For The Love Of Port

I am sure many of us have favourite wines, favourite styles and favourite vintages but which shipper do you think is the best of all?

In answering the question please think of:

1. range of top quality styles offered
2. consistency over a prolonged period of time
3. if you lack the experience to assess 1 and 2 go for the shipper you would choose if you hadn't tasted the wine

Voting for more than 1 shipper is not allowed under any circumstances. Mentioning a close 2nd place is equally unacceptable. Tell us which is your favoutie shipper and why. Leave the rest to be voted for by others.

I will complie the answers after 7 days.

Derek

I would have to vote for the Symington's. They have such a wide variety of labels, quality, types, consistancy over the years, and price points that they are hard to beat IMO.

CLARIFICATION

Andy's first attempt at sitting on the fence is disqualified.

Think the old fashioned meaning of shipper - i.e. the name that appears on the label. Shipping groups not allowed.

Derek

You said "Shipper" and they are a shipper

OK, I get what you mean now....remember I got a pea-brain!

I will go with Niepoort. They make some of the better cheap and premium rubies, a great 10/20 year Tawny, some of the best Colheita's (IMO), and outstanding VP's. Not to mention such a wide variety of very good dry wines.

Anyone who argues with the referee will be disqualified - Andy is now on a final warning.

Derek

Taylor Fladgate. Period. I'm a big fan of Warre's as well as Niepoort, but when it comes down to the best shipper across the board the nod has to go to Taylor.

Derek,

This is the kind of question that Roy sets us. "Who is the best shipper in the Douro and Why?". I'm going to do my usual exam trick and answer the question that should have been asked and not the one that was really asked.

I vote for Fonseca. My experience with VPs only goes back to 1945 and with Fonseca's wines only back to '63 but they are a label that I will consistently search out and buy older vintages and a shipper whose wines I have bought on release every declared vintage since 1997. They have a range of quality wines, releasing wines under the Fonseca name, the Fonseca-Guimaraens name and single quintas such as Panascal. Between these three labels almost everyone except Andy can find a vintage to celebrate their birth year.

Furthermore, Fonseca have now started to produce an unfiltered LBV, have produced consistently good filtered LBVs for many years and also produce one of the best rubies I have encountered in their Bin 27.

They may or may not produce tawnies. For me, tawnies tend to be distractions until I find the bottle aged ports on the wine list.

However, Fonseca do not produce a crusted port (as far as I know), but I forgive them this oversight.

And some Fonseca wines have a stellar reputation. The Fonseca 1927, 1945, 1948, 1955, 1963, 1966 and 1970 are at the very top of the wines for those years with only the Nacional and a handful of other wines challenging their reputation.

Lastly, there is also the personal memory. My first ever full case purchase at auction was a case of Fonseca '66. I still have the case at home, polished and varnished with nice brass fittings and being used to hold CDs - makes a great CD storage box!

A close second to this choice comes <<Deleted by Derek for breaking the rules - or at least he would have done if he could have!>>

In summary FONSECA.

For both range of products and consistency of quality, the prize has to go to Graham IMO

Tom

I vote for DOW for the following reasons:

1) In my limited experienceI find it remains true to its style across its range, I have not come across an atypical wine for Dow.

2) It has a great range VP,SQVP,Crusted, LBV ,Ruby and scrumptiousTawnies.

3) I find the quality/price ratio to my liking.

4) Where I have lived there has been a good availability across the range which has meant if I want a particular bottle I can easily locate it.

5) I have had a soft spot for DOW ever since I purchased two bottles at auction and literally purred my way through drinking them.


Paul.

If I were to pick on VP only then it would have to be Fonseca but as it is a range then I'm going for Warre's. The VP is consistent and elegant without being overpowering. The tawnies are an excellent range from the simple Otima 10yo upwards. Warrior is a superb entry-level Ruby, the filtered LBV is very good value and the unfiltered is just very good. I cannot say the same about the Fonseca, Graham's and Taylor ranges.

I would have to say Grahams. Good range, great VP's in most vintages. A few others have a wider range, but lose out on their VP's. I even like the 77

Jay

I was leaning towards Dow's, but the only weakness of that shipper IMO are the tawnies. When Alex said Warre's, that got me thinking. I like most of the range of Warre's - the Otima's are very good, their unfiltered LBV is among the best and their VP's are in a style that I love. I only find the SQVP's a bit disappointing at times. Well, they are forgiven for that, my vote goes to Warre's.

Ask me again, and I'll give you a different opinion.

No Ferreira or Ramos Pinto? Both have great wine and port, long history, and values on the high and low ends. I had a Ramos Pinto estate bottled red last night (for the first time) and for $12.00 USD, that is a hard bottle to beat from any region.

I'll throw Ferreira out there on my list of best shippers, just to stir up some debate.

I shall be a good boy, Uncle Derek, honest I shall, and name only one brand. It's the brand that I have found to be the most consistent. Other ports may hit higher notes in their best vintages, but this one converts expectation into enjoyment pretty much every time. It is FONSECA.

But I am fond of other ports too, and not mentioning them is harD:OWlett that I am, and diabetic that I am, I do enjoy a slightly drier taste for my strictly limited sticky drinks.

For older ports, where the tannins have subsided, there are other brands whose refined taste will sTAY LORd knows how long in my memory.

These brands, to which I have alluded elliptically, are all terribly English. But other nations have contributed to the very finest ports and it would mistakeN, I.E. POOR Taste, not to allude to them too.

Later,

Dr Owl

----------------------------
John Owlett, Southampton, UK

John...quite the sneaky devil :twisted: Becareful Lord "D" will banish you to the gallows

Hey kids, Grandad Roy asked me to keep you all entertained whilst he is away drinking thousands of bottles of fabulous port.

I put this simple question here to see whether or not the FTLOP collective were capable of following a simple instruction without rambling on and on and on about nothing. So far, 5 have passed the test and 6 have failed - Andy failed a number of times but then he is the Chief of Police at Disneyland so what did I expect :?

Tom wins the prize for the most concise answer, John wins the prize for the cleverest attempt at humour. Andy is barred from all future competitions

Derek

This is a very difficult question for me to answer. I keep going back and forth between Taylor and Niepoort. Taylor for their reputation and quality. Niepoort for their quality and wide range of offerings. I also have a soft spot in my heart for Dow and a great appreciation for Fonseca. The criteria though was to pick just one. Since I have to pick just one, it will be Taylor.

Unfortunately I have not tasted enough of the great port shippers yet to judge on their quality, I am counting on this forum, articles, books, etc to evaluate port.

But, if I must judge from what I tasted so far, I would go with Warre's.

The general quality of their products are excellent, they produced charming traditional LBV's, excellent tawny's (20yo, Otima's 10 & 20yo, colheita's), very good SQVP and sometimes excellent VP. Their ports are sometime underestimated. And the prices are still reasonnable. So I find that Warre's port are a good value to buy.

If I can explain with an image, quality of a second growth in bordeaux, for the price of a fifth growth (not every years but still).

Gilles

This is proving to be an interesting thread. Its generating some good posts on the reasons why people are choosing their particular nomination for "best all-round shipper" but also giving a very good insight into the importance of having a quality offer in all categories of port.

Anyone else like to make a nomination? I've really enjoyed reading this thread so far and would welcome some more answers.

Alex

I'll throw Ferreira out there on my list of best shippers, just to stir up some debate.[/quote]

I'm glad Moses mentioned Ferreira. I think that I am starting to appreciate Ferreira more and more for the history and the overall good quality of all their ports. I've never been disappointed by any bottle of Ferreira. Dona Antonia is one of my top reservas, Duque du Braganca my favorite tawny, and their LBV's and VP's are always very good. The VP's are always very reasonable in price, too.