Ok Chaps, i would like to start to broaded my port horizons
before the deeper underground offline so i feel a trip to my
local wine merchant is in order! As i have explained in a previous
post i am a total novice so the big questions are.....
a) what do you think i should try first to break me in easily?
b) How much should i expect to pay it?
c) What do i do with it once i've got it?
If you're a real Novice (Entry Level???), start off with a bottle of Warres Otima 10yr old Tawny. Should be under a tenner, settle in with a nice glass, watching a film, just chilling, etc. Swirl it, sniff it, then sip it. Let it linger on the tongue and then see if anything changes as you swallow it (Aftertaste).
Now if you decide you like that. Drink a few glasses. Then go out the next day and buy any LBV for around a tenner. This time, when its convenient, sit down and try the Lbv like you first tried the Tawny. Then put a glass of each side by side and sip them, seeing if you can tell any differences. The reason you dont do that all at once, is that if you dont like it, you haven't wasted money on the second bottle.
If you like that comparison drink, and the general taste pleases you, and the subtle differences intrigue you, come back and we'll start a crash course in nice Ports, including the VP's so that by the Off-Line, you will enjoy and appreciate the fine drink you have as well as those of the others. You may think, at that stage, that some of your companions are amusingly odd and too intense.
Just dont bet that you wont end up like them.
Alan
Last edited by Conky on 18:31 Sat 17 Nov 2007, edited 1 time in total.
This requires longer to answer than I have available right now but I'm sure you will have some good advice from lots of people here soon who have gone through this learning curve themselves.
A good starter for 10 is to go down to Sainsbury, Asda or Tesco and look for a Taylor or Grahams Late Bottled Vintage. Both of these have been mentioned recently at discounted prices so you should get one for around £7-8.
There are lots more to taste but this will give you something to do until the advice flows through this thread.
The don't need to be decanted so you can pour straight from the bottle. Drink from a small wine glass, but not from one of those ridiculous little sherry glasses. Ideally the glass should only be about 1/3 full so that you can smell the wine properly.
More later.
Derek
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
Excellent Intro-Plan. Nothing to add except I would do the following differentiation:
Start with the LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) if you like fresh, fruity and strong red wines.
Start with a ten year old if you are more a fan of the smoky, woody wines.
Or just spend 20 bucks and buy both bottles at the same time and find out yourself which one you like more. I would start out with a Grahams LBV and either a Fonseca or Warres (as Concy adviced) 10y old.
I would follow conky's abvice and compare 2 bottles around a tenner. I think the noval late bottled vintage is a pretty safe bet with a 10 year old tawny. Next I would keep your eye's open for some cheap bottles of single quinta from the last decade.
