Help needed with Port WIne

F

FawltyTowers

25+ Posts
I know absolute **** about Ports. Help! Any recommendations? Price ranges? What do I look for? Any particular country/region of origin? What's a good inexpensive one (less than $30)? What's a good one for "special occasions" (over $50)?

I tried some a while back and I can't even remember what it was, btu I liked it.
 
I've had some good inexpensive ports (less than $20), but don't know the names offhand.

A nice alternative is the raspberry wine that Central Market sells. It's made from raspberries, instead of grapes. It's sweeter than port, but fabulous with chocolate.
 
I had a glass of Port from my best friends uncles' personal vineyard. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven, as it was the best thing to ever touch my lips. Carry on.
 
Drink it...get drunk!

but seriously pm me i have a friend who is a distributer and knows everything you could ever imagine about a good port.
 
A lot of brands have bottles in the $10-$15 range as well as higher priced bottles. Try these for a Ruby Port:

Fonseca 27
Warres
Cockburn
Sandeman
 
i'll second the fonseca bin 27, and add that you should try six grapes, i forget the vineyard, but it's my favorite in the $10-20 range.
 
I will give you a general overview of the differnet types of ports - there are ruby ports, tawny, and aged tawny. Ruby is pretty basic and the most affordable and it blends grapes from harvests that aren't exceptional. These ports generally lack the depth and concentration of their tawny brethren.

Tawny ports are aged for sevearl more years than ruby ports. Though some tawny is simply a mixture of ruby and white ports, the best tawny Ports have acquired their pale color – an amber brown or tawny hue – from longer wood ageing. The flavor becomes drier and nuttier from the oxidation.

Aged Tawny are the best tawny Ports. They give the average age of the wines that have gone into making the blends. They are available in 10, 20, 30 and 40 year versions with a corresponding increase in price. A 20-year tawny would be the best price to quality ratio. Costco had the Taylor Fladglate for 40 - awesome price.

Colheita is a tawny but from a single vintage. It might be though of as a vintage tawny. It must receive a minimum of seven years in wood, but most are aged much longer. The 2000 vintage was the last vintage bottling, and I bought some to keep for my daugther's 21st birthday (she was born in 2000). These are roughly 100/btl, depending on house.

One other recommendation would be some of the LBV (late-bottled vintage) ports - usually pretty affordable but can be from a good year. Some of the better Port houses are Dow, Taylor Fladglate, and Fonseca. Let me know if you have any more questions.
 
I like tawnys much more than ruby ports. That being said, one bottle I had that was fantastic was a Taylor Fladgate 30 year old tawny port. Wonderful. A more afforable option is Warre's Otima - 10 year old port.
 
For a good inexpensive port try Seppelt. It is a tawny port made in Australia. I get it at Goody Goody in DFW for $10 a bottle. It is as good or better than many $50 ports that I have tried.
 
Okay, so I went and bought a bottle of Warre's Special Reserve for 13 bucks last week.

Just opened it about an hour ago. Very nice, rich flavor. Thsi bottle will not see the end of the night!

Thanks to you all for the help. I will be buying some of your suggestions in the near future.
 
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