Port fans...

I love port, but I am wondering if people think that the top vintage ports rival the top wines of the world in terms of complexity. I have to admit that sweet red wines are a bit of a question mark for me. Are these wines as great as the greatest reds?

Try a Noval Nacional with bottle age and you may ask whether the top wines of the world rival this Vintage Port in terms of complexity.

One word…yes.

Disclaimer: Im a little biased

It depends…

So long as that Nacional wasn’t between 1970 and 1994

Chris, where are you from? (PM the answer if you’d rather not say on the board.) There aren’t many bottles of any variety of wine I’d rather drink than a 1966 Krohn’s Colheita. Sometimes, I just need a glass of port and some dark chocolate to make a bad day go away.

Long live port! Crap. It already has.

Enjoyed a 1978 krohn colheita with novice port fans tonight. They walked away saying wow, I could really get into port. Next up for them is the 1968 krohn colheita. I will follow with the 66 or 61.

What time should I be there lol

ever been to lacrosse, Wisconsin?

Yes!!!

Please let them age, however

I tried a 2003 (hot vintage) Noval Vintage Port out of the gate: very bad idea.

I have loved different aged Port wines from all sorts of houses (Taylor-Fladgate, Vesuvio, Graham’s, Noval, Sandman, etc.), but haven’t had Krohn or Noval’s Nacional…yet.

We did an all Noval Nacional dinner 18 months ago.

What surprised us all were just how complex and of a consistently high standard they were, and also how well they matched with a much wider variety of food than we would have thought…

I’d say after this dinner we would all agree that these rank right up there with the best wines in the world.

Yes…they just need more time. The 66 Graham’s I had about 10 years ago set the bar for what GREAT port should be. I’ve been picky ever since. The only others that have come close to passible for me was the '85 Graham’s

Do you own anything that is not port?

Agreed. Every time someone says that a wine is like a sexy elegant beautiful woman, my response is, “But is she as good as the 1996 Nacional?” So far, that is tied for my wine of the decade with a 1970 Monfortino, and it was no where near fully mature yet.

We have similar feelings on that. '85 Graham’s is one of my favorites. 1970 is pretty close. Got one bottle of '66 Graham’s left, and I’m saving that a little while longer.

Totally equal to the rest of the great wines of the world. The '45 Taylor is one of my 5 greatest wine experiences ever.

While most people have a water tap in their homes, Andy has a port tap.

Yes, but the bulk (apq 70%) of my cellar is Port

I had a 1945 in 1981. I think it was a Taylor, but I am not sure. It might have been a Graham. If not top 5 all time, definitely top 10.

Absolutely! Some legendary bottles have been mentioned that I’m sure are legendary for a reason, but even bottles not nearly as good as those can be special wines when properly aged. A good, old Colheita (I’ve greatly enjoyed a few from Kopke) can be stunning. Even Vintage Ports from lesser vintages can be very good wines and ridiculous values. I’ve bought quite a few '83s over the past few years at prices that seem way too low for the age and quality of the wines.

Next time we’re on the left coast we’re hangin’ with you Andy!

1983 = the AFWE vintage for ports.