Six bottles to learn port

Several months ago, I posted a similar question about champagne:

I enjoyed the discussion and appreciated the feedback. The next blind spot I’m trying to fix is around port. I have even less experience here, mostly gifted bottles that I’m fairly sure were specials from Costco (not bashing Costco, just describing the level of thought in selection).

What bottles should I look for to create a Port 101 syllabus? Ideally, options that are widely available online in 375 format. Unlike champagne, my wife is not as enthusiastic about this one and won’t be as helpful in finishing full bottles.

I have done my background reading on the basics of port (Oxford companion to wine, world atlas of wine) so am at least have that level familiarity with varieties and nomenclature. I always appreciate the education available here on wine berserkers but don’t think I need the ‘basic basics’ explained again.

One final note: part of what has me thinking about this is the possibility of stocking up on 2016 vintage or colheita as it is my son’s birth year. The prospect of popping those on milestone birthdays appeals to me as part of an otherwise well stocked (and climate controlled) cellar. That raises the question on how to handicap current release house styles as part of my 6 bottle intro.

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Hmm…375s are going to be tough to find for a few things, but look around. I would recommend the following:

A basic branded Ruby style Port, e.g. Graham’s Six Grapes

A Late Bottled Vintage Port, e.g. Taylor Fladgate or Fonseca

A 10 and 20 Year Tawny. Taylor and Fonseca are again easy to find and very good.

A standard vintage Port, such as (again) Taylor or Fonseca, but there are so many to choose from.

A single-Quinta vintage Port. Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas, Dow Quinta do Bonfim, etc.

That’s off the top of my head. Please forgive typos.

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Thank you! And to be clear, 375 isn’t a strict rule, just a hope to save a few dollars as I wade in to this blind. It also makes it easier to justify opening more than one at once.

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Perhaps two vintage Ports from the same house, one from the eighties, one a current release to show how aging changes the Port. I would eliminate the ten year tawny, but hopefully the budget stretches to a seventh bottle and you can keep it

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Agree with Mark - you aren’t really getting to know Port unless you try a vintage port with a few decades of age on it. 1977 is a great year, and you can sometimes find halfsies of “lesser” houses like Warre, Croft and Dow for $50-60. To me, they’re drinking perfectly and the “tier 1” houses like Taylor and Fonseca still perhaps have a decade before reaching peak. ‘85 is also pretty good year as well, and can be sourced for even cheaper.

There are others her with much more Port knowledge than I, but here is my 2 cents. Sound like a fun exercise.

I think it would depend on what you want to understand about Port. At the time in wine appreciation, Vintage Port is really bargain. I do like David’s idea of learning from the bottom up and to appreciate the styles. One can easily throw in a Ruby port for very cheap. That said, I am not sure I would really choose to drink a ruby Port, but it would add context. I do think putting in a 10 and 20 year tawny would be a great idea.

With regards to VP, I might try a couple three houses with contrasting styles.

One Graham’s for more red fruited vs a Taylor/ Fonseca/ Dow. You can get great mature VP for a relative song. You can go cheaper on other houses with similar styles as well. That said, right now I think it is a rare opportunity compared to Burg, Bdx, Rhone where you can taste a mature example of an outstanding producer for a relative song. Why not take advantage of this rare situation in the world of wine right now and learn where these top of the heap wines go with age?

Also, it would be good to try the aged VPs along with the 10 and 20 yr Tawny to get the hopeful learning aspect that very good aged VP has the best of both worlds. Both the rancio notes of the tawny and the depth of fruit and complexity of the truly aged VP.

If you can splurge go 85, 77, 70. The upcharge is not that high and I think will give you a better perspective of where these will go than a more powerful- youthful '94 or younger. Again, nothing wrong with '94 and younger, just why not take the opportunity on truly mature bottles?

Enjoy the search!

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I would find a Taylor Fladgate “100 years of Port” package.

It comes with a 375ml of 10,20,30, and 40 year tawny. I’m sure retailers will have left over inventory from the holidays.

A bottle of Vintage Port from the last 10 years and a bottle 30+ years old.

LBV or Reserve Ruby. You can skip tawny without a designation of age.

LBV (Late Bottled vintage)
10 yr Tawny from a given producer
30 yr Tawny from same producer as the 10 yr Tawny
young Vintage Port from a given producer
old Vintage Port (at least 30 yo) from the same producer as the young Vintage Port

That’s five bottles.

For bottle number six there are many suitable options, depending on what you’re looking to accomplish. And I might even suggest saving bottle 6 for after you’ve tasted the first 5, so you can make a more personally-useful decision with bottle #6.
– If you’re looking to enjoy a broader range of the Port spectrum, go with a Ruby Port or a white Port. White Port is interesting because it’s different. Ruby Port will give you useful knowledge, and they tend to be cheap, buuuuut — take a look around — you see many wine geeks posting about Ruby Port? No. And there are good reasons for that.
– If you taste the first 5 bottles and really like the tawny ports, then go buy a 20 yo from the same producer as the 10 yo and 30 yo.
– If you taste the first 5 bottles and really like the old Vintage Port, go find one that’s maybe 20 yo if you felt the old one you tried was getting tired; if you felt the old one still tasted somewhat young, try to find one with 50+ years of age on it.

A couple comments:
– I don’t perceive the need to double-down on young Vintage ports; imo, once you’ve tried a good young one, you should have a good-enough understanding of what they’re about.
– I suggested a 10 yr Tawny and a 30 yr Tawny because, imo, this age difference will throw into stark relief the impact of barrel aging over time. In my limited experience, some 20 yo Tawny taste on the young side, and some taste on the old side — if you go with a 20 yr Tawny instead of a 30 yr Tawny you are running the risk of choosing a 20 yr Tawny that presents on the younger side, which then might not give you a startling/stark/clear compare-contrast between a 10 yr Tawny and an older Tawny; if you go with a 30 yr Tawny instead, that should eliminate this as a possibility.
– I suggested doubling-down on the old Vintage Ports, if that’s what you gravitate towards when tasting the first 5 bottles, because if that’s what you’re ultimately going to buy and drink, it’s best to know it ASAP. These wines take forever to mature, and – as mentioned up-thread – now is a great time to be buying these wines, as they are currently unpopular. You should be able to back-fill Vintage Ports until your heart is content.

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I agree with all this. And I’ll add get a young VP and an older VP from the same producer so you can see what they are like young and old (say 40+ years older). It’s a very educational experience to see what they are like young then old.

I like the concept of adding a Colheita to contrast the concept between blends and single vintage tawnies.

I’m not much of a Port person, but I just wanted to chime in that I think the “six bottles to learn about…” is a great idea. It’s not as overwhelming as a full case, but it still gives a taster the potential for sufficient variety. And I suppose, after six, the taster can continue to explore more.

I would say Brian hit the nail on the head and didn’t break your wallet too hard.

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I thought about including a Colheita but chose against it because I don’t think one needs to taste one to understand the concept/comparison with a regular Tawny. Given that a Colheita is simply a single-vintage Tawny, it should come as no surprise that Colheitas – generally – taste just like Tawnies of same/similar ages.

I might think about a Colheita. You could find one with way more than 40 years of age to see if the extreme age wood aged Ports are to your liking. Kopke has quite a few half bottles of quite old wines.

Aged White Ports might also be of interest.

Isn’t that getting pretty darned Port geeky?

So, this has been mentioned several times now and although I agree this would be very educational, I have avoided splurging on older VP’s primarily due to cost. I enjoy my VP’s in the 20-25 year old range and can’t really fathom how they could improve with additional age (improve, not just change). Other posts have stated that VP is unpopular right now and thus less expensive. I guess you could do this experiment with any VP producer, but I would want to do it with a top of the line port house to make sure it was enjoyable. Perhaps someone can make an actual suggestion for such a producer and provide associated costs? Cheers!

For somewhat easy to find, say…
1985 Warres vs 2017 Warre’s,
1970 Dows vs 2011/17 Dows
1985 fonseca vs 2017 fonseca
1970 Taylor’s vs 2017 Taylor’s
Just a few that would make an amazing comparison and show how they change and IMO become so much better than the fruit bombs of youth.

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W-S shows 1977 Taylor’s for $179. You can get 1977 warre for $120, and I’ve found half’s for 50-60 before. Just be sure to stand for a week for sediment and decant a few hours in advance.

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If I’m going to do this, I’m leaning towards the Dows with the 2011 as the young bottle. Do you guys think the 2017’s are old enough to make an appropriate showing and comparison? Cheers!

Thank you all for the suggestions. Here is where I am leaning for the first 4 in line with my original post:

Grahams 10 year tawny
Grahams 30 year tawny
Fonseca 1985
Fonseca 2016

I think that gives me some good cross comparisons.

I am not finding as many LBV options from my usual online sources. Can anybody recommend a specific producer?

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