Headline pretty much sums it up. I’m looking for the best port to be had for under $100.
I don’t know anything about port other than that I’ve been given a budget of $100 to buy said port as a gift for someone.
I’m not limited to one bottle either - perhaps a themed collection of bottles - either by vintage from one winery or one year by region/winery?
I don’t know that much about ports, but I’d love to know the answer to this question as well, so here’s a link to a site on ports to get the ball rolling…
and based on their charts, the price range, etc., how about I nominate one I’ve never had, 1985 Dow’s Vintage Port. Priced to sell at only $89 for a bottle.
gotpasswords; You’re from the City?
Look for Sonora Port. Very heavy red Port from the foothills. About $35-$40, (?).
I may be a bit of a pedant, but don’t port wines need to be from the Porto region? Not that a California port-style wine couldn’t be delicious, mind you, just that it can’t be, technically speaking, a port. (Maybe that should be capitalized).
BTW, the Port I referrenced was the first “Classic” vintage that was denoted as “drink now”. And why not, the thing was harvested almost 20 years ago.
The 1984/5 ports are coming into drinkability now. Get down to your local independant wine retailler (if oyu have those in the States), for the best advice on brands. Ruby ports, IME tend to be nicer than tawny ones.
Try Graham’s 20 Year Old port. If you want to spend a bit more that $100, try the 30 Year.
For a tawny, I’d go with Warres Otima. (Yes, that’s Otima, not Optima. Go fig.) At $30 a bottle here in MN, it’s mighty hard to beat for the money.
This seems to be a port that is targeted at those who don’t care for some of the heavier port wines. However, a port that is only aged for 10 years is suspect, in my opinion, and intended for a mass market. One site claimed that the wine was created to target a female audience.
Most aren’t familiar with it, but try a Colheita. Quinto do Noval makes an excellent one from both "74 and "77 vintages. By Portuguese law, Colheitas have to be aged over 7 years. IIRC the '74 was bottled in '97, giving it 23 or so years in wood. SSSSSMMMMMOOOOOOTTTTTTHHHHHH. Try it with Creme Brulee. In Ohio, it’s about $50-60.
I second Noval’s vintages. I reccomend the 40 year, if you are looking to spend up to a hundred.
Check out my location. Send me directions and I’ll stop by for a sip… I’ve been craving a nice port since this discussion began, I have some cheap stuff tucked away somewhere.
Here are Wine Spectator’s top ratings:
Winery: Graham
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 98
Price: $80
Winery: Quinta do Noval
Wine: Vintage Port Nacional 2000
Score: 97
Price: $795
Winery: Quinta do Noval
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 96
Price: $80
Winery: Churchill
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 95
Price: $89
Winery: Niepoort
Wine: Tawny Port 10 year old NV
Score: 95
Price: $30
Winery: Quinta de Roriz
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 95
Price: $54
Winery: Smith Woodhouse
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 95
Price: $52
Winery: Taylor Fladgate
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 95
Price: $84
Winery: Cockburn
Wine: Tawny Port 20 year old NV
Score: 94
Highly Recommended
Price: $53
Winery: Fonseca
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 94
Price: $84
Winery: Niepoort
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 94
Price: $81
Winery: Niepoort
Wine: Tawny Port 20 year old NV
Score: 94
Price: $59
Winery: Quinta do Noval
Wine: Vintage Port Quinta do Silval 2000
Score: 94
Price: $37
Winery: Quinta do Vesuvio
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 94
Price: $70
Winery: Dow
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 93
Price: $70
Winery: Ramos-Pinto
Wine: Tawny Port 20 year old Quinta do Bom-Retiro NV
Score: 93
Price: $67
Winery: Churchill
Wine: Vintage Port Quinta da Gricha 2000
Score: 92
Price: $89
Winery: Cockburn
Wine: Vintage Port Quinta dos Canais 2000
Score: 92
Price: $58
Winery: Gould Campbell
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 92
Price: $50
Winery: Graham
Wine: Tawny Port 10 year old NV
Score: 92
Price: $28
Winery: Offley
Wine: Vintage Port Boa Vista 2000
Score: 92
Price: $55
Winery: Quarles Harris
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 92
Price: $65
Winery: Quinta de la Rosa
Wine: Vintage Port 2000
Score: 92
Price: $55
Any port in a storm.
Even this Rosetto Bin 67 Very Old Tawny Port doesn’t cost $100, and it’s their 150 Years Anniversary special.
The year 2000 was a fantastic vintage for port. Perhaps the best ever. That’s why almost all the Wine Spectator’s top ports were a 2000 vintage. However, these ports won’t be drinkable until something like 2015, and will keep improving with age for probably 60 years or maybe even more. So if you’re looking for a port for a special occasion this year, those aren’t what you want.
The good news is that you can get some excellent ports for not much money. Here in Canada, Taylor Fladgate 10 year old Tawny is $27, and you can get the 20 year Tawny for $42. A 30 year is close to $100, so maybe that’s what you want. Taylor Fladgate, Dow, and Graham make my favorite tawny ports.
My wife and I recently had a bottle of Dow Late Bottle Vintage, and it was excellent, for around $20.
If you know nothing about port, you might want to first do a little research about the different kinds of port that are available, and try to find out what the recipient likes.
Here’s the ultra-super-condensed version:
Port = The rich, strong red wine you’ve heard about. Aged in the bottle.
Vintage port = The Good Stuff. Port made in a year that had weather conducive to making a really good product. Needs to be aged for a long time in order to have the flavor develop to its full potential.
Late-bottled vintage port = Better than the normal plonk but not as good as vintage.
Tawny port = Aged in the barrel, which gives it an amber color and a significantly different flavor from “ruby” port (it tastes vaguely like a good sherry, only richer and better). Typically made with a blend from different years. Because it’s aged in the barrel, it’s ready to drink as soon as you get the bottle (and won’t get any better even if you do try to bottle-age it).
Colheita = The tawny port equivalent of vintage port. Made from a single season rather than a blend.
White port = More of an aperitif wine. I wouldn’t bother getting this, since it’s not what people usually think of when they think “port”.
So the big divide here is vintage port vs. tawny/colheita. You needn’t bother with LBV or cheaper port, since you’re looking for a nice gift. The thing is, some people will like vintage or tawny port but not the other, so you might want to poke around to see whether the recipient falls into one of these camps.
The next question is whether you want to give something that the recipient can drink right away. If drink_immed = yes then port_selected = (aged_vintage | tawny | colheita).
There will be any number of web sites with information about vintage ports and their prices (so you can look up that information as well as I can).
Tawny ports generally come as 5, 10, 20, or 40-year-old. IMO, the best price-to-performance ratio is at 20 years.
You might want to check to see whether there are any vintage ports or colheitas from the year of the recipient’s birth. If there are but they cost too much, there may be half-bottles available.