The Rise of White Port

[Andy Velebil]

Many years ago white Ports were largely relegated to basic inexpensive dry or very sweet ones. Generally speaking, they were not complex nor were they all that enjoyable by themselves. Most were used as a mixer for other drinks, such as White Port and Tonic. With the rise in popularity of older White Tawny's coming to market the overall quality of many whites have increased. As has the shear number of different types of white tawny's. Some younger, some older, some single vintage, most blends of older ones, various styles and profiles.

As a result of these changes and far easier availability, many of us here at now buy white Ports far more often than we ever did a decade or more ago. My questions are;

1- What White Ports have you discovered that you've enjoyed?

2- Are there any that you regularly buy or buy once in a while when the chance arises? If so, what are they?

It would be nice to have a thread dedicated to these for people to reference, so please post what you've found and enjoyed.

[Tom Archer]

I've enjoyed some excellent old aged whites in the past, but the young ones seem variable, even from the same producer. There seems to be a critical sweetness window - too dry and they don't keep, too sweet and they become sickly.

Standard, Reserve and 10yr I generally avoid, although I may buy the odd bottle of a dry standard white if I want to make cocktails. I've previously enjoyed a wonderful 10yr from a producer only to be let down by the next bottling - it may be that the volumes are too small to keep the style consistent.

[Moses Botbol]

I am well stocked on '05 Kopke White half bottles. I don't drink them as much as I thought I would. I noticed a basic Ferreira white port in wine cellar. Not sure how it got there.

[Frederick Blais]

I've learned recently that Aged White Port category exists mostly because of Quebec's alcool monopoly, the SAQ. When they do good things, we have to mention it!

From the mid 90's to the mid 2000's, Quebec was the klondike for Port companies, it was the place in the world drinking the most specialize category Port per capita. The diversity was unbelievable. This have unfortunately change, not because the consumers wanted to buy less but mostly because the monopoly changed business model... but that is another story.

In the late 90's the Monopoly wanted to have a high quality white Port on their shelves. They contacted the producers and Andresen and Quinta da Santa Eufemia accepted to make one for them. Andresen released it on the Mackenzie brand, labeled very old white Port. It was a blend of more than 30yo white Port on average and I drank it several times, delicious!

Carlos, the owner of Andresen thought this Port was so good, it should not only be under the white Port category like too many sweet cocktail relevant white Port. So he started thinking and lobying at the IVDP to create a new Port category. The complexity of the task was that he did not only have to convince the IVDP but also the government. As Carlos explained to me, the Port categories reside in a goverment law, so they had to vote it in Lisbon if they wanted that new category, which was obviously not a high priority for ministers compared to other projects. It finally got adopted and the IVDP created this new category in 2006. Andresen released their 10yo in 2007 and later released their 20 and 40.

Nowadays the success of the category is showing by the diversity of style and the number of producers making it.

On my side what do I drink? If I have to chose one for everyday, introduce friends or make cocktails, I'd take Niepoort dry white or Fonseca's white.
then on the aged white Port, Andresen, Niepoort, Kopke, Viera de Sousa, Casa de Santa Eufemia are among my favourite. I liked Burmester too, but it was not selling well enough so now the grapes are going into Kopke.

Quinta de Santa Eufemia(not casa) and Quinta da Lamelas are making nice things too.

This year I was lucky to try something really amazing, a Garrafeira white Port from Niepoort. So a white Port harvested in 1895, put in demijhons in 1905 and then bottled in 750ml in 2005. That was sublime!

[Eric Menchen]

I love VPs, tawnies (tinto), and old colheitas. But while I've enjoyed some nice branco Ports, I have to admit that overall I've tended to like white stickies from other parts of the world more. I score tintos within a few points of most other people, sometimes right in line with Roy. Obviously this isn't always the case, but there is no specific pattern. On the branco side, I think I consistently score them lower than other people by 2-4 points.

On the other hand, I did really like the 1964 Krohn Branco, with a score of 93 which seems to be in the middle of the pack.

[Andy Velebil]

Fred
Interesting info about the Quebec monopoly. And here I thought FTLOP was the cause :)


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[Rune EG]

White port is an important development of the port diversity. I am still working my way around the various producers, and as there are constantly new products and producers coming on the market, I have not yet landed. Like Tom Archer is mentioning, I also find that amongst the basic whites and also the 10 yrs old there are huge differences. Recently I posted a tasting note of DR Branco white port which is beating many 10 yrs old. When doing port wine courses here in Norway at introduction level (white, ruby/LBV and three levels of tawnies), I find that on nearly all basic courses people enjoy the Kopke 10 yrs white which I am presently using in the courses as aged white.

For own purchases, I tend to go for the aged whites. Of the 10 yrs I like the Kopke, Ferreira and Maynard. 30 yrs Lamelas and Devesa. 40 yrs Lamelas and Andresen and white Colheitas Dalva/Presidential (1963, 1971, 1989). Best white port so far, is cask sample of 1964 Brunheda.
Favourite whites which I can find on the market at the moment: Quinta das Lamelas (30 yrs and 40 yrs).

[Tom Archer]

White port is an important development of the port diversity. I am still working my way around the various producers, and as there are constantly new products and producers coming on the market, I have not yet landed.

White port has been around a long time, it's just kept it's head down in many markets.The oldest I've drunk was a Calem '33 and the oldest I have in the cellar is an unknown producer from 1940. Last year some 'believed' white ports from the late 19th century appeared at auction, but went for silly money so I didn't get a look in..

[Gerwin de Graaf]

I usually have a couple of bottles of white port to make (summer) tonic coctails . My brand for that is Quevedo.

And I do like the Quevedo 30-YO white port a lot! I have two bottles of this left (only downside is the bottle contents of 50 cl).

I had one bottle of the 1971 Dalva Golden white colheita as well (really nice).

Last but not least was a 1937 Colhita (French Bottling I think) which I believe was a white port, bottled in 1973, that was excellent fun to drink.

[Thomas V]

1- What White Ports have you discovered that you've enjoyed?

2- Are there any that you regularly buy or buy once in a while when the chance arises? If so, what are they?

With ports are very popular in Denmark and I am not talking about for port tonics. It's the new black and I am all aboard the bandwagon and have been for a while.

For the white colheitas my favorites are

1. 1963 Dalva Golden White
2. 1964 Wiese & Krohn Branco
3. 2003 Kopke White
4. 2003 Maynard's White
5. 2007 Kopke White

In the aged category

1. 60 Anos S. Leonardo White
2. 50 Anos DR White
3. 30 Anos Quinta das lamelas White
4. 30 Anos Santa Eufemia White
5. 10 Anos Niepoort White


I mostly buy these great QPRs for easy drinking and serving for quests

2007 Dalva White Colheita
2007 Maynard's White Colheita
10 Anos Andresen White
10 Anos Niepoort White
10 Anos S. Leonardo White
10 Anos Ferreira White

[Scheiny S]

I haven’t seen any aged Whites,not even a Reserve. Only Standards. I’v Tried all three of those that i’v found on the shelf, Quevedo, Warre’s, and Fonseca Extra Dry. I like them all,so it’s a category i’m interested in. I preferred Warre’s over Quevedo but not by much. I see myself getting Fonseca only with a purpose in mind, not to drink casually. I tend to not like dry white wine or mead, at least I don’t dislike the Fonseca.
I’m actually having all three again this weekend with my new Sommelier friend. I look forward to his response to them.

[Mike K.]

The white ports generally available in my area are too young and light bodied for my taste.

I am able to get Kopke and Maynard tawny's, so I'll have to keep an eye out for their whites, per the suggestions above.

I recently had the pleasure of sampling S. Leonardo white ports - 20, 50, and 90.
The 50 and 90 were of course ridiculously rich and delicious.
But the 20 was the eye-opener for me. Quite good and far superior to other 10's and 20's I've had.
And affordable

[Scheiny S]

How long can one keep a Standard White? Quevedo is on Clearance right now with only a few bottles left in the state, if I get a few do they need to be drunk now or can I space them out over the next year or two?

[Andy Velebil]

How long can one keep a Standard White? Quevedo is on Clearance right now with only a few bottles left in the state, if I get a few do they need to be drunk now or can I space them out over the next year or two?

A couple years in bottle won't hurt them. So long as you well store them, which I am sure you will.

[Tom Archer]

How long can one keep a Standard White?

Dry white ports are the only variant of port that is seriously age-challenged. After ten years in bottle they are usually seriously diminished..