Port for sale by retailer

[DRT]

I wish I lived in the UK.

So do we

[JacobH]

The Croft is back on offer at Tesco’s through their Wines by the Case website, which means ordering in quantities slightly higher than that stocked by the average branch website is a bit easier It seems that you get free P&P if you spend over £100.

[jdaw1]

Vintage Port, Quarles Harris 1994 75cl DKK 632
Vintage Port, Quarles Harris 1997 75cl DKK 494
Vintage Port, Quarles Harris 2000 75cl DKK 760
Vintage Port, Quarles Harris 2003 75cl DKK 472
White Port, Porto Quevedo 75cl DKK 79
Tawny Port, Porto Quevedo 75cl DKK 79
LBV, Porto Quevedo 75cl DKK 158
10 Years Old Port, Porto Quevedo 50cl DKK 206
Colheita 1994, Porto Quevedo 1994 75cl DKK 254
Pink Port, Porto Quevedo
75cl DKK 110
Vintage 2007, Porto Quevedo 2007 75cl DKK 225
Vintage 2007 Magnum, Porto Quevedo 2007 150cl DKK 840

£1 ≈ DKK 8.64;
$1 ≈ DKK 5.6;
€1 ≈ DKK 7.45.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Vintage 2007, Porto Quevedo 2007 75cl DKK 225
Vintage 2007 Magnum, Porto Quevedo 2007 150cl DKK 840

It seems that in Denmark you pay rather a high premium if you want to drink port from a magnum!

[albertuswijnen]

@ Albertus Wijnen
The Netherlands

Quevedo Ruby/Tawny/White €8,95
Quevedo Rosé €10,95
Quevedo Special Reserve Tawny/Ruby €13,90
Quevedo LBV 2003/2004 €15,90
Quevedo 10 years Old €18,90
Quevedo Colheita 1992 €27,90
Quevedo Colheita 1994/1995/1996 €25,90
Quevedo Vintage 2005/2007 €39,90

[Zelandakh]

Just popped to Asda for a bottle of Speyside whisky for Father's birthday next week and found they are doing Dow's Midnight Port in 50cl bottles at £4.86.

Now since I am not averse to a tipple of port and opening bottles of vintage every day is beyond my ability, this looks like a good plan. FYI, full bottles were £10 meaning that the half litre was 25% cheaper by volume which seemed daft.

Since I'm currently miffed at finding that Sunday night's decanting of the Delaforce 85 resulted in a diabolical, flat, bland and very cordial-like (no spirit, no sense of alcohol) drink and I've got another half dozen left from a case I bought, I'm hoping that the inexpensive will put a smile back on my face.

If the quality of my posts deteriorates alarmingly, it is drinkable

[Alex Bridgeman]

Nick,

Don't give up on the Delaforce '85 just yet, I've had some very pleasant ones. From what you describe, the one you opened at the weekend might have been very mildly corked - at least enough to flatten out the flavours you would otherwise expect to experience in the port.

Alex

[DRT]

I bought 9 bottles of Real CocaCola 1983 from Seckfords today at £13 per bottle.

Real CocaCola (pronounced Real Vinicola) is an alternative name for Real Campanhia Velha, the company who produce Royal Oporto.

Does anyone know for sure if Real CocaCola VPs are the same wine as Royal Oporto, just with a different name on the bottle?

[JacobH]

I bought 9 bottles of Real CocaCola 1983 from Seckfords today at £13 per bottle.

I saw those but passed on them; DRT is a braver man than me!

[DRT]

I bought 9 bottles of Real CocaCola 1983 from Seckfords today at £13 per bottle.

I saw those but passed on them; DRT is a braver man than me!

Don't worry, I'll be making sure all of my port-drinking buddies have the opportunity to share in the experience at some point

[RonnieRoots]

Does anyone know for sure if Real CocaCola VPs are the same wine as Royal Oporto, just with a different name on the bottle?

Yes they are the same. As far as I know.... Is that 'for sure' enough...?

Maybe a silly question, but why on earth did you buy these?

[DRT]

Maybe a silly question, but why on earth did you buy these?

Cheap daily drinkers. How bad can they be?

[Alex Bridgeman]

Cheap daily drinkers. How bad can they be?

Didn't you once say that you have never had a "bad" bottle of port? (Exlcuding spoiled bottles.) It is very noble of you to put this experience to the test. Do I take it that after you've drunk these you will be looking for a cheap source of Hutcheson 1987 as the next test?

Actually, I shouldn't be such a snob. I've had the Royal Oporto 1983 and it is a perfectly decent daily drinker. In quality terms, I would put it on a par with a well made traditional LBV. At £13 a bottle for a mature port, that's fair value.

I just pray that DRT doesn't get his hands on the bottles before Tuesday...

[RAYC]

You joke...but the only halves in my collection are a couple of Rebello Valente 1983s that were picked up at a similar price for a similar purpose...I had been proposing to grant myself dispensation from Tuesday's theme on the basis of my experience with the first of these bottles but maybe I'll add one back in so Derek can see just how bad it can get!

[uncle tom]

I've had some Royal Oporto '83 in my cellar for over five years now, but have never opened a bottle, so I don't know what that vintage is like. That said, I have generally found RO to be good value, the '70 in particular.

I've had somewhat better results with Royal Oporto than with Rebello Valente..

Tom

[Zelandakh]

So perhaps a different tasting could be on the basis of "must be vintage, who's got the least good bottle"? Excluding spoils obviously.

There have been many verticals and horizontals I've watched build up that include some marvellous bottles but never yet have I seen one about those embarrassing bottles that fester at the back of the cellar and you don't even bring them out on a Tuesday night when you are feeling particularly tight fisted.

I did try this myself recently going the whole hog into non vintage and picked up a tawny as a joke from Lidl. A full bottle with change from a fiver...sometimes you can go *too* cheap! I was fortunate that I didn't offer this to guests and just sampled it myself. It wasn't good...though I confess to not throwing it away!!

[RonnieRoots]

Cheap daily drinkers. How bad can they be?

I've bought some pretty bad stuff while thinking just the exact same thought. 1999 Castelinho comes to mind: vile stuff.

[Alex Bridgeman]

So perhaps a different tasting could be on the basis of "must be vintage, who's got the least good bottle"? Excluding spoils obviously.

I love this theme suggestion. "Bring the worst bottle of vintage port in your cellar". We will do that one day. Brilliant idea!

[jdaw1]

So perhaps a different tasting could be on the basis of "must be vintage, who's got the least good bottle"?

Unfortunately I’m away that day and can’t attend the tasting. But I will read the review and please take sufficiently detailed tasting notes.

[DRT]

So perhaps a different tasting could be on the basis of "must be vintage, who's got the least good bottle"?

Unfortunately I’m away that day and can’t attend the tasting. But I will read the review and please take sufficiently detailed tasting notes.

I am also busy (having my splean removed with a rusty knife) on the evening of this tatsing but will happily contribute a bottle of Real CocaCola 1983 to the evaluation committee.

[Andy Velebil]

So perhaps a different tasting could be on the basis of "must be vintage, who's got the least good bottle"?

Unfortunately I’m away that day and can’t attend the tasting. But I will read the review and please take sufficiently detailed tasting notes.

I am also busy (having my splean removed with a rusty knife) on the evening of this tatsing but will happily contribute a bottle of Real CocaCola 1983 to the evaluation committee.

Unfortunately this tasting coincides with a volcanic disturbance that prohibits trans-Atlantic air crossing. Do let us know how it goes.

[g-man]

So perhaps a different tasting could be on the basis of "must be vintage, who's got the least good bottle"?

Unfortunately I’m away that day and can’t attend the tasting. But I will read the review and please take sufficiently detailed tasting notes.

I am also busy (having my splean removed with a rusty knife) on the evening of this tatsing but will happily contribute a bottle of Real CocaCola 1983 to the evaluation committee.

Unfortunately this tasting coincides with a volcanic disturbance that prohibits trans-Atlantic air crossing. Do let us know how it goes.

such a shame that us in the US can't partake in UK tastings. I shall have to bow this one out too.

[differentdave]

jjbuckley is having a sale on wines today and 7 ports are included, the one htat caught my eye was a 1963 Quinta do Noval Vintage port (NOT NACIONAL) on sale for $112 USD. THis is about $20 usd below auction average. They had 10 but now there are 5.
Hope this helps someone out there.

[Zelandakh]

Well I like the idea...as someone said - how bad can they be? The duty of port is to be red or drunk or something...

[Alex Bridgeman]

There are some bad ports out there, but I think most are ports that we just choose to be snobby about. I served Cruz 1989 blind a while back, and it didn;t revolt anyone - some were modestly complimentary about it. I've had Royal Oporto 1983 and it was OK. With a couple of notable exceptions (Hutcheson 1970, Sibio 1970), the only time I have had an undrinkable port was when the bottle was a bad bottle.

And then consider that I am trying to decide which bottle is the worst in my cellar for such a tasting. I am trying to choose between:
- Bomfim 1978
- Churchill 1982
- Corte 1984
- Ferreira 1960
- Gonzales Byass 1967
- Martinez 1975
- Noval 1978

All of these are bottles which I would happily open at home and would expect to enjoy - even if not as much as if it was a bottle of Fonseca 1977.