ThePortForum.com

Some people fly to London to attend TPF tastings. So I thought a thread about wine shops at London airports might be useful. After all, one normally doesn't have much time before boarding, so some advice where to find a good selection of ports might come in handy.

After Glenn's tasting I will fly back from Stansted airport. Where should I look for port there?

I forget the precise layout in Stansted but typically there is just one duty free outlet (or various copies of the same one) in British airports. Some airports (eg Heathrow T4 and T5) have decent selections of drink. Stansted is not one in my recollection. If you're lucky you might find a Cavadinha 98, a Kopke 10YO or a Graham 10YO. This is about the summit of it. It might just be Ck Special Reserve.

djewesbury wrote:I forget the precise layout in Stansted but typically there is just one duty free outlet (or various copies of the same one) in British airports. Some airports (eg Heathrow T4 and T5) have decent selections of drink. Stansted is not one in my recollection. If you're lucky you might find a Cavadinha 98, a Kopke 10YO or a Graham 10YO. This is about the summit of it. It might just be Ck Special Reserve.

Indeed. After you get through security you are fed through to the concourse where the first shop is large duty free, but unlikely to be much of interest (then loads of clothes, perfume, jewellery stores, then coffee, sushi and a pub). When you move on from there to the gates, there is usually another small shop, similar selection, and coffee bars. Very little port of any interest.

Thanks for your advice. Knowing now what little to expect saves me from being disappointed.

Have flown from Heathrow T4 a lot the last few years. Forget about buying port there, it's better to stick to Whisky. Also, the selection of Champagne wasn't bad, but expensive.

At Stansted they had a Graham's 10 Y Tawny, a Kopke 10 Y Tawny, a Graham LBV, a Cockburn Special Reserve. The only interesting port was a '98 Cavadinha, but this was ridiculously expensive at 32,95 Pounds (I got mine for around 26 Euros ex-cellars).
There is some construction work at Standsted with signs saying that there will be more shops when everything is finished. Hopefully they will then have a better wine selection on offer.

Exactly the bottles I told you would be there!!

If you happen to fly from City, it has Ramos Pinto 10yo, 20yo and 30yo!

SCP wrote:If you happen to fly from City, it has Ramos Pinto 10yo, 20yo and 30yo!

Very interesting. I may try the new Belfast City-London City route when I come for the Ramos Pinto vertical next month!

Oops.. I mean this month..

Oops.. I mean this month..

following a request below, the thread that was entitled “Very uncivilised airport!”, of which this was the first post, has been merged by jdaw1 into the thread that was entitled “Port at London airports” and is now entitled “Port at airports”.

In Gothenburg Landvetter airport they sell Andresen 1995 Colheita in the (non-)Duty Free shop. You are not allowed to buy ANY alcohol if you are flying within the EU.

There is a man on this plane who has a look of Turnbull about him but he is VERY SLIM.

djewesbury wrote:There is a man on this plane who has a look of Turnbull about him but he is VERY SLIM.

As apposed to just being "SLIM"?

djewesbury wrote:In Gothenburg Landvetter airport they sell Andresen 1995 Colheita in the (non-)Duty Free shop. You are not allowed to buy ANY alcohol if you are flying within the EU.

Offering good port and then not selling it is clearly teasing. Not very civilised in my opinion.

Why is it not allowed to buy it if you're flying within the EU but not if you're flying outside the EU. Perhaps our Swedish members could enlighten us on this one?

DRT wrote:

djewesbury wrote:There is a man on this plane who has a look of Turnbull about him but he is VERY SLIM.

As apposed to just being "SLIM"?

Exactly. I know you're opposed to both. He had your devilish good looks but was just a leaner model.

djewesbury wrote:

DRT wrote:

djewesbury wrote:There is a man on this plane who has a look of Turnbull about him but he is VERY SLIM.

As apposed to just being "SLIM"?

Exactly. I know you're opposed to both. He had your devilish good looks but was just a leaner model.

Sounds like a bit of a girl.

DRT wrote:

djewesbury wrote:

DRT wrote:

djewesbury wrote:There is a man on this plane who has a look of Turnbull about him but he is VERY SLIM.

As apposed to just being "SLIM"?

Exactly. I know you're opposed to both. He had your devilish good looks but was just a leaner model.

Sounds like a bit of a girl.

You are clearly feeling insecure in needing to point that out. Man up.

djewesbury wrote:In Gothenburg Landvetter airport they sell Andresen 1995 Colheita in the (non-)Duty Free shop. You are not allowed to buy ANY alcohol if you are flying within the EU.

There is a man on this plane who has a look of Turnbull about him but he is VERY SLIM.

I have made the same erroneous assumption at the same airport, twice actually, to manifest my goldfish memory. Have not yet spied Turnbull, SLIM, VERY SLIM, or otherwise.

For your next visit, why not peruse the offering from our beloved monopoly:

http://www.systembolaget.se/?searchquer ... t&pageto=5
http://www.systembolaget.se/?searchquer ... a&pageto=3

You could have a native order and collect it for you if the bottle is not in store. Be prepared for ambitious pricing although not quite as steep as e.g. Nicholson of N.I.

Please could the OP consider renaming this thread to “Port at airports”. Assuming that, Nice airport, as of earlier this week, had little.

jdaw1 wrote:Please could the OP consider renaming this thread to “Port at airports”.

Happy to oblige.

Perhaps the admins could merge my post (and subsequent replies) regarding Gothenburg airport with this one?

Edit: done. The thread that was entitled “Very uncivilised airport!” has been merged by jdaw1 into the thread that was entitled “Port at London airports” and is now entitled “Port at airports”.

Thank you.

I have a sobering update.

London Gatwick (South) no longer carries any port in its duty free shop. Nor does it seem to carry very much top-end wine at all. Perhaps an end-of-season restock is due. The Café Rouge in departures has also gone (it was poor but at least served some palatable wines), and has been replaced by a garish outlet serving...

(look away now)

quinoa.

Until normal service is resumed, please make alternative travel arrangements.

—Shudder—

(I failed to heed the warning; I failed to look away. My fault)

Update: keep walking, refuse offers of quinoa, ask for the deep fried balls of mac & cheese or a 'two-handed burger', along with a glass of Primitivo or Rioja, and you should be fine.

A couple more European ones.

Paris CDG has RP 30yo at 69EUR in some of the terminals.
Munich usually has Grahams 10,20,30,40yo.