Do you fancy dry or sweet White Port?

[Roy Hersh]

You can respond which you would prefer to sip ... or even which you'd select to blend as a Port tonic.

It will be interesting to see if bone dry like the Dow's Chip Dry, off-dry like the Churchill's White Port or really sweet like the Ferreira Lagrima. Of course you may choose or not, a brand name ... but it is the style that I am really curious about.

[Glenn E.]

I greatly prefer sweet because it's closer to a Sauternes. I drink sweet white port or white dessert wines with meals when other people would normally drink white wines.

I've never been fond of dry wines of any sort. I'll use them in cooking, but I don't drink them.

[Bryan Robinson]

Sweet. No question. I was greatly disappointed upon tasting my first non-Lagrima white port. At the time, I didn't even know they came that way. I've heard the non-sweet ones are good with soda and a bit of lime, but I've never tried it.

[Mark DaSilva]

I prefer the sweeter whites. The Fonseca Siroco White is a bit dry for me though, its like a chablis or reisling.

[Todd Pettinger]

Sweet Sweet Sweet!!! But then again, that is why I prefer Port. I still have an aversion to very dry red wines as well. Dessert wines are my style!

[Roy Hersh]

Fascinating stuff and will spur another topic here on the Basics Forum.

[Scott Anaya]

I have barely had any of either style and only have had not so good dry white ports. So I will go with sweet as I have has a few good ones.

[Roy Hersh]

Ok, since everyone is basically saying they are big fans of sweet white Ports, the question begs answering:

What brand and name of the sweet white do you recommend for us to try?

[Glenn E.]

Despite its name, I like Porto Rocha Very Old Dry White Port. Unless I'm totally confusing it with a different white from a tasting a very long time ago, this is absolutely NOT a dry white port. (Either that or I completely don't know what the difference between dry and sweet is actually supposed to taste like. )

I have one 500ml left that I managed to snag before it shot up in price. I paid, I think, $68 and the next weekend the store had marked up their remaining 2 bottles to $98. Nowadays it's usually a little over that if you can find it at all.

Porto Rocha Lagrima is okay (to me) for an entry level sweet white port. Generally speaking, though, I wouldn't recommend a white port at all if an old tawny or colheita is available instead. I like them enough to drink them chilled on a hot summer afternoon, or occasionally with the right kind of meal, but that's about it.

[Andy Velebil]

Glad this thread came back to life as I thought I had posted my reply earlier.

It really depends on the bottle. My favorite is a Niepoort Dry White Port. Now I wouldn't exactly call it dry. Sure it's not as sweet as a Lagrima, but its not "dry" as one thinks of a table wine or spirit. It still has some sweetness to it, but is one of the few that I can drink several glasses of (slightly chilled) in a row.

[Derek T.]

Can I vote for Dalva White Colheita 1952? I find it slightly better than some of those mentioned above, especially in a Portonic :devil:

Derek

[Alex K.]

Red, I like them red. Just to confirm, not white, especially not pink, red. Tawny is reddish. So red then.

[Marc Sherwin]

I second the vote for the 1952.

I also like Casa Santa Eufemia's old white port - dry.