New to Port

[Bob Goor]

Hello,

I am very new to Port and have recently purchased my first bottle. I went with the Graham's LBV (filtered). I also purchased a bottle of 15 year old solera reserve Glenfidich (I really enjoy scotch). I am enjoying the lbv and I have decided to pursue this a little further. I am limited in selection by the LCBO because I live in Ontario and alcohol is only sold under this monopoly. I don't yet feel ready to invest in a vintage port so I intend to try a 10y tawny (perhaps Graham's again?) next followed by a white port (any suggestions for the white? Fonseca is at my closest store).

I'm really curious to know if there are "touchstones" for the various styles of port (tawny, ruby, white, any others?). What five bottles would you suggest to a newcomer to give a sense of what the port world has to offer?

This type of question has probably been asked many times before, but I'm sure one more kick at the cork couldn't hurt. Could it?

[Todd Pettinger]

A buddy of mine in Ontario recently asked me about this very thing... :)
If you perform an advanced product search for "Product Category=Port" on Vintages (LCBO's fine wine website) I found the following Port that I would recommend heartily:
52 QUINTA DO NOVAL LATE BOTTLED VINTAGE PORT 2001 Quinta Do Noval Portugal VINTAGES 677815 750 mL $ 24.75
With a 4-6 hour decant of this unfiltered LBV, you should have a very rich, amazing LBV. I have bought cases of this for an even more ridiculous price (In Alberta) than what is listed, so that is how good it is! Peter (my buddy) recently tried it and was duly impressed to the point where he was considering a case-purchase!)

One other would try is
19 GRAHAM'S SIX GRAPES RESERVE PORT W & J Graham & Co., Portugal VINTAGES 208405 750 mL $ 22.75
(Supposedly a 'basic' Ruby but I love this Port. It is a staple in my house... almost a daily drinker sort of Port. It is rich and very nice - compares and kicks the snot out of many lesser LBVs IMHO.)

I have not tried the following, but I have seen very good reviews of the following (if it is indeed the Lote 501 which is not indicated in the listing, but I believe this is it):
40 QUINTA DE LA ROSA FINEST RESERVE PORT Quinta De La Rosa Portugal VINTAGES 715540 750 mL $ 21.80
(Kind of expensive for a ruby, but Andy V was very impressed by this Ruby... which says a lot. The man knows his Port!)

Also, if you become ready to step up to a Vintage, I would say these ones are pretty decent deals:
6 FONSECA GUIMARAENS VINTAGE PORT 1988 Fonseca Guimaraens Vinhos Sa. Portugal VINTAGES 60616 375 mL $ 37.65
(Half bottle and a 2nd-label, but a great intro to a clsoe-to-full blown (declared)-Vintage)

9 DOW'S QUINTA DO BOMFIM 1996 Vintage And Fine Wine Intl Portugal VINTAGES 487850 750 mL $ 44.65
(SQVP, Full bottle. I have tried the Half bottle, which may be a bit more advanced - it should be a good drinker. You would likely want to give this one a lot of decanter time: 10-12 hrs if not a day before it gets really good. The Half that I had I determined that it was good, but not great yet. A few more years of maturation will help it along...)



Hope this helps! Once you get a chance to pick some or all of these up, hope we see you again with some thoughts/Tasting Notes on them!

Todd

[Bob Goor]

Thank you for your suggestions. I feel with my experience limited to one single bottle that I will hold off on writing any tasting notes for awhile;however, I have just read this site's excellent FAQ and have been perusing the forum to increasse my knowledge. Perhaps, in a few months I will be ready to brave the tasting note forum.

Regards,
Bob

Any other suggestions will of course be welcomed. I have decided my next port will be a Tawny (probably a 10-year)

[Frederick Blais]

Hello Goorb, welcome to the Forum. Another fellow canadian is always a good thing :)

I'd suggest to take a look around the site. As you mention, many questions have already been asked and you'll find plenty of rich and precise information here. Whenever you find a Port on LCBO web site, make a search here and I'm sure you'll find some information. There are not a lot of port the community hasn't tasted.

You can also read trough the Virtual tasting reports the members are making, it is a good point to start and compare your tasting with those of the board.

Enjoy your stay!