White Port

Anything to do with Port.
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DRT
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White Port

Post by DRT »

[url=http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=16717#16717]Here[/url] Vicky_Hic! wrote:My enjoyment of Port is often mentioned on my blog becuase its a favorite evening pastime of mine! :wink: I shall be enjoying some more "White" this evening I think! :wink:
Vicky,

Please tell us about White Port. Not many people here drink it (including me) and you are the first person I know who has put "White Port" as the Interest mentioned in their :tpf: Profile.

Which white ports do you like/dislike?
How do you like to drink it? - chilled? with ice? with tonic? with something else?

...and what other types of port do you drink?

Derek
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
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ac-fast
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Post by ac-fast »

I only drink it one or two times a year, with tonic, and lime fruit
Any time not spend drinking port, is a waste of time.
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Axel P
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Post by Axel P »

From my point of view the first duty of port is to be red and the second is to be drunk

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RonnieRoots
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Re: White Port

Post by RonnieRoots »

I certainly enjoy a good white port from time to time. A dry white can make a nice aperitive on its own, but is also good with tonic. There are a couple of serious white ports out there that are worth trying: Quinta da Casa Amarela, Niepoort Ultrasec (only made from time to time), Morgadia da Calcada, and of course the Presidential (Dalva) 1952, which is a class in its own. I heard that Niepoort will come with a 10YO white soon.
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JacobH
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Re: White Port

Post by JacobH »

I’ve also heard good things about Casa Santa Eufémia’s aged white ports but I haven’t come across a bottle in the UK. Considering that it must be possible to make good white port, based on how highly the Dalva 52 is rated, I think that having specialist quintas producing it is probably the way ahead.
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: White Port

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

I think that the Wine Society / Laithwaites are currently retailing a 10 yo white port. I forget who the producer is - Andresen maybe?

Just found it here. It is Andresen who produce the Laithwaites 10 yo white port.
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mosesbotbol
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Re: White Port

Post by mosesbotbol »

Not fair to include '52 Dalva on the white port list even though it is a white port.

I use to drink the Dow white port like 7-8 years ago and liked it. I thought the Ramos Pinto white was suppose to be decent? I would like to get back into them instead of starting off with regular white wine.
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Andy Velebil
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Re: White Port

Post by Andy Velebil »

Niepoort's Dry White Port is one that I enjoy by itself. And it only retails for about $12-14, so its quite cheap.
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RonnieRoots
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Re: White Port

Post by RonnieRoots »

mosesbotbol wrote:Not fair to include '52 Dalva on the white port list even though it is a white port.
Why not? It's a good example of the quality that can be reached with white grapes.
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Re: White Port

Post by MacAllan »

It is not easy to find excellent White ports. I have been so lucky twice to have had the niepoort very old White port.
The color is beautiful and clear, and the taste is pure quality.
I agree with Alex on the one statement, that the Best port is a port that is drunk, But not necessarily red :P
Happy drinking
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Re: White Port

Post by Andy Velebil »

MacAllan wrote:It is not easy to find excellent White ports. I have been so lucky twice to have had the niepoort very old White port.
The color is beautiful and clear, and the taste is pure quality.
I agree with Alex on the one statement, that the Best port is a port that is drunk, But not necessarily red :P
Happy drinking
I too have been quite lucky to have had this old Niepoort white on two occasions, three bottles (one didn't show so well and thus another was opened). It is quite tasty and at it's age now very delicate and quite different than most people expect it to be. A treat for sure.
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Re: White Port

Post by JB vintage »

Old white port is excellent! I usually drink vintage port and that is the most interesting to me. However, I have had the opportunity to try i few old white port. They usually age very well. I did try a few Dalva Golden white colheitas from the 1950's-60's and 70's and they were excellent. Actually on par with vintage of the same age. I have also tried a few non dated old white (40's to 60's) which were all excellent. New (less that 20 years) white are good as aperitif. I cannot bring myself to pour tonic in port but a worm summer day it is very good with ice.
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Re: White Port

Post by JB vintage »

Old white port is excellent! I usually drink vintage port and that is the most interesting to me. However, I have had the opportunity to try i few old white port. They usually age very well. I did try a few Dalva Golden white colheitas from the 1950's-60's and 70's and they were excellent. Actually on par with vintage of the same age. I have also tried a few non dated old white (40's to 60's) which were all excellent. New (less that 20 years) white are good as aperitif. I cannot bring myself to pour tonic in port but a worm summer day it is very good with ice.
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uncle tom
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Re: White Port

Post by uncle tom »

If truth be told, the Port trade is not very good at promoting white ports.

At major tasting events (if it features at all) it tends to be the also ran 'curiosity' item on the list, and how many tourist visitors to the lodges have concluded their tours with a lukewarm standard ruby, a lukewarm standard tawny - and a lukewarm standard white...

The unfinished glasses on the trays going back to be washed speak volumes..

I must admit I didn't take white ports very seriously until Vinologia introduced me to the old Dalvas, and Dirk proffered his 10yr old.

Even now though, this is not a class of port I want to settle down with for the evening. It's a one-off glass (or cocktail aperitif) rather than a session quaff.

Anyway, enough said. A Dow '85 Crusted has had the temerity to start leaking on me.. - only one punishment fits the crime... :P
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PhilW
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Re: White Port

Post by PhilW »

uncle tom wrote:If truth be told, the Port trade is not very good at promoting white ports.

At major tasting events (if it features at all) it tends to be the also ran 'curiosity' item on the list,
Perhaps it has generally been a supply/demand issue; that there hasn't been much point spending significant money promoting a port which there isn't much volume of - by which I mean the older serious vintage white, as opposed to the very young white which is now being commonly promoted for cocktails (such as at 2012 BBR port walk). Although a relative oddity, more marketing around vintage white could help sales of the young white which is starting to get some traction; there were a couple at the BFT last year, it will be interesting to see how many show this year.

I've very much enjoyed the few older whites which I have tried, including the Dalva Golden White '71 (I would love to try the '52, but that is starting to become difficult to come by) and the Cabral ("probable white colheita") '40. Admittedly I still have the preference for the old rubies, but the older white have impressed me too.
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Axel P
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Re: White Port

Post by Axel P »

uncle tom wrote:I would love to try the '52, but that is starting to become difficult to come by) and the Cabral ("probable white colheita") '40. Admittedly I still have the preference for the old rubies, but the older white have impressed me too.
So, Phil, make it over to the Croft Vertical to Germany and we have the 52-63-71 as an aperitif somewhere before or after. I still own one single bottle of 52.

Axel
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PhilW
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Re: White Port

Post by PhilW »

Axel P wrote:So, Phil, make it over to the Croft Vertical to Germany and we have the 52-63-71 as an aperitif somewhere before or after. I still own one single bottle of 52.
That would be most excellent; am certainty hoping/intending to come over for the Croft vertical, if I can make the date once decided.
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djewesbury
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Re: White Port

Post by djewesbury »

PhilW wrote:
Axel P wrote:So, Phil, make it over to the Croft Vertical to Germany and we have the 52-63-71 as an aperitif somewhere before or after. I still own one single bottle of 52.
That would be most excellent; am certainty hoping/intending to come over for the Croft vertical, if I can make the date once decided.
Is it on the 7th November? If so AW77 already has a ticket! And I am very interested... and 52-63-71 sounds like some quite vital statistics.
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PhilW
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Re: White Port

Post by PhilW »

djewesbury wrote:
PhilW wrote:
Axel P wrote:So, Phil, make it over to the Croft Vertical to Germany and we have the 52-63-71 as an aperitif somewhere before or after. I still own one single bottle of 52.
That would be most excellent; am certainty hoping/intending to come over for the Croft vertical, if I can make the date once decided.
Is it on the 7th November? If so AW77 already has a ticket! And I am very interested... and 52-63-71 sounds like some quite vital statistics.
That was a proposed date, but I wasn't sure it was a firm one yet. Yes I intend to be there if I can (and have offered some wines for the tasting also). Have emailed Axel to check if date is fixed now.
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djewesbury
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Re: White Port

Post by djewesbury »

PhilW wrote:
djewesbury wrote:
PhilW wrote:
Axel P wrote:So, Phil, make it over to the Croft Vertical to Germany and we have the 52-63-71 as an aperitif somewhere before or after. I still own one single bottle of 52.
That would be most excellent; am certainty hoping/intending to come over for the Croft vertical, if I can make the date once decided.
Is it on the 7th November? If so AW77 already has a ticket! And I am very interested... and 52-63-71 sounds like some quite vital statistics.
That was a proposed date, but I wasn't sure it was a firm one yet. Yes I intend to be there if I can (and have offered some wines for the tasting also). Have emailed Axel to check if date is fixed now.
Let us know what you hear. I have heard a great deal about Axel's tastings and would like to attend one!
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djewesbury
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Re: White Port

Post by djewesbury »

Given that white port has been imported to Britain since the 17th century, alongside the first shipments of red ports, why is it that the style has gone into such decline here? Is it simply the same old story of the 'shadow' cast by VP? Is it drunk with more interest in Portugal (etc) and are more exciting basic styles available there? I do think that some of the basic whites are good, without tonic, or lemon (e.g. Niepoort, de la Rosa); not all of them are sticky cordials specifically intended to be diluted with tonic (e.g. Cockburn's). But since most of us wouldn't ordinarily drink 'basic' categories I don't know why people are so surprised that basic whites are not so extraordinary. I do think that the aged whites that have come on the market in the last 7 years are excellent - and yes, of course a Dalva 52 is always going to knock them into a cocked hat, but then that's true of good reserve ruby / LBV ports vs great old vintages.

Discuss!
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AW77
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Re: White Port

Post by AW77 »

Perhaps White Port, which you drink chilled, is more suited to a warmer climate like Portugal than to the UK. And in Portugal there are even reserve Whites on the market, just see these two examples:
http://www.garrafeiranacional.com/vinho ... porto.html
http://www.garrafeiranacional.com/vinho ... -7889.html

Besides, in the UK you have the traditional interest in ruby style ports (I don't know why, perhaps we should discuss the reasons in a different thread)). So wood ports are not that much appreciated in the UK. Perhaps one should try to interest the UK drinking public more in red wood ports in general before trying to raise awareness of white port. After all, evolution is a slow process.
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djewesbury
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Re: White Port

Post by djewesbury »

The BFT, [url=http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d3996c3b93b585cfe728d2b79&id=47b9d356d2&e=c09d322301]here[/url], wrote: Just when we thought we had the most remarkable line-up of masterclasses at the b.f.t. this year, we've been able to add a further one. Jim Reader, well known to many as something of a living legend of the Port industry, will be tutoring a tasting which he has titled "The Second Duty of Port" (you must know the original quote), based on White Ports from C da Silva, between 10 and 50 years old. If you are interested (and who on earth wouldn't be), we have limited spaces available - please visit here for details of how to apply for a space. Given all other masterclasses are currently onto waiting lists, we'll try to give preference to those who have not already signed up for more than one other masterclass.

Beyond this, the b.f.t. guarantees an embarrassment of Port riches: 26 different Port houses showing a cornucopia of styles. If you want to compare and contrast aged Tawnies (from Reserve to 40 Year Old) there are over 40 to taste. 16 different Late Bottled Vintages, 15 White Ports in a vast array of styles, 5 decades of different Colheitas to try, and 26 Vintage Ports from 14 different vintages signed up so far (including some 2012s for the first look).

And that, of course, is just the Port section. You can register your attendance via any page on the b.f.t. website if you are a bona fide member of the wine trade.
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jdaw1
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Re: White Port

Post by jdaw1 »

“A Catalogue Of all the Household Furniture, China, Wines, and other Effects, Of the Reverend Mr. Groves, (Deceased.) At the Parsonage House at East Barnet. Consisting of Yellow Morine Beds and Window Curtains, Beds and Bedding, Mahogany Tables, Chairs, Settee Bedstead, Pier Glasses, Carpets, Stove Grates, Kitchen Furniture, &c. Which will be sold by Auction by Mr. Christie, (On the Premisses) On Monday, May the 15th” 1769.

In section “Numb. V. Wine.”, lot 8 was “Four dozen of white port”, and lot 9 was “Four ditto”, both sold for 14/6 per dozen (£2.18.0 per lot) to “Day”.

Over the next century of Christie’s catalogues “White port” appears occasionally, almost always without further description.

(Note to self: pictures 16504-7.)
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Axel P
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Re: White Port

Post by Axel P »

Just opened a nice new white Port. Please see Tasting Notes.

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