Port

One of the drinks I enjoy most when not drinking bourbon is a good Port. Right now I am enjoying a hearty pour of Sandman's Founders Reserve. This is a relatively inexpensive blend of the Sandman ports. I picked it up at Liquor Barn for about $20/750ml. An enormous nose that virtually leaps out of the glass. Lots of cherry and currant notes here. On the palate it is rich and inviting with the cherry notes crossing over quite nicely. It complements the gorganzola cheese I am sampling very well. At 20% alcohol (40 proof) it's not as strong as a bourbon, but it's no lightweight either. I highly recomment this one as a good entry-level port to try.

If there are other port-lovers out there, I would like to hear your comments and preferences. http://www.straightbourbon.com/forum...lins/toast.gif

I'm not a wine fan, but many months ago me and Stacy spent the weekend at Chris' house. He and Kristin are big wine fans and Chris likes Port. He had 3 bottles ranging in price from dirt cheap to rather pricey. I tried all 3 and in the end, would you beleive my favorite was the cheapest one. I was glad I liked the cheap one! I don't remember the name, but I'm sure when he reads this thread eventually he'll add his thoughts.

I'm happy to read that you like port. I enjoy a
glass of PORT once in a while. I've been drinking
Port for about ten years. I enjoy the rich flavors
that port offers. Much the same as good Bourbon or
Rye. Have you tried any TAWNY PORT? It's aged in
wood barrels. It's taste is a little drier, and
less sweet. The prices are lower for Tawny Port,
because there is less demand. http://www.straightbourbon.com/forum...lins/toast.gif

For real porto I'll recommend Niepoort as my favorite old-line port house. Try any of their 'late bottled vintage' bottlings or their Tawny port, they're usually in the same $20 price range you mentioned. Sadly, any of their true vintage colheita bottles will be higher priced, some are substantially so. This is why I don't drink 'em every day. For inexpensive tasty port, I'll recommend various Australian 'stickies'. Due to EU label restrictions, they probably won't be labeling these as 'port' much longer, but no matter what they call it, it's good stuff.
In the $10-$12 Oz tawny port range I like Benjamins, Clocktower, Hardy's 'Whiskers Blake' Tawny & Penfolds Club 'Reserve' (one step up from their 'regular' Club tawny, and well worth the extra $ or so). There are some great buys here. The next step up in quality is the 'museum releases' or 'library' bottlings from Yalumba & Benjamin, etc...some of these are simply awesome. Some excellent fortified wines, and many come in under $20 in the 375ml/500ml size. Worth looking for.

Niepoort colheita info

Hardy's Whiskers Blake Tawny port

Yalumba Museum Release fortified wines

Penfold's

d'Arenberg Tawny "port"

I think that the port that Mark liked was a $4 bottle of 'taylor' port... To be fair all it was only up against was a bottle of sandemans tawny port and something else in the $20 range, it is probably that he just doesn't go for the 'drier' ports...

I have a bottle of sandemans 20year port open, you're welcome to try that next time you're over (but i have a feeling we'll be tasting bourbon, not port http://www.straightbourbon.com/forum...mlins/grin.gif)

(I've never worked up the balls to open a 'vintage' port, which i hear is a totally different ballgame from non-vintage ports (i would imagine in the same way a single barrel bourbon differs from non-single barrel)... i have some 1994's and i think a 1997 as well as a 2000 aging, i have no idea when they will be 'ripe', hopefully i will in the future)

-Chris

I read 2000 was a banner year for Port and recently picked up 3 bottles to bunker for a few years. Let's see. If I remember, they're Taylor Fladgate, Fonseca, and Graham Vintage ports. I sampled some of the Fonseca at a tasting and I thought it was very good, although the distributor indicated that it was way too young. (He was way too Old but I didn't say anything about him) My wife is the one who prompted the purchases, but I'll share them with her when she indulges.
http://www.straightbourbon.com/forum...lins/smile.gif

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although the distributor indicated that it was way too young.

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Does port change in the bottle? I had always assumed the the added alcohol (it is fortified, right?) stopped the sort of chemical changes that take place in a bottle of wine.

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield

The way i understand it is that if you get a vintage port (with a year like 2000, 1994, 1963 on it, not just '20 year' port) it is suitable for long-term aging in the bottle... I would imagine that all port will age in the bottle, but i have been told that the "20 year,10 year, 40 year" ports are made to be consumed, not aged... i guess since they presumably have been aged already... But it could all be a load of BS because my knowledge of port is very little... http://www.straightbourbon.com/forum...s/confused.gif

Such things just help to make me appreciate bourbon more and more... no worries about special storage, when it's ready to drink, or if i will finish the bottle before it goes rotten http://www.straightbourbon.com/forum...lins/drink.gif

-Chris

Cut n Paste from a wine web site, hope this helps with the 'ten year vs twenty year/tawny/ruby/vintage port' thing:

Port starts out as a warm, quickly fermenting mass of grapes that is vigorously and continuously agitated by either hand or machine. When the wine reaches about six or seven percent alcohol, 154 proof (77 percent alcohol) neutral grape spirits is added. The sudden shock of high alcohol concentration essentially kills-off the yeast and completely arrests fermentation. What's left is a sweet or off-dry fortified wine that weighs in at about 18 to 20 percent alcohol by volume. The syrupy liquid is then put into oak casks to age before being blended, bottled and shipped to consumers.

Though in Portugal itself there are many different types and styles of Port produced, we only see about three kinds in this country: ruby, tawny and vintage Port. Ruby Port is what most people think of when they hear the word "Port." Sweet, deep red and almost chewy in texture, ruby Port is made from heavily macerated red grapes and exhibits jammy red-fruit flavors and aromas. Tawny Port is made in a lighter-bodied style. It goes through a gentler maceration program and often is made in a drier style. The wine is then fortified and subsequently aged in both cask and bottle for at least six years. With time, much of the color and tannic structure of the wine precipitate out, leaving a nutty, golden-colored product that's substantially less fruity and lighter than ruby Port.

Most Port, like Champagne, is not vintage-dated. Port makers like to maintain consistency year after year and retain a certain amount of each harvest for blending with future batches. Once in a while, however, a single year's harvest is so stellar that it's vintage-dated and aged for a decade or two (or three or four) before hitting the market.

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The sudden shock of high alcohol concentration essentially kills-off the yeast and completely arrests fermentation.

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I think this is the question they were getting at, if all the yeast is dead, and there is no more fermentation at all, why bother aging in the bottle??


TomC