The Lemon Fool

Any port drinkers able to give me guidance on what to buy for arounf £15-£20 a bottle? It's not a drink with which I'm familiar but my grandson enjoys the odd glass or three so would like to get him some for Christmas.
TIA

R6

To some extent its a matter of personal taste but I visited Porto not so long ago and did the rounds of the port houses. The pro's all seemed to recommend Warre's bottle aged Late Bottled Vintage in that price category (ie mine). Waitrose are selling it with a 25% off offer at the moment, costing £18 a bottle. It won a Decanter Gold Medal, which I find a pretty useful indicator of good quality.

https://www.waitrosecellar.com/port-she ... e-aged-lbv

MM

Once opened, most don't last anywhere near as long (without deteriorating) as people often assume they do, so unless he drinks it all in one go or a few days, it might be a good idea to buy something that will last rather longer...

That being the case, tawny port blends last the longest after opening, so that's a safe bet: look for something labelled as "10/20/30 Year Old Tawny Port" which should be good for a couple of months or so; or perhaps a Ruby Port blend, which could be good for a month; but avoid things described as "Vintage Port" (with a specific year named) because once opened they'll deteriorate at a similar rate as would a decent bottle of wine.

It's all down to how much oxygenation occurred while the port was being aged:
http://travel-tips.s3-website-eu-west-1 ... types.html

Of course, if he'll neck it all swiftly over Crimble, then the above doesn't matter and it's down to taste preferences!

Noone has yet mentioned Sandemans, which I used to enjoy a lot. At a price point to compete with some of the plonk.

Used to, in that it's been many years since I've seen it anywhere. Prompted by your question I googled, and it seems Waitrose will flog you a bottle.

As has been said, it's very much a matter of taste.

Tawny ports have gained a following, and I like them. Good with strong food or cheese. Crusty is difficult to obtain and a bit of an aquired taste best drunk on it's own. Ruby is a lot lighter. Better suited if eating lamb or less strong foods. White port is very much a summer drink, though you could serve it with desert, NOT with xmass pud, more a pavlova sort of drink.

As for how long a bottle lasts, it should be drunk of course. Think of it simply as a strong wine. It's normally 19-20%, while most wine today is 13% or so. Seriously the wine will oxidise over time, which is fine if you like sherry. Not so much if you want it to taste of wine.

Some really good information, thanks everyone. It may be better to see if I can get any smaller bottles so he doesn't have to drink like a fish before it goes off, either that or stick to the Bruichladdich.

R6

Another thought might be Madeira. Many of the same qualities of port, especially a Tawny one, but as it's fully oxidised as part of its production it lasts almost indefinitely in an opened bottle. If you have Amazon Prime the Wine Show has a recent episode on Madeira, so maybe it's making a long overdue comeback.

MM

Agree with Maraman there. Reading down the thread I had the same idea, and then find he’s gone & said it.

MaraMan wrote:Another thought might be Madeira. Many of the same qualities of port, especially a Tawny one, but as it's fully oxidised as part of its production it lasts almost indefinitely in an opened bottle.

Interesting. I get shocking headaches from madeira, and also from sherry (if I have a second glass, the first is okay), but I've never had that from port. I wonder why?

The point about vintage ports going off quickly is correct, though. I have a couple of bottles of pretty good vintage-year stuff in the cupboard (25-odd years old), and I'm still holding off until somebody can come round and help me start and finish it.

I've been known to buy the occasional bottle of Dows late bottled when it hits the christmas supermarts at a tenner or so, and although it's not quite so good it still does a pretty good job.

BJ

Much depends on whether R6's grandson has a sweet tooth. The typical LBV 'Ruby Port' is sweet. Tawnies and colheitas are less sweet and more 'leather / cedar / nutty'. Beware that cheap tawnies can be a mix of ruby and white port; good for cooking...
You may get 10-year-old tawnies for around £20 (or a bit more).

Many years ago I encountered some Croft Crusted (unfiltered) single year for £6 a pop in the then Safeway - presumably an unwanted job lot someone brokered off to them. I bought the lot, including what was in the stock room.
Happy days.

The Co=op have just stocked some Taylors Quinta de Vargellas 2004 at £25 (their website still says £30). This is not 'Vintage Port' in the usual sense but is a very fine single Quinta (estate), Vargellas is Taylor's best estate, and Taylors is (arguably) the best port.