, just curious.)

I don't think the Portuguese have been as strident as the French in defending "proper" use of the term "port" compared to say "champagne" ... I see lots of bottles of "port" from other countries. Hey, after all, "cheddar" is just as much a regional speciality as "champagne" ... but ... well, the English didn't really defend that either and now it's everywhere.

... and I have a higher opinion of LBV than you do, but to each his own, YMMV, and all that.

 

[danek]

Doc, I appologize if I gave a poor impression of LBV. I love it; it is a vintage after all - and usually the only vintages found at restaurants. Because it spent so much more time exposed to a little bit of air in the vat than regular vintages, it doesn't require the many years of bottle age to mature and is much better at a young age than it's earlier-bottled brother.

 

[Riff Raff]

Gentlemen, I give you the mother of all port websites:

http://www.fortheloveofport.com

 

[Torcams]

Big fan of vintage port - it's become something of a tradition in my family around Christmas. Great with a cigar or some blue cheese. My favorite house is Taylor Fladgate, but Fonseca, Dow and Grahams make some fine ones too. Vintage ports age like nothing else - the ones drinking well now from my collection are the 1985s. The 1992s and 94s are still babies.

 

[rockviper]

Taylor Fladgate for me and SWMBO. Heck, even my 75 year old mom likes it when we're all playing scrabble!