For The Love Of Port

hey folks, there is a Spanish restaraunt in Pittsburgh called Mallorca. i stopped in a little while ago and took pictures of their Port list. [oddly, they didn't have any sherry.] what do you think of the list and their prices? i have no idea whether this is good or bad in terms of selection and price.








i asked the waitress about their Ports and she sent out an older gentleman, he may have been the manager, he wasn't the bartender. he said he's originally from near Porto and his family made their own Port they drank at home. he also told me that the names Reserve Ruby and LBV are interchangeable from year to year because the laws change. i didn't argue.
i couldn't decide between the Ferreiriha Reserva as i've never had any Ferreiriha but i've seen you talk about them a lot, and the [unlisted] Taylor FLadgate LBV, which i forgot i'd tried this fall. he gave me decent samples of each in small glasses. i ended up preferring the Ferreiriha and got a glass. he got out another small glass and i asked for a white wine glass instead. he shrugged but poured it into the bigger glass.

I would be very hesitant to buy a glass of vintage port at restaurant. How long have the bottles been open? I can guarantee they are not blasting through one of each, once a week.

Even if they were finishing bottles once a week; they're prices are nothing to make me want to have a glass. I don't think Leacocks Rain Water is a 10 year Madeira. If it were, that is a nice price. The JP Moscatel for $45 a bottle is the only one I would consider an OK purchase.

i thought that Rainwater is the youngest type of Madeira like a Ruby or Tawny Port. is a 10 year Rainwater possible?

Scheiny S wrote:he also told me that the names Reserve Ruby and LBV are interchangeable from year to year because the laws change. i didn't argue.

You could have argued. There have been a few changes in the IVDP regulations from time to time, but reserve ruby and LBV have been very distinct for a long time, both in the regulations and in practice.

That's a pretty interesting list with a decent variety of vintage Port. Were it not for the key factor that Moses brings up, I might be tempted to try a pour of a few of those, like the 1970 Warres or 1977 Dow, which are not wines I see every day. But without a good answer as to how long the bottle has been open, I wouldn't waste my time and money on any of the vintage bottles. And even if the bottles were stored well and just opened yesterday, there are some that seem overpriced to me, like the '97 Quinta Vale d'Marta [sic], the '99 Vesuvio, and both vintages of the Fonseca Guimaraes. I think I can buy full bottles of those for not much more than the single pour price.

As for the 1963 Taylor and Fonseca, those can be readily purchased for about $300 each (retail listings, not even auction prices), so the markup is about 4X, more than what I usually expect.