For The Love Of Port

Frederick must be busy ... but in the meantime, what would you like to try this month?

White is nice. I drank my last bottle a week or so ago, but I bet I can find more.

A white Port sounds like a good VT for August.

OK, let's do it.

Who is going to be first?

It looks like Andy was first: http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... 12&t=10254

Eric Menchen wrote:It looks like Andy was first: http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... 12&t=10254

Thanks Eric, I'm embarrassed to say I forgot to cross post it here

Today was yet another scorcher (by Seattle standards) so I thought I'd give a white Port a try. This note is from a well-chilled (fridge temp) bottle.

Porto Rocha Branco Lagrima

Color: darker than I expected - a deep gold with tan overtones.
Nose: Not much... some faint alcohol, something akin to paraffin, and something in-between lemon and orange. Also a very faint sense of honey.
Palate: A little too thick and unctuous for a hot day, but pleasant tasting. Sweet and full bodied, with flavors of honeycomb and vanilla. Possibly some mango? There's also an overtone of coffee, but with cream and sugar.
Finish: A small amount of heat, echos of the palate, and then a relatively fast fade-out. There's a little bit of an edge to it, but nothing overt.

Score: Good, but not great, so let's call it 84 points. I think that I'd rather have this than a 1970 Royal Oporto, but it's a close call. I've had those anywhere from 82 to 85. With a little more complexity and depth to the flavors this could easily reach 88-89.

1970 Royal Oporto ... hmmmm, curious. Now I will do my best to fit a white Port into this weekend's schedule.

Eric Menchen wrote:... but I bet I can find more.

No such luck. I didn't manage to make it to any of the big stores, and my small local store only had Barros, and well overpriced at that.

Although I normally drink Moscatel with paté and nuts, a white Port goes down well too and I will have that for a week or two. The best I have found so far is Ferreira's. But absolutely definitely not anybody's Lagrima with a savoury. They are far too sweet. Again, until now, but always willing to experiment, I have not found anything that goes with a Lagrima. I find them too sweet even on their own. They might come in at the extreme end of a meal with mint cream chocolates.

For hot weather, and cold too, as an aperitif I like Lajido from Pico in the Açores. The only one I have ever seen is the 1994 and I think that over the last five years I have purchased every bottle the particular store had. Normal price is about $US12 for a 500ml bottle, but I have had the odd one on special offer. I have not seen more than three on the shelf at once.

Lagrima and salted Marcona Almonds work in unison for me, albeit I usually prefer the almonds to the uber-sweet White Port.