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NV Cálem White “White & Dry”. Rather nice on the nose. Very expressively sweet; lychees, perhaps? Quite nice in the mouth. Some fresh muscat grapes and sweetness, followed by a dry finish. Pretty drinkable, though perhaps better in a cocktail than on its own. Not sure why it is described as dry rather than medium, though.

Cálem is one of those shippers I see everywhere but which I rarely try. I thought I would therefore have a go at a few of them to see what they are like (see other reviews for the 2015 VP and 10 Year Old Tawny). I was actually quite impressed with the range.

Rated*: P+

* A Note on Ratings

My rating system attempts to answer the question “is this a good Port?” one of three ways: N—No; P—Possibly; or C—Certainly. Ports generally are weighted slightly by their category. Therefore, a Ruby Port might receive a C rating for Certainly good which it might not were it to be a Vintage Port. I sometimes modify my rating with a plus or minus indicating that the Port is better or worse than might be expected for this category.

This is the white port that changed my mind on white ports. I agree with your assessment of it, apart from enjoying it as a wine on its own rather than in a cocktail.

That's fair enough. I think it's mostly a matter of style. When drinking young white Port unmixed, I prefer it to be purely sweet (like the Graham's No 5 or Quinta do Vallado) and thought the dry finish to this one would make a nice cocktail without adding too much sugar. I am very happy that we do have a range to choose from, though, these days rather than just the Chip Dry and Lágrima!

True! I prefer the drier styles when it comes to to the whites but I do have a Quevedo Lagrima to try soon, so I'm intrigued to see what that's like.

I like the Andresen and S. Leonardo 10YO whites. To me those seem pretty medium (i.e. neither "off dry" nor "medium sweet"), which seems to be what I prefer in younger white Ports. I drift back toward medium sweet or even sweet as they get older, though.

I really don't like dry whites. Dalva has several and I don't care for them at all. I also actively dislike Taylor's Chip Dry. Nasty stuff... might even be worse than pink Port for me.

Glenn E. wrote: ↑18:02 Mon 28 Jun 2021I really don't like dry whites. Dalva has several and I don't care for them at all. I also actively dislike Taylor's Chip Dry. Nasty stuff... might even be worse than pink Port for me.

I agree with you about struggling with the dry white ports. I think I was one of the few people who didn’t rave about the Quevedo 1970 White Colheita simply because it was too dry and austere for my palate.

Thinking about the Chip Dry, I hope I am remembering correctly from when I first read Richard Mayson’s book that he described White Port rather unfavourably, and made an observation that at the Factory House there was a decanter of it and a decanter of fino sherry, with the latter being considerably more popular than the former. I wonder whether it is only recently that the shippers have realised that there is something in not making their young white ports as poor imitation sherries and therefore giving them some sweetness?