Port

Any of you drink port? I’m looking for some recommendations. Not horribly expensive, but certainly not cheap. I’ve had port before at friends’ houses, and liked it, as well as at restaurants, but at the moment I don’t have a starting place for buying my own.

I grabbed a random bottle of 10 year tawny port (Cabral) and it’s okay. Not as good as the others I’ve had. Fancy bottle though.

Port Charles is a stupid show.

I used to be a big port drinker, but about 20 years ago I got myself really drunk on it and haven’t touched it since … and can’t think of a single recommendation - despite having some great stuff I used to share with friends.

I like port. But I dont’ remember the brand I buy. The next time I’m at the liquor store I’ll let you know. The stuff I buy runs about $20 a bottle.

Port’s particular sweetness and flavor makes it hard to get away with shopping around. In the same way Cognac drinkers on a budget would be well-advised to explore scotches instead of searching for the mythical reasonably priced decent brandy, you might want to learn to love Sherry.

A splendid monocletastic thread, old boy! I wish there were a suitable internet-friendly way to express the mad-eyed, nasal bark that wealthy British nobledrunks utter when approving of beverages.

Easy. Use short, clipped sounds, and put wot at the end of a sentence. Liberal use of the words ‘chap’ and ‘boy’ would also add to the atmosphere.

Taylor comes to mind immediately, as they are well-known. I don’t know much, other than the best Port comes from English companies or direct from Portugal.

It’s hard to recommend any wine to someone who doesn’t say what qualities they appreciate. Just sayin’.

It’s very odd seeing this just before the penis thread. Port Penis. I don’t think I’d want to dock there.

Actual information:

Sandeman is the go-to for most people, about 24$/bottle. There are plenty of “wino” ports that sell for practically nothing; in most cases you want to stay at or above 15$/bottle or risk homelessness and streetcorner rambling. Also Warrior is pretty good, Six Grapes is way too sweet.

At the high end, I can recommend Ficklin, particularly their Reserves, which they only release on years they deem worthy. 30$-50$ bottle, but I had some 12yo Reserve that was fantastic. On the home front, Praeger makes some very nice stuff out of Napa, they have a white port that is interesting, if not very port-y.

Other than that, you’ve just got to start buying it and finding your taste.

H.

Right, but I’m in more of an experimentation phase, meaning I’m trying to figure out exactly what I like.

Might look around or ask at your local places and go to a wine/port/alcohol tasting. We have a few of them around here and if you’re in a bigger city, you should be able to find more. My wife used those to great advantage to learn about wine and what she liked and didn’t like. I know more than a few of the wine tastings she went too had all kinds of other stuff too…

Charles just keeps turning into a bigger and bigger lush.

I’ll second the Taylor, in particular the 20 year old tawny. Costs about $50-$55 here. A surprisingly good cheap port is Hardy’s Whiskers Blake Tawny. Obviously not as good as the Taylor, but for $15 it’s a steal.

So cognac; what’s a good inexpensive one? I’ve already explored scotches.

Re cognac: Anything with a VSOP or higher grade (or rating or whateverthefuck it’s called). That’ll be decent, but the good stuff is when you hit XO. Of course most bottles of XO cognac go for 120+

If you’re ever in Boston, Charles, you should check out the restaurant Finale - there are three locations here. They’re a dessert and wine bar, and they have a small but decent collection of ports. Best part is that they do port flights, so if you want to get a sampling without breaking your wallet, they’re a great choice.

All that anger needs some sort of outlet. It’s not lushing, it’s self medication.

:P

Third the 20-year Taylor’s.

At least there’s no stories about me involving cougars. Better a lush than a sympathy fuck!

Dow’s 20-year old Tawny, which is fairly expensive. The trick to getting expensive port is to have your wife tell everyone that it’s your favorite and you developed a taste for it when you were in Britain flying BOMBERS over ZE GERMANS and it’s a shame, because it’s just too expensive for you to buy for yourself anymore.

You’ve picked an unfortunate time to become a port afficianado. Last year’s crops were very light, and about 80% of this year’s crop was destroyed by hail. Although, this is probably only applicable if you’re going to be one of those people that buys now for drinking 20 years from now. :) Good port needs a fair amount of aging to be truly complex. But, like good cognacs, good ports tend to be expensive.

The three best ports that are still commonly available are Graham 1985; Graham 1983, and Smith Woodhouse 1983. All can be had in the $100 range.

Stepping down in price a bit, but still quite good are: Gould Campbell 1983, Warre 1983,Taylor 1985. Those probably retail average about $50-$75.

In the $20-$50 range, these are recommended: Fonseca 1983, Ferreira 1985, Dow 1983, Quarles Harris 1983, Quinta do Crasto 1985, Fonseca Guimaraens 1985, Churchill’s 1985, Kopke 1985, Gould Campbell 1985.

Well…there could be days…except you and I both know that Port Penis would be filled with “Faaabulous” Men. ;)