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Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 13:23 Tue 08 Nov 2022
by Doggett
Aldi UK have started sticking their Fletchers Christmas Port too. The 40YO is £39.99 this year. Be careful though as they seem to be trying to get rid of the standard bottles they had last Christmas bottled in 2021 but also some bottles in the old ‘decanter’ style that are freshly bottled in 2022. They also have 10YO at £11.99, 2017 LBV at £9.99 and a 20cl Ruby Reserve at £4.99.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 13:41 Sat 12 Nov 2022
by idj123
On a rare foray into the office in Reading on Thursday I purchased one at Aldi and there were a number still on the shelf. Wonder whether this one of those tested at that Dutch lab…
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 09:59 Tue 15 Nov 2022
by JacobH
Having bought a couple of bottles of it in the past, the main problem I found with the Fletchers’ 40-year-old is that it is just not very good. I’d much rather have a cheaper and younger tawny Port which is better made than something with “40-year-old” on the label that is made with what appear to be the cheapest possible components to get it past the IVDP.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 00:57 Wed 16 Nov 2022
by winesecretary
I am more positive about it than JacobH. I think it is better than anyone else's 20yo and about the same price.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 09:01 Wed 16 Nov 2022
by SCP
I was sceptical of the Fletcher’s 40yo, until I did a blind comparison to Graham 20yo. I preferred the Fletcher’s.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 10:06 Wed 16 Nov 2022
by JacobH
It’s fair to say that I haven’t ever drunk it blind or even at a tasting with other Ports so my impression my be completely wrong. However, if we were comparing it to “any 20 year old”, I’d take the Kranemann, Kopke, Niepoort, or Ramos Pinto over the 40-year-old Fletcher. If we are comparing it to similarly-priced 20-year-olds, I think I am limited to the Kopke which is currently £37 on Ocado for 75cl; the other three I mentioned are quite a bit more expensive. I’m not surprised that it does better than the Graham’s 20-year-old. Unfortunately, I’ve never been impressed with the Symington’s blended tawnies, beyond the Cockburn 20-YOT (which doesn’t seem readily available in the UK).
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 11:49 Wed 16 Nov 2022
by Screagle
... and there I was feeling rather smug when I snaffled a single Graham’s 20-year-old dumped in my local Waitrose from £39.99 to £20 enjoying an additional 25% discount during their recent wine promotion. I also recall lifting the Fletchers’ 40-year-old for, IIRC, £34.99 earlier in the year but a quick trip to the cellar confirms it is the 2021 bottling as cautioned by Doggett. I feel a blind comparison coming on possibly tainted by a bitter finish
...
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 13:36 Wed 16 Nov 2022
by mosesbotbol
SCP wrote: ↑09:01 Wed 16 Nov 2022
I was sceptical of the Fletcher’s 40yo, until I did a blind comparison to Graham 20yo. I preferred the Fletcher’s.
I don't recall ever seeing Fletcher's ports in the States.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 13:47 Wed 16 Nov 2022
by JacobH
mosesbotbol wrote: ↑13:36 Wed 16 Nov 2022
I don't recall ever seeing Fletcher's ports in the States.
It’s a brand by Barão de Vilar which I think is exclusive to Aldi. I think we’ve discussed before whether the blend is different compared to some of the other Barão de Vilar Ports but I’m afraid I can’t remember the answer!
Screagle wrote: ↑11:49 Wed 16 Nov 2022
... and there I was feeling rather smug when I snaffled a single Graham’s 20-year-old dumped in my local Waitrose from £39.99 to £20 enjoying an additional 25% discount during their recent wine promotion. I also recall lifting the Fletchers’ 40-year-old for, IIRC, £34.99 earlier in the year but a quick trip to the cellar confirms it is the 2021 bottling as cautioned by Doggett. I feel a blind comparison coming on possibly tainted by a bitter finish
...
£20 for a Graham’s 20 year old seems like excellent value to me. I just don’t think I would normally pay the £40 RRP for it. It’s also probably a bit unfair of me to compare the 20YOTs from the big houses (where they must be bottling huge volumes each year) with some of the more boutique places.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 13:59 Wed 16 Nov 2022
by MigSU
^^ Yes, I've always advised people to buy tawnies from smaller producers (the exception being Kopke, as they have excellent stocks and consistently deliver on their tawnies, in my opinion).
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 20:24 Wed 16 Nov 2022
by Glenn E.
JacobH wrote: ↑13:47 Wed 16 Nov 2022
mosesbotbol wrote: ↑13:36 Wed 16 Nov 2022
I don't recall ever seeing Fletcher's ports in the States.
It’s a brand by Barão de Vilar which I think is exclusive to Aldi. I think we’ve discussed before whether the blend is different compared to some of the other Barão de Vilar Ports but I’m afraid I can’t remember the answer!
IIRC from the 2021 PHT, it's a distinct blind (from Maynard's), and my very vague impression was that Fletcher's was somewhat lower-end than Maynard's. I think I remember hearing that they're planning to expand the distribution of Fletcher's, too, but I don't recall whether or not they said how it was going to be expanded.
My understanding was also that their high-end Tawnies were going to be bottled under Barao de Vilar, but we didn't specifically talk about the new 50YO category so those might still be bottled as Maynard's/Fletcher's.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 09:56 Thu 17 Nov 2022
by SCP
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 09:58 Thu 17 Nov 2022
by SCP
JacobH wrote: ↑10:06 Wed 16 Nov 2022
It’s fair to say that I haven’t ever drunk it blind or even at a tasting with other Ports so my impression my be completely wrong. However, if we were comparing it to “any 20 year old”, I’d take the Kranemann, Kopke, Niepoort, or Ramos Pinto over the 40-year-old Fletcher. If we are comparing it to similarly-priced 20-year-olds, I think I am limited to the Kopke which is currently £37 on Ocado for 75cl; the other three I mentioned are quite a bit more expensive. I’m not surprised that it does better than the Graham’s 20-year-old. Unfortunately, I’ve never been impressed with the Symington’s blended tawnies, beyond the Cockburn 20-YOT (which doesn’t seem readily available in the UK).
Agree, I would also definitely take the Kopke and Ramos Pinto 20yo tawnies over the Fletcher’s 40yo. On QPR, I think RP is up near the £50/£55 mark.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 12:13 Sat 03 Dec 2022
by Alex Bridgeman
- Waitrose Wokingham
- 35DBBAAA-A669-4D0E-A5BC-C4E0ED8B1EDC.jpeg (154.06 KiB) Viewed 23663 times
My local Waitrose (it may be national) have 25% off a wide range of their Port portfolio.
Bargain of the sale has got to be the Kopke 1999 colheita, cheaper than Sandeman or Graham 20yo!
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 13:01 Thu 15 Dec 2022
by Alex Bridgeman
Until 22 Dec Grahams have taken over Harry Gordon’s bar next to the Selfridges basement wine shop.
Graham 1994 by the glass looks attractively priced.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 14:58 Wed 21 Dec 2022
by winesecretary
Cadman have Fonseca 1992 on offer at £60. I have enough already otherwise would buy more. Lovely wine.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 16:02 Wed 11 Jan 2023
by JacobH
Uncorked is having a January sale which includes the 2016 Qd Noval for £63.99 DP, down from £79.99. I’m not sure what the going rate for this is but I usually find their prices to be quite fair if you fancy picking up a bottle to try.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 19:39 Fri 20 Jan 2023
by Alex M
There are some pretty good wines for sale in the Harvey Nichols sale.
F85 - £52.
Cr94 - £37.
Grahams The Master 1940 - £437.
https://www.harveynichols.com/sale/food ... gh_to_low/
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 19:36 Mon 23 Jan 2023
by idj123
Not sure what volumes they had available but I committed the cardinal sin of procrastination having dumped some bottles into my virtual basket over the weekend only to return today and found my pickings gone!
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 19:44 Mon 23 Jan 2023
by MigSU
idj123 wrote: ↑19:36 Mon 23 Jan 2023
Not sure what volumes they had available but I committed the cardinal sin of procrastination having dumped some bottles into my virtual basket over the weekend only to return today and found my pickings gone!
Yup, same here. I managed to snag the last two bottles of Fonseca 2003, but most of what I wanted was gone.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 20:13 Mon 23 Jan 2023
by Alex Bridgeman
That was a stunning price for the Graham's 1940 colheita - below the original release price!
I hope it was picked up by someone who will enjoy it (and perhaps share it!).
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 11:06 Tue 24 Jan 2023
by MigSU
The stocks at HN keep fluctuating. Just went back and there's some stuff back in stock, but only a couple of bottles available. So if anyone wants in on the action, go for it.
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 22:20 Wed 25 Jan 2023
by Bertie3000
I am amazed what a terrible website Harvey Nichols has. I ordered some wines on Saturday and they have now messaged me to say they do not have all of them. The prices were great but the platform needs a lot of work. Feels like the sort of experience you’d get 20 years ago. Rant over!
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 10:19 Fri 27 Jan 2023
by JacobH
Yes. They also seemed to have the Croft 1994 as two separate items. I tried to buy 4 from one; they sent me an email saying they only had 3 in stock; but the “other” Croft 1994 remained available...
Re: Port for sale by retailer
Posted: 19:43 Fri 27 Jan 2023
by Alex M
BBR Own Selection VP - (Warre) 1997 £40 DP.