Port (alcohol thread)

[mason55]

When I took a wine tasting class in college (yes, for credit!!!) one week was "fortified wine week." The ports I had there were amazing and I loved them, but I have no idea what any of them were (this was 3 years ago). At the liquor store the other day I saw a bottle on special for $6. I knew it would be crap, so I'm not worried about that. The thing is that it's not crap the way Mr. Boston is bad vodka or Franzia is bad wine. I can just tell the flavors are totally out of balance, and I don't think it's even aged. However it tastes WAY better than most $6 bottles of wine.

Anyways... There's gotta be some people on here who enjoy port. Give me some decent, cheap recommendations. I'm talking <$20. I know I'm not going to get anything great, but considering this $6 bottle is very drinkable, there's gotta be a $12-$15 bottle that's pretty decent.

[RacersEdge]

I would just buy the most expensive bottle you can find for less than $20. The takeaway I had from my WT class was you can get decent stuff if you spend over $10.

Is port the sweet stuff you drink with desserts?

[touchfaith]

I don't like wine. It gives me a terrible headache.

But, a friend of mine moved last week and dropped off the following...

97 Forest Glen Cabernet Sauvignon
02 California Merlot 'Annabella'
03 Montevina Pinot Grigio
02 Beringer Nouveau
03 Soquel Vineyards Syrah
02 Sterling Vineyards Muscat Canelli
02 Charles Shaw Merlot
96 Gabbiano Vino Rosso di Toscana

...so am I sure one of these is your answer.

If not, does anyone know which one of these is best to remove greese from my driveway?

[mason55]

Not a single one of those is port....

[touchfaith]

Thats bad huh?

[mason55]

[ QUOTE ]
Thats bad huh?

[/ QUOTE ]

You can clean grease from your driveway with any of them because none of them help me...

[chrisdhal]

Fonseca Bin 27. Should be around $20.

[Rhone]

The best port you can get for under $20 is not really port (cause it ain't from Portugal), but who cares. It's made the same way and tastes the same. The best values are actually from Australia, and within this category the best you can find for this price range, IMO, is Hardy's Whiskers Blake tawny. It's between $10-$15, and is amazing. There's another one called Clocktower, but the Hardy's is much better (and pretty easy to find around here in the DC area).

[HDPM]

may have been more expensive than the OP is looking for, but the only Australian port I had was a penfolds of some sort at a Christmas party last year. I don't know the specifics, but I think it was maybe 12-15 per glass at restaurant prices. It was excellent.

[HDPM]

I kinda like a lot of ports in the 20 range. I am not port expert but enjoy it whenever I drink it. The fonseca mentioned above is good. I like dow's LBV, grahams 6 grapes. And others. I have a bottle of heitz port that isn't expensive sitting around I bneed to open.

[mason55]

[ QUOTE ]
The best port you can get for under $20 is not really port (cause it ain't from Portugal), but who cares. It's made the same way and tastes the same. The best values are actually from Australia, and within this category the best you can find for this price range, IMO, is Hardy's Whiskers Blake tawny. It's between $10-$15, and is amazing. There's another one called Clocktower, but the Hardy's is much better (and pretty easy to find around here in the DC area).

[/ QUOTE ]

So... out of curiosity... they can still call it Port even if it's not from Portugal? I'm sitting next to a bottle of "California Tawny Port" which obviously wasn't made in Portugal.

Thank you guys for the suggestions though I will check some of them out.

[bholdr]

cheap port is worse than cheap reds or whites, imo, but there are a couple for less than $20 that i find very drinkable and worthwhile.

>Warres 'warrior' port- very rich without being smarmy-sweet. a good starting point.
>Sandeman Founders Reserve- should be about $16, very sweet, good for deserts, etc. esp good with chocolate. dark chocolate. mmmmmm....
>Deltaforce port- not as sweet. almost purple color. tasty, but not really the kind of flavor for drinking more than one glass. kinda alcohol taste (not enough sweetness to cover up the 20%ness of it)

those are the sub-$20 ports that i drink.

[ozyman]

I know nothing about Port but this sounds interesting. Do you only drink it with dessert, what types of dessert do you drink it with?

[Rhone]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The best port you can get for under $20 is not really port (cause it ain't from Portugal), but who cares. It's made the same way and tastes the same. The best values are actually from Australia, and within this category the best you can find for this price range, IMO, is Hardy's Whiskers Blake tawny. It's between $10-$15, and is amazing. There's another one called Clocktower, but the Hardy's is much better (and pretty easy to find around here in the DC area).

[/ QUOTE ]

So... out of curiosity... they can still call it Port even if it's not from Portugal? I'm sitting next to a bottle of "California Tawny Port" which obviously wasn't made in Portugal.

Thank you guys for the suggestions though I will check some of them out.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure American laws let you call anything whatever you want. Hence those big bottles of California "Burgundy" that have nothing to do with Burgundy, for example. So I guess it's a matter of who you ask, but many would say that just like real Champagne has to be from France, real port has to be from Portugal.

[Drew16]

Recently at a wedding i had a glass of 27yr old Port. A gift given to the groom when he was born to be opened on his wedding day. It was good but REALLY strong. Other than that I dont know [censored] about port.

[jakethebake]

This is what passes for a college course these days? Where the hell do you go to school?

[codewarrior]

Sandeman Founder's Reserve, about $14.

[ChipWrecked]

I used to like Cockburn's Reserve back in my 20's. It couldn't be too expensive, if I was buying it.

[ethan]

[ QUOTE ]
The best port you can get for under $20 is not really port (cause it ain't from Portugal), but who cares. It's made the same way and tastes the same. The best values are actually from Australia, and within this category the best you can find for this price range, IMO, is Hardy's Whiskers Blake tawny. It's between $10-$15, and is amazing. There's another one called Clocktower, but the Hardy's is much better (and pretty easy to find around here in the DC area).

[/ QUOTE ]

Rhone's advice is (unsurprisingly) good here.

My favorite of the $20 ports would probably be the Ferreira 10-year.

[xadrez]

I just got back from Portugal a couple weeks ago and my cousin gave me a bottle of Sandeman Vau Vintage 2000.

Is this any good? Im not a big wine drinker (pass the scotch please)

[sfer]

Like with everything wine related, the best thing to do is to read a little, taste a lot, and find a merchant who you trust and talk to. And I think this is a decent forum (http://www.westcoastwine.net/) I used to frequent.

[gilper]

For inexpensive but quality ports try some Late Bottle Vintages or LBV from the major houses. These ports don't require the aging the vintages due and are ready to drink now. However, some claim that the Noval will benefit from cellaring.

A few that I like all right around $20:
1999 Taylor Fladgate LBV
1999 Fonseca LBV
1998 Dow LBV
1996 Quinta do Noval LBV
1994 Quinta do Noval LBV – rather hard to find and may be more than $20 but worth it

Vintage port is often sold by the half bottle so you might be able to find some nice vintages a little cheaper.

One more thing you might look for. A lot of port houses will decide that a vintage is good but not great or doesn’t match the house ‘style’. They don’t want to release this vintage under the house name so they sell it under a different name. There is a designation on the label to indicate this but I can’t remember what it is right now. Sometimes these ports are really good values.

[BigDonkey]

[ QUOTE ]
Fonseca Bin 27. Should be around $20.

[/ QUOTE ]

WINNAH !!!!