For The Love Of Port

If, due to things out of your control, you could only buy from four (4) Port producers for the rest of your life, who would they be?

This question only applies to Port, that is, you're only able to buy Port and not Douro wines from a given producer. And it only applies to four "labels", example, choosing The Fladgate Partnership and all their products doesn't count as one. Each "label" is considered a separate producer for this question.

Hmm... tough call because I like both tawnies and VPs.

The VP side is easy for me - Graham, Fonseca, Vesuvio, and Taylor Fladgate. I think I could get by with those.

But for tawnies... man that's tough. There are just a lot of really good ones. I think that Kopke and Noval have to be on my list because they both have very solid Colheita and TWAIOA lineups, and perhaps more importantly they're both readily available in the US. But after that I think I'm going to have to choose a couple of smaller producers - maybe Romaneira and Sao Leonardo? But can I really leave out Niepoort?

Augggggh!

First two spots are very easily decided for me - Graham and Fonseca.

Next two are much more difficult, but i will probably be relatively boring and go with Dow/Taylor. If Noval and Noval Nacional were not two separate labels, i might be tempted to swap in the Noval/Nacional combo instead of Taylor, but only if i can make wild assumptions about my future spending power!

Niepoort
Fonseca
Graham
Noval

If I can count Noval and Noval Nacional as one:

• Niepoort
• Taylor
• Quinta do Vesuvio
• Noval

I'll allow one producer to mean whatever they make Port wise. So Noval and Nacional and Vesuvio and capela would be one producer. Grahams vp and Six Grapes is one, etc. :)

Graham's
Niepoort
Quinta do Noval
Warre's

Andy Velebil wrote:... Grahams vp and Six Grapes is one, etc. :)

In that case, I'll add Grahams, for the Six Grapes Actually, Warres might be up on a bigger list for me since my wife likes it a lot.

I think my four would be:
* Vesuvio - I have a vertical of every vintage with wines purchased either on release or ex-cellars shortly after release and would not want to break the vertical. And I really like the port!

* Noval - even the poor years of Noval have produced wines that I enjoy drinking (like the 1970 and 1978) and the current wines are going to be absolute humdingers in 20-50 years time.

* Graham - producers of consistently fine port, that matures for years but is sweet and fruity enough to be enjoyed when young.

And then I have a real problem. Croft and Cockburn made splendid ports in the first half of the 20th century and I would happily choose one of these producers if I was buying older wines, but their ports from the second half of the century won't set the port-world on fire. Taylor can be a bit beastly and spirity, so I'll pass on them. I'm tempted to go for Smith Woodhouse or Gould Campbell. Both houses are making very good port, at keen prices and have produced very enjoyable port in years which are now mature. There's Fonseca to consider - very reliable ports that mature to a wonderful elegance - and Niepoort (but which are damn difficult to get hold of). But, I think that on balance I will go for:

* Ferreira - I love elegant port and, for me, mature Ferreira epitomises elegant port; soft, sweet but fruity. Consistent across many years and enjoyable at almost any stage of its life.

does this inclde my actual budget?

which would throw out alot of exotics like the nacional or a noval 31.

in which case, the 4 i buy most of and enjoy for drinking are

#1 fonseca - Only their VPs and sqvp
#2 Vesuvio - Buy it every year
#3 Offley boa vista - love older vintages and even younger ones, the offley is elegant, lithe, early aging and not to spirity.
#4 Grahams - 6 grapes, malvedos and vp.

followed closely by #5 taylors. (if i could sneak it in here) mostly for the 20 yr tawny.

Warre
Fonseca
Graham
Vesuvio

For me the first three were easy, the last one is harder. I was going to go with Offley (would be my next choice normally) but if we're selecting only four 'forever more' then I'll go with the Vesuvio for the more different character.

Great question, Andy.

In alphabetical order...

Fonseca
Graham
Noval
Vesuvio

When this thread comes to an end we could have the follow-up question: if you were stranded on a desert island with only four brands of Port, which four would make you drink sea water instead

Grahams, Niepoort, Taylor, Warres

Niepoort, Taylor, Warre & Noval

Derek T. wrote:Great question, Andy.

In alphabetical order...

Fonseca
Graham
Noval
Vesuvio

When this thread comes to an end we could have the follow-up question: if you were stranded on a desert island with only four brands of Port, which four would make you drink sea water instead

Real companhia definitely ranks as my #1

Derek T. wrote:When this thread comes to an end we could have the follow-up question: if you were stranded on a desert island with only four brands of Port, which four would make you drink sea water instead

Hoopers and Hutcheson are on my list!

Derek T. wrote: When this thread comes to an end we could have the follow-up question: if you were stranded on a desert island with only four brands of Port, which four would make you drink sea water instead

Hey, save that question for when we get to the end

I figured this would be an easy choice for me, but I'm having a real tough time deciding on the last one. So give me a tad longer to figure it out.

Noval, Taylor, Fonseca, Niepoort.

The first 3 are pretty easy for me - Noval, Taylor and Grahams - Great VPs and a range of LBVs and tawnies for the days when you need a break from the VPs
The last spot was trickier - I could easily go with Warre's or Dow, but I'll take Niepoort in the end due to the range of styles they make.

This wasn't easy as there are so many good producers to choose from, both 'young' and old. Luckily, the past few years I've been grateful to take part in some very large and comprehensive tastings that have cemented my views of some brands/producers. For others being able to taste a large cross-section of their products and being very happy with the results over the years. So in no particular order...

Graham's
Fonseca
Noval
Niepoort