Port - What should I try as my first ?

[TU09]

Originally Posted by galaga

Room temp with a BBF is near perfect. It also goes well with some dark chocolate or some grapes and stilton cheese. Or make some peach/strawberry shortcake and whipped cream and splash a little port on that. Make you your granny.

Agree 100% with the dark chocolate and grapes, it is really a great wine with rich desserts. While I enjoy most cheeses and have sampled a wide variety, but I still can't eat Stilton, even though it is the most popular food pairing with port.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by Bubba -NJ

I drank it at room temperature . Should I chill it or is room temp the proper way to drink port ?

Room temperature is a loaded question. I would certainly put it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes, bottle opened if possible. Tawny port can be served slightly warmer than vintage, but you are doing a disservice to ANY wine if you drink it at 70 degrees. If you find the port to taste too cold, it will warm up quick. If it’s too warm, you are SOL. A bottle of port at 50 degrees is a good start.

Any vintage port newer than 1960’s should breathe for at least 2-3 hours. Even the bottles of port I have had from the late 19th century or early 20th century improved with 45+ minutes of breathing. The people that say otherwise probably haven’t had many ports that old.

Drinking something like Fonseca Bin 27, assuming the bottle will be finished in one sitting, which is recommended for two people. I would open it 12 hours before drinking. One good way is to open it before work and then enjoy it with your family and friends when you get home. If you are going to have it in multiple sittings, pour what you intend to drink into a decanter or another bottle.

[Mister Moo]

Good luck on your search - it's addictive juice for sure. No shortage of good ports to be had in the $15-$20 zone. Suggestions above all good. I went on a serious tawny port and, particularly, tokay bender in Australia - very popular after dinner sips down under. I was impressed with several ports (and tokays) from South Australia. Hit Tazziedevil with a pm - if he's a port-head (many are, down yonder) he may be a mine of suggestions. Stuff from Rutherglen was particularly good but not easy to find in USA. I boosted the Aussie primer below on a google. Drink Oz - they're allies.

[SIZE=1]Australian Tawny "Ports" are among my favorite values in fortified dessert wines. While these wines have nothing to do with true Port, being made from different grapes in a completely different part of the world, they are very enjoyable drinks on their own terms, and are usually less expensive than true Tawny Ports of similar quality. Australian tawnies are often based on Grenache and/or Shiraz, but may also contain other grapes. Some of my perennial favorite value wines include: Chateau Reynella "Old Cave", Hardy's "Whiskers Blake", Yalumba "Clocktower", and the slightly more expensive, but well-worth-the-money Yalumba "Galway Pipe".[/SIZE]
[SIZE=1][/SIZE]
[SIZE=1]While I have never been much of a fan of Liqueur Tokay (I've always preferred to spend my money on the Tawny "Ports" and Liqueur Muscats), the Veritas Tokay Barossa Valley '90 I tasted at the [/SIZE][SIZE=1]February WLDG Offline[/SIZE][SIZE=1] has begun to make me change my mind. Liqueur Tokay, like the Tawny "Ports" has nothing at all to do with any of the various European wines and grapes with similar names. Tokay is actually made from the Muscadelle (no relation to Muscat) grape, which is best known as a minor component of the sweet white wines of Sauternes and Barsac. Most Liqueur Tokays that I've tried have tended toward flavors of coffee, toffee, raisins and spice; they aren't for lovers of fresh, fruity wine, but they can be good examples of the flavor profiles acquired by long oak aging. Yalumba Old Sweet White is a fairly widely available example of this style of wine, and if you have the money, you might want to try to find the highly regarded, but more expensive, Chambers Tokays.[/SIZE]

[ky toker]

I started with a $6 bottle of Taylor that was actually delicious. I usually buy around the $20 range and I'm always pleased.