For The Love Of Port

When looking to drink a Port that you really enjoy but especially offers great value; what is your go to bottling?

Kirkland 10 Year Tawny by Fonseca (great value at around $17.00)

Warre's LBV 1994 or 1995

Sandeman 20 Year Tawny ($32 at NH Liquor Store)

1995 Dow QdB VP :hello: (about $25)

Delaforce 10 Year Tawny (real over-the-top vanilla sweet tawny style that is great in a pinch)

Ramos Pinto 1997 LBV :) (Great when it's on the shelf for $17.00)

Dow's Crusted Port (too friggin close to the SQVP's in quality for the price)

2003 Niepoort LBV - $9.99 1/2 bottle

Sandeman 20 yo Tawny - $35

-Dave-

Grahams six grapes

20 year tawny by sandeman

1994 & 1999 warre lbv

1990 & 1991 niepoort colheita (375 ml). Bought them cheap on sale some time ago. Sadly they are gone

10 year old tawny by Ferreira

I'll second Andy's vote for Graham's Six Grapes.

I also like the Broadbent Auction Reserve as a very good, but inexpensive, Ruby Reserve.

Glenn E. wrote:I'll second Andy's vote for Graham's Six Grapes.

I also like the Broadbent Auction Reserve as a very good, but inexpensive, Ruby Reserve.

I prefer the Broadbent Auction Reserve to Six Grapes any day.

I usually go for Taylors Vargellas or Grahams Malvedos single quintas.

Burmeister Colheitas. Great value when on sale for about $23 for a 1987

-Lars

I found 1994 Rozes LBV for $14 once. That did not stay on the shelf for very long.

The same store currently has Taylor Fladgate 20 Year Tawny for about $40, though I'm not sure if that is a huge bargain or not. Incidentally I recently went to a restaurant (Bandera on Michigan Avenue, if anybody was wondering) that had it for $8 a glass, which is cheap for restaurant prices. Most places I go to in Chicago sell a glass of reserve port for about that.

Brian

Brian,
The '94 Rozes LBV unfiltered is a very good one. But there are two versions if I'm not mistaken, a filtered and unfiltered one. Do you know which one it was they were selling. Either way that's a very good price. I hope you were able to buy some...if so what did you think about them?

Andy,

It was the unfiltered. I went through two of them. It was cheap decanting practice for a rookie like me, the way I look at it. I enjoyed that one, for sure.

Brian

Brian C. wrote:The same store currently has Taylor Fladgate 20 Year Tawny for about $40, though I'm not sure if that is a huge bargain or not.

$40 is a good price for Taylor 20. NH Liquor Store has it at about $37.

Brian,

Ahh yes, a very nice bottle indeed. Here are a couple of my TN's on them.

http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... 1994+rozes

http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... ozes#p4280

I think I still have one or two left in my cellar and may have to pull one out in the near future.

Let's see:

Noval 20 y.o. that I picked up for $25.00/bottle

Graham 20 y.o. also $25.00/bottle

Ferreira Dona Antonia Reserve which was around $24.00/bottle

Taylor's First Estate $14.00/bottle

Graham's 2001 LBV $8.50/bottle

I am loving reading this thread. I hope all will share their favorites! I don't know anyone who wouldn't appreciate a reasonably priced house Port, whether a basic Ruby Reserve, LBV, or otherwise ... they really come in handy.

Vintages: Smith Woodhouse Madelena 1995. Can get for less than $50 easy. And its outstanding. Quinta de Roriz makes some incredible ports too, though they can be hard to find. Usually about $50, but well worth it and you don't need to empty the bank.

Tawny: Any 10 year tawny is a good buy for about $30. No need to get a 20 year. Higher priced but hardly noticeable.

Mark DaSilva wrote:Tawny: Any 10 year tawny is a good buy for about $30. No need to get a 20 year. Higher priced but hardly noticeable.

I have to disagree with that - $30 for a 10-yr old is too high, especially when you can find 20-yr old tawnies via wine-searcher.com for that price. I also feel like the difference between a 10-yr old and a 20-yr old is very noticeable and well worth the cost. Most of the 10-yr olds that I have tasted are barely tawny (there are some notable exceptions), but by the time you get to a 20-yr old the complexity and tawny notes are foremost.

Beyond 20 years old, though, the difference slows for me while the price tends to accelerate. There are a few 40-yr olds that I would buy occasionally, but not very often. That step up in price is very significant, and I don't feel like I'm getting double the experience for double the price in most 40-yr olds.

For me, at least, the "best value" point is at the 20-yr olds. 10s are still too immature, while 30s and 40s typically aren't worth the added cost. Though if you can find a 40-yr old for under $100 it'd be a tough choice for me.

Glenn E. wrote: I have to disagree with that - $30 for a 10-yr old is too high, especially when you can find 20-yr old tawnies via wine-searcher.com for that price. I also feel like the difference between a 10-yr old and a 20-yr old is very noticeable and well worth the cost.

Would hae to agree with this. $30, is on the cusp of many 20 year tawny, and the taste difference between and 10 and 20 is major.

The whole of best value can be difficult. For some "Best Value" can be a 2 for $20 10 year tawny or $400 a bottle for '48 Taylor; both are great values...

I assumed this post was for cheaper ports where value can be had (especially in this economy).

Mark DaSilva wrote:I assumed this post was for cheaper ports where value can be had (especially in this economy).

At first I thought that too until I started thinking about what "value" really is. If someone offers you one million dollar for 750K, it's a great value, but still 750K!