Port Hangover

[tazziedevil]

Last night I thought I'd take a little break from the homebrew and open a nice bottle of port to sip while listening to the Seattle/St. Loius game. Damn fine stuff...sugary but not oversweet, full bodied but not overpowering.

The problem is when I woke up I had a terrible hangover! From 2.5 glasses of port! Blechhh!

So I'm spending the morning drinking black coffee and hanging out on CS.

I could think of worse ways to spend a day off of work........

[vic_c]

DONT look at my thread titled "port ****"....it may make you sick...but my advice is to drink more port.....just not today.... and build up your port tolerance. THAT PORT STUFF IS GREAT! ...

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by vic_c

...but my advice is to drink more port.....just not today.... and build up your port tolerance. THAT PORT STUFF IS GREAT!

I am a port lover, too.

How big were your 2.5 glasses? Port is to be sipped; not to be drunk like table wine. Also, never EVER buy cheap port. That is a quick ticket to a hangover. And a port hangover is the worst.

[tazziedevil]

I drank them out of Red Wine glasses...average sized glasses, I suppose. Wasn't cheap port, wasn't expensive port. Can't remember the brand name...was a regional Australian brand(probably out of South Australia). At the time I was drinking, It was sooooo tasty. I like the idea of building up my port tolerance. I'll start tonight!

[Nely]

Originally Posted by tazziedevil

Last night I thought I'd take a little break from the homebrew and open a nice bottle of port to sip while listening to the Seattle/St. Loius game. Damn fine stuff...sugary but not oversweet, full bodied but not overpowering.

The problem is when I woke up I had a terrible hangover! From 2.5 glasses of port! Blechhh!

So I'm spending the morning drinking black coffee and hanging out on CS.

I could think of worse ways to spend a day off of work........

You wussie!

[vic_c]

I drank them out of Red Wine glasses

No wonder......the 2.5 glasses probably equaled 2/3 of the bottle!

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by tazziedevil

Can't remember the brand name...was a regional Australian brand(probably out of South Australia). At the time I was drinking, It was sooooo tasty. I like the idea of building up my port tolerance. I'll start tonight!

Aussie port is even sweeter than Portugesse stuff, so a hangover is going to be rough! I had an old roommate who use to drink Hardy's Whisker Port, a bottle would last two nights max... Can't go near the Whiskers any more.

Port is one of my favorite drinks, ask well as sherry and kirsch.

[viesturs]

Man, nothing worse then a port or wine hangover. Once over drank some French wine ,Kressmanns white. Hangover for two days and could taste the stuff for a week at least.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by viesturs

Man, nothing worse then a port or wine hangover. Once over drank some French wine ,Kressmanns white. Hangover for two days and could taste the stuff for a week at least.

One time in high school some buddies and I drank too much Wild Irish Rose and couldn't skateboard home from the mall; boy did I have a hangover.

[Blueface]

Go to a shop like Crate and Barrel and pick up some official port glasses.
Once you see them, you will immediately recognize port is not to be consumed like regular wine, in much larger regular wine glasses.

That said, I agree you have to build your tolerance.
Not uncommon for the wife and I to get together with two other friends and kill a bottle of port, after having killed three or four bottles of regular wine.
I have had just about all portuguese port and by far my favorite is a nice aged tawny. I have tried non Portuguese port but to me, nothing beats the Portuguese. 40 year tawny works great but not on the pocket (around $200). 30 years works very well also but around $100. For around $50, you are in 20 year tawny territory. If those are all too high (which they are for most of us), go for the 10 year for around $25. Whatever you do, don't go lower than that.

For your vintage stuff, you really have to know your port as it is important to know what year is ready to be opened. Won't try to explain that as it takes a long time to learn that. That is why I steer you towards tawny as it is ready anytime. Regular Ruby is also very good but buy the best you can.
Thank goodness for those folks in Port, Portugal for making this fine wine.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by Blueface

I have tried non Portuguese port but to me, nothing beats the Portuguese. 40 year tawny works great but not on the pocket (around $200). 30 years works very well also but around $100. For around $50, you are in 20 year tawny territory. If those are all too high (which they are for most of us), go for the 10 year for around $25. Whatever you do, don't go lower than that.

For your vintage stuff, you really have to know your port as it is important to know what year is ready to be opened. Won't try to explain that as it takes a long time to learn that. That is why I steer you towards tawny as it is ready anytime. Regular Ruby is also very good but buy the best you can.
Thank goodness for those folks in Port, Portugal for making this fine wine.

I am not a fan of the 40 and 30 year Tawnys, I like the 20 and will do the 10 no problem. Taylor is the best, with Dow as a close 2nd. The 30 and 40 years seem to loose too much flavor and are overpriced at that (not that I would ever turn my nose to them, or about any port).

I love vintage port too much. You're right about knowing what brands for what years. You can print out a guide when you go a liquor store to base prices on. Even something that is rated in the 80's still tastes pretty dam yummy. If it's from Dow, Grahams, Fonseca, Taylor, Noval or Cockburn, it has to be pretty good. It comes down to whether you got a good buy or not. If it's a recent Vintage (90's), just leave the bottle open overnight, even stuff from the 80's like 1983 can be open over night. A bottle of port is good for two people, and two bottles is even better for two people!

The "preferred" port glasses are from Riedel and are about $12.00 each, money well spent and they work well with Scotch and Congac too.

[Andyman]

This weekend I picked up a Grahams LBV 96' although not a true vintage year I really liked this port. Much better than the Tawny I had earlier.. My wife however like the tawny better. I may try the fonseca 94 next time around. I can't justify spending mucho dinero on a Fonseca 77 but I would love to try a sip..

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by Andyman

This weekend I picked up a Grahams LBV 96' although not a true vintage year I really liked this port. Much better than the Tawny I had earlier.. My wife however like the tawny better. I may try the fonseca 94 next time around. I can't justify spending mucho dinero on a Fonseca 77 but I would love to try a sip..

Try the 1983 Vintage, still affordable and great. 1977 Fonseca is good, and I really love the 1977 Dow!!!

[Hunter]

Last summer I went to Portland to visit a buddy and tour the breweries in the Old Port. It was a nice night, clear sky, 75 degrees, and we had his convertible. Well, he's a truck broker and long about 11:30 he gets a call from a driver who just came to town. We go to visit and upon arrival what do you suppose is waiting? You guessed it, two full boxes of the best Mexican table stock grapes to ever bless a vine. So, the boxes and I jump in the back seat and off we go. I eat, throughout the night, the better part of one box. Though slimmer than Homer Simpson I'm sure I resembled him, at least in thought process anyway... "Mmm Gritty's (microbrew)... Mmm Mehican graphos," with the resemblance deepening as the night drew on. We completed the tour and then went "visiting" until about 3:00. Feeling good I set my alarm for 5:30 and went to sleep. When the alarm rang, so did my head. The subsequent consequences were explosive, an understatement, and I won't violate your imagination with a description. I cursed the fine people of Mexico for growing the sweetest grapes and the damn brewery for its pale ale too. Even God took a stiff one on the chin for the inadequate human constitution. Well anyway, there's my "port" story... and I'm sticking to it!

[mosesbotbol]

Portugal is the best producer of port hands down, without hesitation. The US and Austrailia have tried, but can't come close. I had Port in Goa, India, which is a former Portugesse territory, and their port was horrible! Looked and tasted more like Slogin.