For The Love Of Port

I've had a slew of them and so far my two favorites ... although there are MANY good ones ... Quinta do Portal and Quinta do Noval.

I am more interested in which are your favorites?

Have you tried either of the above?

I've only had 4, some multiple times. My favorite is Niepoort. My least favorite was the Dows--but it may have been a slightly off bottle so I want to try it again. The otherr two I had were Taylor-Fladgate and Quinta do Crasto. Both were good---but tte Crasto needs to age a few years IMHO.

Dow is the most familiar for me. Costco had it $12 and is now $16. Can't think of any other 2005's I have had off hand. I am not as vintage picky with LBV.

I hadn't really been looking, but I haven't seen 2005s in these parts yet.

Eric Menchen wrote:I hadn't really been looking, but I haven't seen 2005s in these parts yet.

Same here, they seem to still be 2003 and 2004's mainly. I've been looking for the Dow's and others but have yet to see them around my area

I think I have only had one, and I am drinking it right now.

Croft 2005 LBV (Unfiltered). Purchased from Tesco about 12 months ago for around £7 per bottle.

This is a good quality LBV but is much too raw for my taste at this stage. I intend keeping my other bottles, and the many more I will buy when Tesco next have a discount offer, for 5 to10 years.

I'll join John on cheering for the Niepoort 2005

So far I've tried 2005 LBV from Andresen, Barros, Crasto, Croft, Dow, Fonseca, Graham, Maynard, Niepoort, Offley, Osborne, Passadouro, Ramos Pinto, Sandeman, Taylor and Vale Dona Maria - most of these I've only tried once at a wine fair.

The ones which impressed me most were Sandeman, Vale Dona Maria (both 92/100) and the Offley (90/100) - not what I was expecting!

Al B. wrote:The ones which impressed me most were Sandeman, Vale Dona Maria (both 92/100) and the Offley (90/100) - not what I was expecting!

Wow, Sandeman... Was not expecting that for an LBV pick. Will keep an eye out for it.

Sandeman? Costs $22 around here.
The Dow`s I picked up for $24 yesterday.

Just revisited the Dow's with friends. Same result--grapey, acidic and rough. One fellow said this is much better if you open days before and let it sit; maybe they should be kept a few years, too. I gave it 88 points.

Roy Hersh wrote:I've had a slew of them and so far my two favorites ... although there are MANY good ones ... Quinta do Portal and Quinta do Noval.

Roy: which Noval 2005 lbv did you have - the "Noval" lbv with the white label or the Quinta do Noval "single vineyard" lbv with the black label?

I have both waiting in my wine fridge for an appropriate moment to do the comparative test, but the right tasting hasn't come up yet.

The only unfiltered 05 i have had was the Croft - very young so the remaining bottles went straight into long-term storage for a few years. I have also had the Graham 05 filtered, which was a big step up from their 03 effort i thought.

John M. wrote:Just revisited the Dow's with friends. Same result--grapey, acidic and rough. One fellow said this is much better if you open days before and let it sit; maybe they should be kept a few years, too. I gave it 88 points.

I like 2005 Dow LBV, but after drinking 3 cases of it (at $12-13 a bottle), I got sick of it. It does show (as most LBV's) better on days 2-3

Rob C. wrote:Roy: which Noval 2005 lbv did you have - the "Noval" lbv with the white label or the Quinta do Noval "single vineyard" lbv with the black label?

I have both waiting in my wine fridge for an appropriate moment to do the comparative test, but the right tasting hasn't come up yet.

We got round to the taste test last night - there was a very clear preference around the table for the QdN "Single Vineyard" LBV, albeit a feeling that it probably needs a good 10 years in the cellar!