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jdaw1 wrote:A restaurant rather than a hotel — No 32 The Old Town, London SW4 0JE.

It might not be great, but I guess they'd sell more if they didn't call it Croft's "Tripe" Crown, which sounds very unappealling.

PhilW wrote:

jdaw1 wrote:A restaurant rather than a hotel — No 32 The Old Town, London SW4 0JE.

It might not be great, but I guess they'd sell more if they didn't call it Croft's "Tripe" Crown, which sounds very unappealling.

A tribute to the Tripe-eaters of Porto?

A tribute to Os Tripeiros, perhaps?

Burgh Island Hotel has available by the glass or bottle a small selection of ports:

• Sandeman Aptiv White @ £3.50 for a 75ml pour
• Sandeman Ruby @ £3.50
• Sandeman 2009 LBV @ £5.00
• Sandeman 10yo tawny @ £6.00
• Sandeman 20yo tawny @ £11.00

AHB wrote:Burgh Island Hotel has available by the glass or bottle a small selection of ports:

<OT>
Oh, I love Burgh Island; the wife and I had our wedding there a few years back. Gary the barman's quite a character.
</OT>

Morston Hall serves (only) a tasting menu in its restaurant every evening; Attendance at dinner is included in your overnight accommodation charge (though I believe you can eat without staying, just not the other way around). In addition to a matched wines offering to go with the tasting menu, they also have an extensive wine list currently including the following ports:

Niepoort 2007 LBV
Ramos Pinto 10yr tawny
Taylor 10yr tawny
Dow 1991 (~£150)
Warre 1985 (~£150)
Fonseca 1963 (~£350)

The prices in brackets are from memory as I did not photograph the list, so may not be quite correct but I think are close. The ports were available only by the bottle, not by the glass (except perhaps the LBV, I am not sure) unless happening to be part of the matched wine selection for that evening.

Given the VPs listed I would have expected the list to include a 20/30yr tawny, and I was very surprised that (given their already-oxidised nature) the tawnies were not available by the glass. From discussion of condition, it sounded as though at least one bottle of the F63 might be a slow leaker, which would make it a very expensive risk.

Mrs B and I had dinner last night at the Mizen Head Hotel in Bamburgh. While the wine list was pretty impressive, chatting to Alex - son of the owner and a lover of wine - revealed that there is also a good collection of top wines in the cellar which do not appear on the wine list. Dinner (of lobster thermidor) was washed down with a bottle of Pocas 2000 with the sweetness of the port beautifully complimenting the sweetness of the lobster.

While Alex was reluctant to say exactly what port was hidden in the cellar, I did learn that the standard offering was Crasto 2007 LBV, that the Niepoort 1994 colheita was not for sale, that the Dow 1963 (English bottled) was for a special occasion (its pair having been opened earlier in the year for a dinner hosted by Chay Blyth) and that the most recent purchase was a case of Pocas 2011. With regards to table wines, the hotel receives an allocation every year of Maria Teresa and Vinha de Ponte from Crasto. Alex and I spent some time talking about Crasto and the Roquette brothers; he recommends a visit to Crasto to see the new winery so that's now on my to do list.

Oh yes, and the food was absolutely superb.

The Booking Office within the very fine Victorian building that is now the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, has a very decent wine list. That wine list also features some port:
Sandeman White Aptiv @ £35 per bottle or £5 for a 70ml glass
Sandeman 10 year old tawny @ £45 per bottle or £6.50 for a 70ml glass
Dow's Quinta do Bomfim 2001 @ £60 per bottle
Sandeman Vintage Port 2003 @ £75 per bottle

AHB wrote: Dow's Quinta do Bomfim 2001 @ £60 per bottle

This is drinking really well at the moment, almost mature with some secondary notes and softness in the tannins. Don't know prices in your parts, but IIRC, I paid something like 30-40 Euros at the Vinum restaurant for a full bottle of this last year.

I am currently dining alone at the Kameha Grand hotel in Bonn (I caught the afternoon flight. My colleagues planned to catch the cancelled evening flight). On the wine list is a modest selection of port:
Quinta do Noval ruby NV @ €7 per 5cl glass or €46 per bottle
Quinta do Noval white NV @ €7 per 5cl glass or €46 per bottle
Quinta do Noval tawny NV @ €7 per 5cl glass or €45 per bottle
Quinta do Noval LBV 2008 @ €12,50 per 5cl glass or €82 per bottle
Quinta do Noval 10yo tawny @ €11,50 per 5cl glass or €79 per bottle

I am drinking water.

AHB wrote:My colleagues planned to catch the cancelled evening flight

So you are alone? So nobody would know if you crept back into the UK, arriving not later than Wednesday afternoon? Behold, dear readers, at work a master of subtle manoeuvre.

You should have met André for dinner in the Vintage, down the road in Köln.

djewesbury wrote:You should have met André for dinner in the Vintage, down the road in Köln.

You're quite right.

AHB wrote:I am currently dining alone at the Kameha Grand hotel in Bonn (I caught the afternoon flight. My colleagues planned to catch the cancelled evening flight). On the wine list is a modest selection of port:
Quinta do Noval ruby NV @ €7 per 5cl glass or €46 per bottle
Quinta do Noval white NV @ €7 per 5cl glass or €46 per bottle
Quinta do Noval tawny NV @ €7 per 5cl glass or €45 per bottle
Quinta do Noval LBV 2008 @ €12,50 per 5cl glass or €82 per bottle
Quinta do Noval 10yo tawny @ €11,50 per 5cl glass or €79 per bottle

I am drinking water.

Your experience is not unusual for Germany: rather bad port for quite a lot of money. But I guess it's a good reminder that you're quite blessed in the UK when it comes to port. Felix Britannica.

AHB wrote:Quinta do Noval LBV 2008 @ €12,50 per 5cl glass or €82 per bottle

They are expensive, but the Noval LBVs are well-made port, and this price is affordable. Could you have stretched the budget this far?

Again, a restaurant rather than a hotel, but I don't think Smith & Wollensky on John Adam Street will be selling much port to the likes of us. Fine steaks and seafood (it was always my favourite steakhouse in the days when I used to visit New York) but aggressive pricing on wine and port. This is what they offer from their dessert menu:

• Graham’s Six Grapes - £13 per 100 ml pour or £80 per bottle
• Graham’s LBV 2009 - £14 / £80
• Ramos Pinto Quinta de Ervamoira 10yr Tawny - £14 / £80
• Ramos Quinta do Bom Retiro 20yr Tawny - £20 / £119
• Delaforce His Eminence’s Choice, 10yr Tawny - £70 per bottle
• Graham’s Vintage 1983 - £295 per bottle

AHB wrote:Graham’s Six Grapes - £13 per 100 ml pour or £80 per bottle

Since it's roughly £13 per bottle in overpriced, highly-taxed Seattle, that's outrageous!

The Port Gaverne Hotel in Port Gaverne is a restaurant and hotel I have been visiting every two or three years since the late 1980s. During that time it has changed hands occasionally but this time the new owners have included a small but decent selection of Port on the wine list. This now includes:

• Fonseca Terra Prima
• Taylor LBV (currently 2008)
• Warre 1997 @ £95
• Graham 1985 @ £115
• Fonseca 2000 @ £115

The first three are available by the glass or the bottle.

In the Hintlesham Hall Hotel, just outside Ipswich they have some interesting ports on the wine list. These are:
Graham Ruby
Taylor 2008 LBV @ £58 per bottle
Graham 2008 LBV @ £95
Sandeman Vau 1999 @ £60.90
Warre 1970 @ £230
Croft 1963 @ £280

Sadly, none of these struck me as being value for money so I drank a glass of house Rioja.

Seen in a south-London pub:

That's a new one on me. Was this being offered for sale by the pub?

The pub port — which I didn’t try.

jdaw1 wrote:The pub port — which I didn’t try.

Price?

Andy Velebil wrote:Price?

Not asked. Assume cheap pub port, to be added to — ooh, don’t ask.

Available by the glass from the Yeatman Hotel in Oporto (90ml pour for the rubies, 50ml pour for the tawnies):
NV Romaneira 10yo @ €10
NV Noval 10 yo @€10
NV Ramos Pinto 20yo @ €15
NV Fonseca 20yo @ €15
2011 Taylor LBV @ €9
2010 Borges LBV @ €9
2008 Churchill LBV @ €9
2005 Panascal @ €15
2002 Dow colheita @ €12
2001 Malvedos @ €15
1995 Fonseca Guimaraens @ €18
1976 Wiese & Krohn colheita @ €26
1966 Croft @ €42
1885 Taylor Scion @ €100 (for 50ml pour)

There is also a very impressive port list going back to Taylor 1945, Taylor / Krohn 1863 and Scion. Some items on the list are being priced to sell (Croft 1966 is €157 per bottle) and others are very reasonable but a bit of a punt (Yeatman 1991 @ €31 - and it's not Morgan since we bought it all).