ThePortForum.com

I thought it might be fun to have a thread to record good and bad port prices in hotels.

My first contribution is The Rubens in London.

Fonseca Bin 27 - £59 per bottle

Taylor's LBV 2000 - £68 per bottle

Taylor's 10 yr old - £79 per bottle

Dow's 1997 VP - £95 per bottle



Derek

I stayed at The Rubens in London on the night of the Linden Wilkie Nacional Tasting (rather than The Rubens in Blackpool).

Good thread idea, which might slightly extend to bars.

Wow Derek, those are some crazy prices...

$25 USD for a 1½ ounce pour of Warre 1985 VP (that happens to have been sitting open for anywhere between 2 weeks and 4 months.)

My good lord.

Todd

The Hotel Gale, (Pronouced Ga-la) in Albuferia, Algarve, Portugal.

8┚¬ or £5.50 for a glass of 94 Niepoort. Staff no idea when it was opened, because as they pointed out 'it doesn't effect it'

And having laughed at 10pm at their insolence. I bought a glass at 3am.
No Tasting Note, I cant even rember the colour! Think it was reddish.

Alan

jdaw1 wrote: Good thread idea, which might slightly extend to bars.

I just happened to be in a hotel when I thought up the title - happy for it to extend to anywhere with a wine list

Derek

A random hotel in Woolacombe Bay, Devon (sorry, can't remember the name).

Warre's Otima 10 yr old - £3.50 per glass

Also on the shelf at the same price were Taylor's 10 yr old and Taylor's LBV 2001.


All of these went well with Candy-floss

Derek

WOW, those are some wild prices Derek

8┚¬ or £5.50 for a glass of 94 Niepoort. Staff no idea when it was opened, because as they pointed out 'it doesn't effect it' Rolling Eyes

Alan, I would have asked them to open a fresh bottle for me...since it "Doesn't effect it" anyways Just shows how little people know about our favorite beverage...wait, if that keeps prices down then I'm all for them not knowing too much

ADV,

Great reposte. I'll use that one in the future. Unfortunately, having started drinking at around 6pm-ish, at 3am-ish I was doing well to stand, and breath, and make my self understood at the bar...absolutely NO chance of thinking of decent replies!

Alan

Ohh, in that case I'll cut you some slack Actually, after 9 hours of drinking I'm surprised you remembered what the bottle was...but why wait until 6pm to start....10am is much better

OK - here I am in London for yet another week of Hotel life

Tonight I had the pleasure of dining (not staying) at The Goring, just around the corner from HRH's London aparments. Very nice grub, slightly stingy on the portion sizes.

When the cheese arrived I was overcome with emotion and decided that the only solution was to have some port. I had 2 choices:

• Cockburn's LBV 2000 @ £8 per glass or
• Warres Quinta da Cavadinha 1989 @ £9 per glass

I have to say that the £5 difference in price for the port that I consumed was good value for money

Derek

Not sure if this counts, but…. On holiday in Austria last year the hotel bar was offering Baileys for 12 euros a shot.

I stuck to Eggenberg and Grüner Veltliner. I also enjoyed some wonderful Reisling.

I'm in the Hilton Am Tucherpark in Munich, who have a very limited offer of port but one on which I can survive for a couple of days. Their offer is:

Ramos Pinto 20 year old tawny (rather tasty) - EUR 9,50
Ramos Pinto Tawny (not to be drunk when the 20 year old is on offer) - EUR 7,50
Sandeman Ruby (not to be drunk) - EUR 7,50

All served in a nicely shaped port / ISO glass filled to the widest part of the glass, so a decent tasting pour.

Expensive, but a couple of glasses on the company helps to wash the steak down.

Alex

That's not too bad for a hotel.
LadyR and I once had dinner in a restaurant where they had the 10YO Ramos Pinto for 7 euro a glass. After we asked if there wasn't anything else they came up with a bottle of 30YO Ramos Pinto. They didn't have it listed in the computer, so they offered it for the same price. We didn't complain.

Hotel SolVerde, Granje, Vila Nova de Gaia.

1963 Burmeista. 320 Euro's a Glass.

Beat that?

Alan

I've got a Gilberts '63 Colheita on death row at the moment - Gilbert being the second name of Burmester - cost: £17.05 the bottle..

Tom

Alan,

I have a Burmester 1963. I had 2 bottles and did not have a good experience with the first one and have no great expectation of the other. You can have the whole bottle for 320 Euro

Derek

Gee...Shucks...with friends like you....

Don't knock the Burmester '63 Vintage Port. I had one of these a few years back now (5 or 6) and it was very pleasant. I've also had the Burmester '63 colheita but I'm not a great colheita fan and didn't enjoy it as much as the vintage port.

I'll offer you EUR 3,20 for the bottle...

I'm not knocking it. The bottle I had was suffering from bottle shock and didn't have any chance of showing well. I'm sure the other one will be good, but not worth 320 Euro per glass

Derek

Derek,

I think you'll find that ┚¬3,20 is 3 Euro's and 20 cents. So he's offering £2 for the bottle.
If you dont get the hang of that before next weekend (I've heard a whisper your going away!) there will be some very happy shopkeepers, when you pay for things.

Alan

This is a restaurant now established in the old bottling factory of the Sandeman company in London. I've eaten there and the food is very good and the range of ports on offer is very impressive.

However, you may spot why Derek and I did not go there tonight as we originally planned ...

Prices are per bottle
Sandeman 1927 £750
Sandeman 1935 £670
Sandeman 1947 £650
Sandeman 1960 £190
Sandeman 1963 £265
Sandeman 1966 £190
Sandeman 1970 £150

Cockburn 1927 £900
Smith Woodhouse 1947 £390
Dow 1950 £320
Graham 1960 £185
Fonseca 1960 £220
Taylor 1963 £425
Graham 1970 £240
Fonseca 1970 £260
Fonseca 1975 £110
Graham 1975 £100
Graham 1983 £115
Croft 1985 £95
Fonseca 1985 £145
Taylor 1985 £140
Warre 1985 £125

Alex

WOW...even in the US they are cheaper

AHB wrote:This is a restaurant now established in the old bottling factory of the Sandeman company in London.
Prices are per bottle

Sandeman 1970 £150
Graham 1960 £185

That doesn't sound too bad.

Famous Steakhouse, even better one the company card or per diem.

Cockburn 1997 $160.00 USD
Grahams 30 Year $150.00
Grahams LBV 2000 $70.00
Quinta Noval Colheita 1937 $650.00
Quinta Noval Colheita 1941 $625.00
Quinta Noval Colheita 1976 $250.00
Quinta Noval Silval 2000 $125.00
Quinta Noval 20 Year $115.00
Taylor 1997 $450.00
Warre Nimrod $85.00
Warre Otima 10 375ml $55.00
Warre Otima 20 375ml $75.00

mosesbotbol wrote:

AHB wrote:This is a restaurant now established in the old bottling factory of the Sandeman company in London.
Prices are per bottle

Sandeman 1970 £150
Graham 1960 £185

That doesn't sound too bad.

The prices may not sound too bad until you put them into the context of the UK retail market - Sandeman 1970 can be purchased retail for £40 and Graham 1960 for £71. Paying £110 for the privilege of drinking one of these wines in that particular restaurant was just more than we felt we could justify - especially when the Crusting Pipe in Covent Garden were able to provide us with the bottle of Grahams 1983 for £46 and the bottle of Skeffington 1994 for £30 (and a bottle of Taylor 1963 for £146 that we didn't open and I took home!).

Alex

Epoca, in Brooklyn, was selling glasses of “Porto, Quinta de Monte Redondo† (presumably this) for $5, and Porto, El Huique (Spanish?), for $7.

Jean Georges, in the Trump International Hotel & Tower:

1950 Cockburn $900
1912 Croft $2000
1996 Bomfim $96
1963 Fonseca $950
1908 Gilbey $1200
1966 Graham $600
1963 Graham $1000
1955 Graham $1500
1987 Nacional $800
1975 Nacional $1050
1985 Taylor $256
1970 Taylor $600
1955 Taylor $1500
1948 Taylor $2200
1945 Taylor $2900
1935 Taylor $2700
1927 Taylor $3500
1922 Warre $1600
1927 Warre $1600

Also, if you’re treating me:
1921 d’Yquem $25k
1871 d’Yquem $20k

It will be difficult to trump that list


Sorry, couldn't resist it

Derek

jdaw1 wrote:Jean Georges, in the Trump International Hotel & Tower:

1950 Cockburn $900
1912 Croft $2000
1996 Bomfim $96
1963 Fonseca $950
1908 Gilbey $1200
1966 Graham $600
1963 Graham $1000
1955 Graham $1500
1987 Nacional $800
1975 Nacional $1050
1985 Taylor $256
1970 Taylor $600
1955 Taylor $1500
1948 Taylor $2200
1945 Taylor $2900
1935 Taylor $2700
1927 Taylor $3500
1922 Warre $1600
1927 Warre $1600

Also, if you’re treating me:
1921 d’Yquem $25k
1871 d’Yquem $20k

I take it that these were the bottle prices rather than being served by the glass!

Great list, if frighteningly expensive.

Alex

AHB wrote:I take it that these were the bottle prices rather than being served by the glass!

Yes, I believe so.

AHB wrote:Great list, if frighteningly expensive.

Exactly what I thought as I decided, upon considered reflection, not to order a bottle of port. And I did tell the (very nice) sommelier that the port list was excellent and “fully valued†. He didn’t disagree.

Also some puzzling relative value. Surely Warre 1927 is better than Warre 1920? Surely Taylor 1970 is better than Nacional 1987? Is Taylor 1948 that much worse than Taylor 1927?

It's not a hotel or a bar but I have to put a word in here for Oddbins at Westminster.

Whilst picking up my Noval 2000 LBV I noticed a glass case in the corner of the shop containing some good stuff. The surprise that I found when I moved in for a look was the Graham's 1991 at £55 per bottle - I bought a case of these 2 years ago for £19 each including tax and delivery. Low price on Wine Searcher is £32 so auction price must be no more than half the Oddbins shelf price.

The good news is that this ridiculous pricing stops people from drinking the stuff so there is more floating around for us

Derek

I had a look at the Room Service menu last night when I checked into my latest hotel. The good news is that they actually have port available on their room service menu.

They offer Fonseca Bin 27 by the bottle for the bargain price of $65 (£32.20).

I didn't have any - don't want to ruin my tastebuds for tonight!

Alex

Tonight I made a brave decision and decided to order a main course and desert instead of a starter and main course. I am so glad I did.

After my medium rare rib-eye steak I ordered "cheese" - a very posh trolley arrived with 7 cheeses from which I could choose whatever I wanted. For some reason I glanced down to the lower level of the trolley and noticed a ships decanter full of purple liquid. Splendid.

"What is that?" I asked my easern European waiter. "Eet iz Grahhamz Veeentij Pourt neinte neinte vive" I was told - "Malvedos 95" registered in my head. "Could I have some in a large glass, please?" I asked. I was then presented with a 250ml glass of port - result - very nice

I can't believe I have stayed in this hotel about 40 times in the past 3 months and have never met this guy. He is my new best friend

Alex jetting all over America, Derek staying in London Hotels...

Oh well, suppose I'll have to make do with the real fire, feet up, home cooking, Cohiba, Warres LBV and a good book.
Must try the Jetset lifestyle, one day...

Alan

Don't.

Unless someone can find me some port-buddies in Asia, the next couple of weeks will be a lot less fun than this week has been.

Taking as my text for the day, that the labourer is worthy of his hire (St Mark, I think), hence everyone has to be able to make a profit. Why, and this question is not rhetorical, must one pay such a whacking premium when eating out?

It is notorious that one can drink local wine in France, to name, but one, at a modest premium. So why do the rules differ? A gross margin of, say, 50% is understandable, I guess, but why more? Is it not better to keep the stock moving?

I had the good fortune to be taken out for a meal in Madison, New Jersey a couple of weeks ago. Madison is a dry town, no liquor licenses made available to the restauranteurs. The upside of this is that you are free to have wine with your meal, just not to buy it from the restaurant.

Interestingly, the food prices were similar to the prices in those nearby restaurants where wine was available and they clearly make enough profit as they have been going for a good many years.

Alex

What happens when the TPF pedant meets the TPF vicar?

Overtired and emotional wrote:Taking as my text for the day, that the labourer is worthy of his hire (St Mark, I think)

Luke 10:7, actually.

Not a hotel, restaurant or bar but I thought this would amuse some of you here.

I visited a wine merchant in Edinburgh today to see what ports they had in stock. They had 4 different bottles on the shelf...

Taylor's Finest Ruby
Taylor's Finest Tawny
Taylor's Chip Dry White
Fonseca Unfiltered LBV 2000

As you might guess I was attracted to the Fonseca as I haven't seen their LBV for sale in the UK previously. At £12.95 a bottle I thought it was reasonable value, especially compared to the £9.95 price tag on the basic Taylor's Ruby and the Tawny

However, I did feel the need to point out to the store manager that, at £24.95, the Chip Dry was just slightly over-priced

I will report on the Fonseca another day.

Derek

Chez Turnbull, Chesterfield:

Graham's Malvedos 1996 at £0.91p per glass

At £18.50 per glass, I was tempted to order a glass of Warre's 1977 Vintage Port in the Vintage Wine Bar in Dubai last weekend. Not cheap of course, but not overly expensive for Middle Eastern standards either. But I was clever enough to ask how long the bottle has been open.

"Oh, only about a month sir."

We ordered a lovely bottle of Crozes-Hermitage instead.

RonnieRoots wrote:At £18.50 per glass, I was tempted to order a glass of Warre's 1977 Vintage Port in the Vintage Wine Bar in Dubai last weekend. Not cheap of course, but not overly expensive for Middle Eastern standards either. But I was clever enough to ask how long the bottle has been open.

"Oh, only about a month sir."

We ordered a lovely bottle of Crozes-Hermitage instead.

I know what you mean, but I think I'd have still been tempted.

I might have even tried it on and explained how it was past it's best, but as the location has such high standards, and as it's one of my favourites, in pristine condition, do they want to do a deal!

Quilon Indian restaurant in Buckingham Gate, London have Otima 20 yr old on the menu at £26 a bottle. Not bad considering 2 starters and 2 curries cost £108

Worth a visit if you are on expenses

Derek

Derek T. wrote:Quilon Indian restaurant in Buckingham Gate, London have Otima 20 yr old on the menu at £26 a bottle. Not bad considering 2 starters and 2 curries cost £108

Worth a visit if you are on expenses

Derek

Worth turning up and having it with poppadums

KillerB wrote:

Derek T. wrote:Quilon Indian restaurant in Buckingham Gate, London have Otima 20 yr old on the menu at £26 a bottle. Not bad considering 2 starters and 2 curries cost £108

Worth a visit if you are on expenses

Derek

Worth turning up and having it with poppadums

...only if you want to spend £5 on one poppadum and another £5 on each of the accompanyments

as of a couple of weks ago, I am no longer allowed to drink in hotel lobbies...well at least one particular hotel lobby. I will say no more, the statute of limitations has not expired yet

ADV wrote:as of a couple of weks ago, I am no longer allowed to drink in hotel lobbies...well at least one particular hotel lobby. I will say no more, the statute of limitations has not expired yet

What happens on tour stays on tour

Derek

PS: You are going to tell me in October, aren't you?

Derek T. wrote:Not a hotel, restaurant or bar but I thought this would amuse some of you here.

I visited a wine merchant in Edinburgh today to see what ports they had in stock. They had 4 different bottles on the shelf...

Taylor's Finest Ruby
Taylor's Finest Tawny
Taylor's Chip Dry White
Fonseca Unfiltered LBV 2000

As you might guess I was attracted to the Fonseca as I haven't seen their LBV for sale in the UK previously. At £12.95 a bottle I thought it was reasonable value, especially compared to the £9.95 price tag on the basic Taylor's Ruby and the Tawny

However, I did feel the need to point out to the store manager that, at £24.95, the Chip Dry was just slightly over-priced

I will report on the Fonseca another day.

Derek

I now have a vested interest. Have you tried this yet? (20th June refers!)

Derek T. wrote:

ADV wrote:as of a couple of weks ago, I am no longer allowed to drink in hotel lobbies...well at least one particular hotel lobby. I will say no more, the statute of limitations has not expired yet

What happens on tour stays on tour

Derek

PS: You are going to tell me in October, aren't you?

Well it didn't happen on the tour, it was here in my home state...and yes I will tell you later over a bottle or three of Port