The BEST Port Wine you've opened/tasted in 2024?

[Roy Hersh]

Alex,


Do you see that as a general trend in the UK, in other words are more Port enthusiast friends and people you know, discovering and drinking more Tawny compared to VP nowadays, or is that more attributed to your own drinking?

Look forward to your opinion on this.

RH

[Al B.]

Alex,


Do you see that as a general trend in the UK, in other words are more Port enthusiast friends and people you know, discovering and drinking more Tawny compared to VP nowadays, or is that more attributed to your own drinking?

Look forward to your opinion on this.

RH

Well, the general trend towards tawny is affecting the UK as much as anywhere else, and several of our friends are now committed tawny drinkers.

But for me, I drink tawny / colheita for the sheer convenience. I often drink a bottle of decanted Vintage Port over 3-4 days, but on the last day there’s usually only a glass left in the decanter and I still feel thirsty when that’s gone.

What do I do? Open and decant another bottle of VP or pop and pour a tawny, which I can then leave in the wine cooler for a week until I have my next glass.

I bought several (half) cases of Noval Colheotas 2009-2005 for just that reason!

[Roy Hersh]

Alex wrote:

I bought several (half) cases of Noval Colheotas 2009-2005 for just that reason!

Wise man!


For you and I ... not that many years apart and starting on the Port path in similar fashion and time, (VP focused) it is great to hear that Tawny and I assume Colheita as well for UK friends is now far more popular than ever.

When so focused on VP for so long, I'd say 98% of my first two decades of drinking were Vintage Ports. Tawnies on rare occasions back then, and Colheitas very rare. Starting within a few years of our meeting, that began to change and by the end of that decade, I was still 60/40 VP dominant. Nowadays, and given my location ... and the inclusion of White Ports (Colheitas and 10 yo-100 years) the mix has shifted a LOT. VP is now only 35-40% of my consumption. Someday, if/when I regain control of my old cellar's contents, that will change again. But even on my tours in Douro, which began 90% VP, even those are now down to about 40% VP.

Funny to see how "circumstances" have affected my Port consumption. I am going to turn this into a thread.

[A.S. Demka]

Alex wrote:

I bought several (half) cases of Noval Colheotas 2009-2005 for just that reason!

Wise man!


For you and I ... not that many years apart and starting on the Port path in similar fashion and time, (VP focused) it is great to hear that Tawny and I assume Colheita as well for UK friends is now far more popular than ever.

When so focused on VP for so long, I'd say 98% of my first two decades of drinking were Vintage Ports. Tawnies on rare occasions back then, and Colheitas very rare. Starting within a few years of our meeting, that began to change and by the end of that decade, I was still 60/40 VP dominant. Nowadays, and given my location ... and the inclusion of White Ports (Colheitas and 10 yo-100 years) the mix has shifted a LOT. VP is now only 35-40% of my consumption. Someday, if/when I regain control of my old cellar's contents, that will change again. But even on my tours in Douro, which began 90% VP, even those are now down to about 40% VP.

Funny to see how "circumstances" have affected my Port consumption. I am going to turn this into a thread.

When my wife and I joined PHT2 in 2022 I had expected to taste lots and lots of Vintage Ports (which we actually did ). On top of this we also enjoyed a substantial number of great Tawny and Colheita tastings (after all Dr Tawny was one of the participants), for us a new adventure.
Since this trip our cellar has grown from almost 100% Vintage towards 90/10, and our consumption to 30% LBV/Vintage, 70% White/Colheita/older Tawnies.