Why, when, with what, and how freqquently?

[Alan McDonald]

Why, etc. do you drink Port?

I only drink any wine, table or fortified, as an accompaniment to food. I am certain this is the purpose of all wine. I drink Port because it is the wine I think best accompanies certain dishes. I drink table wines several times a week at lunch, but my evening meal, dinner, is the only time I drink Port.

My dinner is always a minimum of main course, cheeses and nuts. Occasionally I will have a starter, or a savoury course between the main and the cheeses. If I have a savoury course (paté or something my wife has contrived) then I will have a White Port, usually Ferreira. Sweet cheeses, ie not herbed, are normally about three of Brie, local sheep or goat, English Cheddar, Dutch cheeses, German or French Blues. A red Port is drunk with these. Every night without fail I have some cheese and a red Port. I have found as I get older, particularly in the last few years (I am 70 in a few weeks), that VP does not have the appeal it did when I was younger, so I keep these for the rare occasion I have guests. Everyday drinking is usually a ruby from (not in order) Burmester, Calem, Ferreira, Sandeman, Kopke, Poças, Croft and a supermarket own brand - Modelo/Continente. Obviously I have tried everything available but come back to this core. Occasionally I will have an LBV, but recently I have found them lacking in the quality of 30 years ago. With herbed cheeses and nuts I most often have Moscatel - Setúbal or Spanish, but now and again a Tawny of no great consequence. For me, wine is an accompaniment to food, and not the purpose of sitting at table.

I am interested to know what other people drink as their everyday Port, and which foods they have with them. Special occasions call for special wines and special foods, and that is not the purpose of my question.

[Glenn E.]

I don't drink dry wine, so my alcohol consumption is almost entirely Port. And that's relatively recent, beginning with my 40th birthday. Although that's coming up on 10 years ago now... time flies!

I like to have a glass of tawny after dinner, which for me is usually a 20-yr old. I do occasionally open a Colheita to drink on my own, but I usually save those for guests or tastings. I usually have some nuts or cheeses after dinner, too, and find that they pair very nicely with 20-yr old tawnies.

Sometimes I'm in the mood to have Port with dinner, usually when dinner is red meat, so I'll open an LBV or VP. I seem to like LBVs that are 7-10 years old (or older), or VPs that are either 30 years old or less than 5 years old. I don't open VPs for my own dinner very often. I think younger rubies go well with steaks or other "bare" red meat dishes, while older ones go well with more nuanced red meat dishes. Though really, it's hard to go wrong pairing a ruby Port with red meat.

Once in a while I'll have Port with chocolate, mostly just to confirm that I still don't think it makes that great of a pairing. I did recently enjoy a 70% dark chocolate with some leftover 1977 Gould Campbell VP, though, so that's why I keep trying once in a while. I think the key for me is that it has to be really dark chocolate so that the Port is sweeter than the chocolate.

As for frequency, on average I drink less than a glass per night. Sometimes I just don't have anything open, and that state can persist for a couple of weeks. Then I'll get the craving again and open up another bottle. Every once in a while I'll have 2 glasses in 1 night. Woo hoo! Party time!

[Daniel R.]

When I am alone (i.e., only with my wife) I drink Port on most days after dinner. A glass (or more) of watever I have open (frequently LBV or 10 year tawny, occasionally VP or Colheita or older tawnies). It is always after eating, so I there is no "with what".

[Joni H]

A great question!

Glenn and I have pretty similar habits. No dry wines, just a glass of tawny or colheita per evening. One or two per evening, my average is about 10 portions per week. I used to drink some rubies like Sandeman or Niepoort. Good, but I like tawnies a lot more. Of other dessert wines Moscatel is a favorite.

I try dark chocolate occasionally and also cheeses. Gouda is a favorite. But most of all I enjoy port with some music or a movie!

[Bradley Bogdan]

When work/exercise has been in high volume, I may go 3-4 days in between glasses, but most days 1-2 glasses, with or after dinner, depending on the food friendliness of the wine. I'll usually only have one bottle open at a time though (unless there's tawny/Madeira open) so it usually either table wine or dessert wine in a day.

A lazy weekend day a month or so though, I'll have a couple bottles open and have a could glasses of each while doing whatever around the house/with meals.

[Miguel Simoes]

Not much dry wine on my end either.

Port I usually have on its own after dinner. Noticing that in the winter I tend to go more for ruby style (LBV, young VP) and in the Summer mostly aged Tawny and Madeira. Usually have at least a glass. Have some pretty much every day.

Usually have several bottles open (right now have 1994 Calem VP, Broadbent 10 Yr Malmsey, Ferreira 20 Yr).

Dont usually pair it w food, find that it detracts from my enjoyment of both. Am still relatively new to this so maybe just a matter of figuring out what combinations work and which dont...

[Al B.]

Probably 9 out of 10 bottles I open will be port. I normally drink 1-2 glasses a night and will start with my meal and sip over the course of the evening. Most of what I open will be LBV or vintage port, simply because that's what I prefer - I really like the dried fruit and brown sugar flavours you get in aged ruby ports. Right now my open bottle is Taylor 1980. A bottle usually gets drunk over 3-4 days. And I tend to open for home consumption about 5 bottles per month.

[Moses Botbol]

The last few years, I only really drink port on binges visiting friends. I doubt I open more than 20 bottles a year on my own and that includes tawny. I just don't know any big port fans locally. Guess that helps age the collection more? Kind of sad, but that is the reality. I am still buying, but with focus. Another 5-6 years of buying and I should be set.

On "port drinking nights" on while visiting friends, I expect 1.5+ bottles consumed per person, per night. Those weeks are about twice a year.

[Eric Ifune]

Table wine always with food.
A glass of Port or Madeira for dessert.

[Marc J.]

My consumption is very similar to Al B, although most of what I open is either vintage and/or tawny. Typically, I open very few LBVs over the course if a year.

[Andy Velebil]

I normally would have a bottle of Port open most nights of the week. Maybe a glass or two with or after dinner, depending on if I had dinner at work or at home. Though in the past year or so I've cut back on Port at home to explore and understand Douro dry wines more. So I've been opening a lot of Douro wines of varying price points. For Port I tend to open more tawny's at home than VP, as with my varying work schedule it can be hard to actually be at home at a reasonable hour consistently. Sometimes I go in very early, say 3am, and sometimes I'm off at 3am. Since it can change daily it makes it a little difficult keeping an older VP fresh long enough. As sometimes I can't get back to it for two or three days. So I find Tawny's stay fresher longer and I tend to stick with 10 or 20 Year Tawny's and Colheita's. And I keep the older VP's for when I know it can be finished in one or two evenings.

This year my plan is to start checking out more LBV's from different producers.

[Alan McDonald]

Very interesting responses. I note one or two do not drink table wines with meals. I would have thought most people "learned" to drink wine this way and graduated to Port.

I hate to think I am missing something, but am reluctant to have Port with my main course - I enjoy table wines equally as much. So for those who drink Port with the main (red meat) course, do you have other courses to follow, and if so, what do you drink with them?

[Moses Botbol]

I hate to think I am missing something, but am reluctant to have Port with my main course - I enjoy table wines equally as much.

Same here.

[Glenn E.]

I note one or two do not drink table wines with meals. I would have thought most people "learned" to drink wine this way and graduated to Port.

I hate to think I am missing something, but am reluctant to have Port with my main course - I enjoy table wines equally as much. So for those who drink Port with the main (red meat) course, do you have other courses to follow, and if so, what do you drink with them?

I never learned to like beer or dry wine. I had plenty of access - my parents were happy to let me try whatever they were drinking - but they just didn't appeal to my palate. I couldn't figure out what my friends liked about beer... I just thought it was gross.

I've always liked sweeter mixed drinks, though. My rule of thumb is that if comes with an umbrella in it, I'll probably like it. So when a friend gave me my first bottle of Port for my 40th birthday, I was hooked.

At first I only drank Port on its own, but eventually I started drinking it with my meal when others were drinking wine and found that it works well for me. I drink an appropriate Port with whatever is being served, much like you would with a dry wine. White Port (older ones, at least) go well with chicken or fish. Red Port goes well with red meat. Tawnies go well with a little of everything, but particularly pork dishes and after-dinner cheese courses.

Of course with Port I run into a quantity problem. Whereas my wife can finish a bottle of red wine in 2 days, it can take me a week to finish a bottle of Port. If I need to have 3 open (one of each type) in order to pair with different dinner courses then it might take me all month to finish them all! So I usually just have one bottle open at a time and drink it with dinner/after dinner. Sometimes it's red, sometimes it's tawny. Whites are more of a summer thing for me, though I do occasionally have one open at other times.

[Andy Velebil]

Very interesting responses. I note one or two do not drink table wines with meals. I would have thought most people "learned" to drink wine this way and graduated to Port.

I hate to think I am missing something, but am reluctant to have Port with my main course - I enjoy table wines equally as much. So for those who drink Port with the main (red meat) course, do you have other courses to follow, and if so, what do you drink with them?

I too was reluctant to have Port with a main course, as I was always taught and had read that Port is for after dinner. That old long standing stereo-type Port has. When I finally started experimenting with Port and food I found it was a surprisingly good pairing, for most anyways. With the exception of older VP's due to being more delicate, most younger Rubies and Tawny's go with a wide variety of hearty dishes. The only one I'm not fond of is very spicy dishes with Port, such as Tai, as the spices cause the spirit in Port to become really pronounced. Otherwise, be it pizza, steak, Italian, Pork, chicken, burgers, etc. most red Ports pair quite well.

But regardless of what we say, it really comes down to what you personally like. So if dry wines work better, then stick with that. Though if you're able to keep an open mind, do try pairing some younger red Ports with different main dishes. Not saying all will work out for you, but I'd bet you will find at least some that you enjoy together.

[Al B.]

Very interesting responses. I note one or two do not drink table wines with meals. I would have thought most people "learned" to drink wine this way and graduated to Port.

I hate to think I am missing something, but am reluctant to have Port with my main course - I enjoy table wines equally as much. So for those who drink Port with the main (red meat) course, do you have other courses to follow, and if so, what do you drink with them?

I do enjoy and drink table wine, just not often. I like the sweetness that comes in port and the significant complexity that develops with 30 years in the bottle - more complexity than I can generally pick up in a table wine with the same age. I also find port goes with pretty much any meal which is based on red meat or, perhaps surprisingly, most vegetarian meals. At home I rarely have dessert, usually if I eat after the main dish it will be cheese. Currently I am really enjoying Jarlsberg with 35 year old vintage port.

[Miguel Simoes]

Though in the past year or so I've cut back on Port at home to explore and understand Douro dry wines more.

How have you fared? Do you feel like you get it better now?

Any suggestions on where to start?

I def feel like I can't appreciate Douro wines well (and dry wines in general). Wines that others love I fail to properly enjoy, others that aren't supposed to be any good I find rather nice. Maybe I simply have a cheap taste in dry wine??

[Andy Velebil]

Though in the past year or so I've cut back on Port at home to explore and understand Douro dry wines more.

How have you fared? Do you feel like you get it better now?

Any suggestions on where to start?

I def feel like I can't appreciate Douro wines well (and dry wines in general). Wines that others love I fail to properly enjoy, others that aren't supposed to be any good I find rather nice. Maybe I simply have a cheap taste in dry wine??

Cheap tastes in wine sometimes is a good thing

For me it was more about exploring some lesser priced ones. I've had a number of upper end Douro wines from the major producers, so I was focusing more on middle and lower end wines. Those under $25-ish or so. There are some really good values. Matter of fact most over the $13-15 mark (for reds) are generally very good for the price. The down side is some tend to lose a little Douro character, but that is to be expected I guess. Though some such as Meandro and even Tuella can still have a touch of traditional "Douro style" to them.
Niepoort's lesser priced reds tend to be more main stream style wise. Vallado as well. Crasto has really come along since 2008 where it increased in quality a lot. Though it's still a bit on the lighter side compared to the others.

I'd suggest you start some of the more main stream ones I mentioned, such as Vallado, Niepoort, Tuella (from Cockburn's), Crasto, Meandro. No need to buy their upper end stuff so stick to their lower tier stuff. These are anywhere from $6 to about $22-ish and offer darn good value for the price.

FYI, for $6 at Trader Joe's Tuella is a darn good wine and would easily hold it's own to a Cali or French wine which sells for twice the price.

[Miguel Simoes]

I'd suggest you start some of the more main stream ones I mentioned, such as Vallado, Niepoort, Tuella (from Cockburn's), Crasto, Meandro. No need to buy their upper end stuff so stick to their lower tier stuff. These are anywhere from $6 to about $22-ish and offer darn good value for the price.

Thank you Andy!

[Alan McDonald]

Currently I am really enjoying Jarlsberg with 35 year old vintage port.

I think there would be something wrong with you if you did not. The range of cheeses available is one of the things I miss about the UK.


Miguel, I second the choice of Valado and Tuella as a starting point. I find that most of the lower priced Douro table wines are very drinkable if you can give them some time. I try to go for 10 years plus for reds. Easier now that I have been here that long. On the other hand, I find the higher priced ones (I know you know prices here) say over €10 might have the edge on quality, but not enough to tempt me to buy for cellaring. There are a couple of Kopke that might be an exception to that, and I have a small number, but will not be buying many. My attitude is that if I can buy an acceptable wine for €3, and many are less than that, will I obtain four times the enjoyment from one at €12. The answer is almost always No.