Reasonably priced port anyone?

[*Marinus J.]

I consider myself a lover of port, but I tend to drink the cheap and cheerful bottles. I've tried Dow's and Warre but wondered if anyone knows any reasonably priced bottles I could try. Thanks.

[Dave Johnson]

We had the Dow 2000 LBV at a tasting not too long ago, and it was pretty good. Worth a sawbuck.

[Ray Queally]

Well half bottles are a good way of trying the pricier stuff....

But to answer your question there are some lovely LBV's around and there are some pretty awful ones too.
The Quinta de Noval unfiltered LBV is great and lasts well.
I had the 97 last year and it was sublime (even the halves were very good)

It's fairly widely available as well.

[Jay Hack]

I consider myself a lover of port, but I tend to drink the cheap and cheerful bottles. I've tried Dow's and Warre but wondered if anyone knows any reasonably priced bottles I could try. Thanks.

I know this is going to sound totally moronic - but I stopped in at the Trader Joe's liquor store on 14th street in NYC a few months ago to buy a bottle of two buck chuck for a blind taste test and I noticed that they had what looked for all the world to be a VP with a price of under $15 per bottle. I do not remember the name but it was a stadard blackish bottle with white lettering looking all the world like other similar wines. Someone later told me it's pretty good but I don't recall the name on the label. Any ideas? Anyone ever actually taste it?

[Marc J.]

You might want to try a nice LBV or possibly a ten year old tawny. One other option would be a single quinta vintage port from a recent vintage. I've been able to pick up single quinta vintage ports for $20.00 or so - which isn't bad at all.

Trader Joe's in Southern California did carry Quarles Harris ten year old tawny for around 15 bucks, so that may of been the bottle you saw.

[Raj Patil]

Of the cheapest ports, the house ruby, I have enjoyed the Graham's Six Grapes the most. Be careful though some retailers have it priced sometimes too high in my opinion ($22-28). If it is that high forego on it and choose an LBV for just a couple more dollars. For my tastes the unfiltered seem to be just a tab bit more complex with possibly some additional catagories on the nose.

[Al B.]

Sebastian

You might also take a look at the Virtual Tasting forum. A few months back we did a tasting of ruby ports and our very first virtual offline was a tasting of Fonseca Bin 27.

The Bin 27 came out of the tasting very well and there were also a number of other brands of ruby port that impressed.

One or two of us have also tried old bottles of ruby port that have been tucked away in cupboards or cellars for a few years and have been surprised at how drinkable very old rubies remain.

Alex

[Shawn Denkler]

The best values are usually the LBVs if you like vintage style port.

If you do want vintage port you should be trying the third and fourth tier ports. Dow and Warre are great, but you pay for their reputation and quality. If you drink vintage port relatively young, the top tier ports are a waste anyway because they age so well and take a long time to come around. They are not good young.

The lower tier ports are still vintage port - they have lots of fruit and complexity. They almost always age faster and do not have the aging power of the top levels. This is an advantage for most of us that can not drink older port as often as we would like.

I drink more Vintage than LBV which means I experiment with lots of less well known shippers from lesser years. Smith Woodhouse, Gould Campbell, and Quarles Harris are all part of the Symington Groups of port houses and are often very good. I've also had good luck with Offley Boa Vista, and Rebello Valente.

The Single Quinta vintge ports are also usually good value. I can often get the Sandeman Vau for a good price.

And if you do have a Trader Joes close enough to you, they have had great port bargins over the years.