Everyday VP

[djewesbury]

I come as a humble acolyte (albeit one whose ranking has passed into the minor vintages for the first time!) with this question.

You are buying a case or two, or three, of Port for General Use. Something with decent cellar age, ready to drink but also with some future ahead of it. Nothing too stellar. What would it be, and why?

[g-man]

i'd recommend the Rozes 94 LBV.

Rozes makes some very affordable but fantastic LBVS

the 94 is one of the best for them.

Drinks well young but can certainly see age.

[Alex Bridgeman]

I agree with g-man that you should consider bottle-aged traditional LBV. We've seen from our recent experience with the Warre LBVs from the '80s that these can mature beautifully and last a decent amount of time in the cellar. As well as the Warre, you also should consider Smith Woodhouse, Noval and Quevedo. These have the double advantage of being easy to get hold of and cheaper than VP.

[DRT]

Or you could build a time machine, go back five years and buy hundreds of bottles of Morgan 1991 from Tom at £50 for six bottles. The only part of that that I didn't manage to do was building the time machine and going back five years.

[djewesbury]

Or you could build a time machine, go back five years and buy hundreds of bottles of Morgan 1991 from Tom at £50 for six bottles. The only part of that that I didn't manage to do was building the time machine and going back five years.

yes I'm aware that I missed out on this little wheeze. Is another one not due? And out of interest, have you drunk them all yet?

I like good LBVs and did well on the Croft 04s lately; I will take the recommendations given here, but sometimes the concentrated fruitiness oppresses somewhat. A good value VP that is one step up from 'basic cellar defender' would be a boon.

[DRT]

I still have three cases of M91 stuffed away for future use.

The next best thing I have found for what you are looking for is BOB VPs from the large supermarkets. Tesco have a 1994 that is usually good, although sometimes a bit stewed, that is often on offer for around £16 per bottle. Sainsbury tend to have a TTD VP around Christmas and the price varies depending on which port they use. In previous years they have had Crasto 1996, Eira Velha 2000 and a Symington 2003. The best price I have managed to grab those for was about £12.

Next on the list would be SQVPs when the supermarkets have big promotions. The combination of a discount on a specific wine and a general 25% off if you buy six or more can turn out very well. I have a stack of Taylor, Graham and Dow 1996 SQVPs that I bought from Tesco and Sainsbury a few years ago for around £10 per bottle

[LGTrotter]

I know what you mean about wanting something that has settled down a bit with some time in bottle. Difficult to find though, the suggestions made thus far seem a little on the young side for my taste and perhaps yours. I cruise the small independent retailers, I have no idea what is available in Belfast along these lines but they often seem to have end of line/liquidation stock which is that bit older. Smith Woodhouse Madelana 1988 is one that I seem to be seeing quite a lot of lately at around or just under £20. This is a bit more than the deals at supermarkets but about as near as I can find at the moment. I have also bought myself a stack of lowbrow 94's an 96's and reminded myself that port drinkers need to be patient.

[djewesbury]

If you're seeing the SW Madalena 88 for £20, you're onto a very good deal. I think today is supermarket cruising day, the wine merchants here are generally useless (either they have nothing, or it's radically overpriced). I have seen some SW LBVs here but they appear not to be the unfiltered variety (I've been caught out this way before; didn't realise that those 7 bottles of Warre LBV 07 I bought a few months back were the bog-standard stuff... always read the label...)

[LGTrotter]

DRT in a basque, us cruising in supermarkets, this used to be such a nice forum..........

[djewesbury]

DRT in a basque, us cruising in supermarkets, this used to be such a nice forum..........

*cries with laughter...*

[DRT]

You could try this.

[djewesbury]

A trawl of the local HyperTesco turned up some Bomfim 99. It's gone up though, it's £27.50 now. You can order this from them by the case (of 6) and they'll deliver it for free.

Of course, on finding that the Croft LBV 04 was still £3.99 for a half, I was obliged to buy what they had.

You could try this.

This looks excellent. Your own TN suggests so anyway. And since I already have an order in with Fine + Rare I can order a case or two and still get round their £200 minimum order.

Happy days.

[g-man]

Not sure about your market

but I occasionally see the croft 85 @ 40$ here state side.

but I'd still go witht he rozes lbv 94 tbh @ 18$/btl

[djewesbury]

Not sure about your market

but I occasionally see the croft 85 @ 40$ here state side.

but I'd still go witht he rozes lbv 94 tbh @ 18$/btl

I would be very interested in the Rozès but it's just not in the UK market. Justerini & Brooks have the 2003 for £90 / case of 6 in bond, but I can't find anything older than that.

Croft 85 is pricier here. Was it one of the vintages affected by VA in that year?

[DRT]

Croft 85 is pricier here. Was it one of the vintages affected by VA in that year?

Avoid! I think this is the port that we ordered and sent back three bottles in a row at The Crusting Pipe as they were fowl.

[LGTrotter]

Fowl?

I now have you and chickens and underwear all mixed up in my mind.

And where do you get older LBVs from? Buy them and wait I suppose.

[DRT]

I have pleaded guilty to my crime.

Old LBV does come to market occasionally.

[uncle tom]

Is another one not due?

Have you tried the FUR?

Popped a bottle three days ago to see how it was developing and was well pleased..

[djewesbury]

Have you tried the FUR?

Popped a bottle three days ago to see how it was developing and was well pleased..

Er, FUR..? Run that by me again..

[uncle tom]

Er, FUR..? Run that by me again..

Finest Unfiltered Reserve - a Quevedo wine, bottled for The Port Society. Good to drink now, but bottled with a driven cork so it can also be laid down.

- A mere £72 for 6 (£12/btl)

[DRT]

Finest Unfiltered Reserve - a Quevedo wine, bottled for The Port Society.

TN's can be found here.

[djewesbury]

Sounds like a bargain. I like the distinctive flavours in Quevedo. I brought a couple of bottles of the Passadouro Reserve back with me because it was such a revelation. Tastes like a good LBV.

[AW77]

What about Warre's Cavadinha SQVP? You get the 98 at the Graham's Lodge for 27,55 Euro right now. With the usual 20 % discount that's 22,04 Euro per bottle. If you place an order for 24 bottles (ask friends to join in) transport costs would be 40 Euros, which adds 1,66 Euro per bottle. You would get a mature SQVP for 23,70 Euro which are 19,84 GBP.

Or you get some bottles of the 08 Niepoort LBV (which is quite good), but you would have to wait for at least three years to open the first bottle.

[djewesbury]

Wait.. Hold on.. The Graham's Lodge takes orders? Is there a web shop I've missed?

With the usual 20 % discount

Hang on. What usual 20% discount? Explain further.

[AW77]

There is no webshop. But you can buy ports while visiting the Graham's lodge. You get a 20 % discount there. Once you have placed the first order there in person, you can order ports and Douro wines from home (via e-mail and on an advance-payment basis). When I visited the Graham's Lodge in August, I just bought 6 bottles to be shipped home, just to have my foot in the door. I will place a bigger order in November, but have to ask some friends to join me.