Favourite easily available standard Ruby?

[SushiNorth]

i shall have to take one for the team and go out now to buy some standard rubbi .. rubies

If you bring one, I'll bring one...

Edit:
Hmm, what REALLY ought to be done is the following:

2pm: Ruby tasting.
2:30pm: Begin cooking-with-port, where each makes a recipe using ruby.
5:30pm: Eating begins, augmented by a palatable LBV, and concludes with a VP discretely decanted earlier in the day and concealed from the ravings of portheads driven insane by the ruby tasting.

[g-man]

i shall have to take one for the team and go out now to buy some standard rubbi .. rubies

If you bring one, I'll bring one...

Edit:
Hmm, what REALLY ought to be done is the following:

2pm: Ruby tasting.
2:30pm: Begin cooking-with-port, where each makes a recipe using ruby.
5:30pm: Eating begins, augmented by a palatable LBV, and concludes with a VP discretely decanted earlier in the day and concealed from the ravings of portheads driven insane by the ruby tasting.

that sounds like a good idea for a tasting after i'm done from my 4 week sabbatical starting this saturday. (which I shall be incommunicado)

[KillerB]

I've seen Derek cooking - last summer he embraced Alex B's stove with a boyish enthusiasm, (while all around were recovering from a hangover..) raising three of the four rings to full flame before getting to work - I'm sure he would have lit the fourth given the slightest excuse..

- how many pounds of mushrooms did we consume..??



Tom

Not that much, I think it was a 6lb box

[Alex Bridgeman]

Can we snip out into a separate thread the conversation about Chill and chips please? The initial thread of easily available standard Ruby is one which might be of interest to folks looking to learn a little about port but who are not yet ready to take the plunge into the mire, like most of us have.

Six Grapes, I get the point and no problems with getting hold of it.

However, Quinta de la Rosa I don't see around much and I've never seen the Broadbent in the UK at all. Has anybody else as it seems like a nice idea?

Quinta de la Rosa seems to be popular at Berry Brother's at the moment. I don't recall if the Berry's Own Label ruby port is De La Rosa, but would not be surprised if it was.

Last I heard, Broadbent was looking to offer his wines into the UK and was looking for a UK agent. Anyone interested in volunteering?

My favourite Ruby is Bin 27. I have no idea if this is a basic ruby or a reserve, but I quite enjoy it. I've not tried half the rubies named in this thread so far - something I might try to correct one day, perhaps.

How many notes on rubies do we have in the tasting notes database? Any consensus there as to which we consider to be the best? Any idea whether basic rubies improve with a bot of bottle age? How much bottle age, if they do improve?

[g-man]

My favourite Ruby is Bin 27. I have no idea if this is a basic ruby or a reserve, but I quite enjoy it. I've not tried half the rubies named in this thread so far - something I might try to correct one day, perhaps.

This is surprising to me as I've noticed you go for often delicate and smooth ports.

This has always felt like sugar straight up front and definitely not that delicate. And unlike fonseca vp's these definitely do get stuck in the back of the throat. But I haven't had a bottle in 5 years. Perhaps they changed the style a little and it might be time for another go.

[JacobH]

Taking Alex's lead and jumping back:

Being unfiltered, the Six Grapes should have good aging potential - is it bottled with a driven cork, or a stopper?

That's interesting; I didn't realise that it was unfiltered. Combined with it taking the best quality must, that would suggest something pretty good.

How many notes on rubies do we have in the tasting notes database?

We're not doing too badly: 17 tasting notes out of c.1340 are rubies!

* Berry Brothers & Rudd Selection vintage character
* Cockburn Reserve
* Cockburn ruby
* Croft Distinction Reserve
* Croft pink
* Croft Platinum Reserve
* Quinta do Vale Dona Maria Reserve
* Fonseca Bin 27 Reserve
* Fonseca Terra Prima Reserve
* Graham Reserve
* Quinta do Infantado vintage character
* Marks & Spencer BOB pink
* Merchant Vintners Company ruby
* Quinta do Noval Reserve
* Ramos-Pinto Collector Reserve
* Romariz Reserve
* Sandeman Imperial Reserve

[Alex Bridgeman]

This is surprising to me as I've noticed you go for often delicate and smooth ports.

You're right, I do tend to go for smooth and delicate ports.

Perhaps I should caveat my comment that I like Bin 27 with the context that I have only ever had three bottles of this (which is more than I have had of any other ruby port) and all three bottles had 2-3 years of extra age on them. They were pleasant but distinctly lightweight.

[KillerB]

I've never been a fan of Bin 27, it stopped me being interested in Fonseca as VP, until of course I tried some - then I was hooked. Then again, I don't like the Taylor's First Estate Reserve. Actually I don't like many standard Rubies, Reserves, Special Reserve (especially) etc. It's why I wasn't a Port addict earlier and part of the reason for this thread.