For The Love Of Port

Tastes change, buying opportunities present new Ports in numbers, or just a hankering for something completely different. Do you have a specific "house Port" that you will consume in numbers this winter?

After two good experiences tasting it blind in the Douro in the past few months and after reading Fred's opinion from the tasting he attended recently I think I will stock up on Taylor LBV 2003.

Even at full market price, around £12 in the UK, I think this is a good QPR port. However, it may not win me any friends in the US when I tell you that 1 hour ago I bought 7 bottles of this from Tesco using some discount vouchers plus the current 25% discount making the actual cost to me just £0.91 per bottle

Right now I really like the Barao de Villar LBV 2003 a lot. It is inexpensive (around € 8,00) and good value. It is a rich and full port that several friends of mine who are not regular port consumer like a lot.

I was going to say the same, 2003 Talyor's LBV, but I just started sipping on a 2004 Offley LBV that is a few dollars cheaper and so far in the same league or better than the Taylors LBV. I know after a couple more days when I chart its progress more thoroughly.

I was actually thinking about this today, probably Warre's LBV 2000 and Noval LBV 2001.

Frederick Blais wrote:I was actually thinking about this today, probably Warre's LBV 2000 and Noval LBV 2001.

Fred, are those the filtered or unfiltered versions of these LBVs?

Like Derek, I'm going to be popping Taylor's 2003 LBV as my go-to Port this winter. A large local retailer was selling them for $11.00/bottle, so a friend and I picked up every bottle in sight!

Marc

Marc J. wrote:Like Derek, I'm going to be popping Taylor's 2003 LBV as my go-to Port this winter. A large local retailer was selling them for $11.00/bottle, so a friend and I picked up every bottle in sight!

Marc

Good buy for sure!

Somewhat pedestrian but Warre's Warrior . I will open the occasional VP and LBV.

Richard Henderson wrote:Somewhat pedestrian but Warre's Warrior . I will open the occasional VP and LBV.

Nothing wrong with the Warrior as a house Port.

Derek T. wrote:

Frederick Blais wrote:I was actually thinking about this today, probably Warre's LBV 2000 and Noval LBV 2001.

Fred, are those the filtered or unfiltered versions of these LBVs?

Haven't look yet but normally they are unfiltered version we got in Quebec.

Well, I'm not out of Nimrod yet. I did get a case of T-F 20 tawny to stretch out my supply. I'm collecting a few VP (typically 1 to 6 bottles of a kind), but I expect a major drop in the size of that collection.

Peter W. Meek wrote:Well, I'm not out of Nimrod yet. I did get a case of T-F 20 tawny to stretch out my supply. I'm collecting a few VP (typically 1 to 6 bottles of a kind), but I expect a major drop in the size of that collection.

Hopefully from you drinking them

Andy Velebil wrote:

Peter W. Meek wrote:Well, I'm not out of Nimrod yet. I did get a case of T-F 20 tawny to stretch out my supply. I'm collecting a few VP (typically 1 to 6 bottles of a kind), but I expect a major drop in the size of that collection.

Hopefully from you drinking them

I expect to have some help.

Quinta do Crasto 2003 LBV and Quinta do Infantado 2004 LBV (both retail at about 11 Euro).

I've been in love with Smith Woodhouse Colheitas! Man is that stuff great. If I can secure some '86, I be stoked for the winter. I'd like to see what Costco comes up with for tawny this season. I can't seeing drinking Vintage Port for a house port.

My ideal pick would be Broadbent 10 year Madeira. I could drink that all winter (or any season) long. Everyone who has tried it has told me to include them on my next case plus purchase. I've got random people who are not even wine fans longing for more Madeira. Who would've thought?

My "house Port" this winter will probably be two Ports - my remaining stashes of Kopke 40 year old and Noval 40-year old. If those run out, or if I simply desire a ruby instead, I'll probably go with the 2003 Taylor LBV. That's been my favorite LBV since I used it to "practice" for the Port Gala this year.

A couple of Sundays ago I was cruising the Costco site online, and the Dow's 20 gift pack (1 glass) that I thought was a steal at $39.97 a couple of months ago was listed at $14.97. So I ordered eight of them. Since I was going out of town when they'd be shipped, a neighbor let me ship them to him. As a result, he ordered three for himself too.

I went to post the deal on FTLOP on Monday and, when going to get the URL to link, couldn't find them anymore. I was worried they didn't have any in stock until I got the confirmation of shipping. I checked again last weekend, and noticed there were only a few bottles of wine available on the Costco site at all. So I'm wondering if Costco may be stopping the online sales or ???

But as a result - the Dow's 20 will be my go-to Port.

For casual quaffing at home, I'm now on my 40th decanter this year, (a delightful Croft '75) - and all but seven have been vintage.

So far, the youngest bottle has been a '92 (Ramos Pinto LBV) and the oldest, a '55 (Martinez)

I don't have a 'house port' because one my my 'house rules' is that wines drunk casually at home must not be re-visited within a year..

Tom

Thanks for the question and the answers!! Great ideas for ports to look for.