Port.

Ahleckz · 2 Dec 2011 at 11:37

Oi, Justin. Get in 'ere! (and any others...)

Spec me a bottle of Port, no more than £30 please.

King Damager · 2 Dec 2011 at 12:00

Oh no... he's a Conservative....

Disclaimer: For the record, I actually have no idea about Port, it's all vile stuff to me. I also have no care in the world what political party you may or may not support, and also acknowledge that my stereotype is not necessarily true, however I like making the joke none the less...

kd

kae2 · 2 Dec 2011 at 12:07

The Co-op has an offer on their Taylor's Port. Apparently it's a good one. £6 something a bottle at the moment.

Pate · 2 Dec 2011 at 12:58

ci_newman · 2 Dec 2011 at 14:35

For a starter, do you want a Ruby, Vintage, Tawnty, ready to drink?

I'm quite fond of a Vintage Ruby myself.

Ahleckz · 2 Dec 2011 at 14:50

I dunno, hah.

I'm not a port drinker at all, this is a gift. I want something that can be cracked open now and enjoyed whilst making dinner, after dinner, in the bath, that sort of stuff.

taB · 2 Dec 2011 at 15:04

At that price (20-30) you're looking at a Single Quinta port as probably your best bet.

examples:
Vargellas from Taylor
Malvedos from Graham
dos Canais from Cockburn

Stick it into www.wine-searcher.com and find someone near you selling one.

J1234 · 2 Dec 2011 at 20:57

Ahleckz said:
Oi, Justin. Get in 'ere! (and any others...)

Spec me a bottle of Port, no more than £30 please.

Of course.

Something like a Taylors or Grahams 20 year old Tawny would be a great gift, perfectly drinkable now without any additional ageing. If they're looking for something to age then that's a different story, but I assume that's not the case. The two a suggested often come in a nice wooden presentation box too.

Ahleckz · 2 Dec 2011 at 22:06

I went to a spirits shop in Glasgow today. Never been to it before, and whilst chatting to the owner he said that there was a port tasting event there that night! My friend and I got involved with that, and it was a great two hours! Six different Fonseca ports were tried, and we got a 10% discount if we bought any of the bottles. So I bought two bottles of Fonseca Guimaraens 1996. One for myself, and one for a present for my father. I couldn't afford the 10 or 20 year old Tawny that we tried.

I'm a total convert, port is awesome! And weird how I made this thread and then stumbled across a tasting event. It was meant to be.

J1234 · 2 Dec 2011 at 23:21

It's lovely stuff, very fine. Did you try Fonseca crusted port? It's excellent value for money, has the great taste of a decent vintage at a fraction of the cost.

Glaucus · 2 Dec 2011 at 23:32

What is the difference between ruby, vintage and tawny.

Love port, no idea which or what it's all about. So keeping my eye on this thread. Can you pick up the Fonseca easily?

J1234 · 2 Dec 2011 at 23:55

Fonseca is easily available, some supermarkets evens stock it.

Ruby - Bottle aged. Cheaper and generally the youngest type of port. Generally sold as ready to drink and won't benefit from any ageing.
Tawny - Barrel aged, up to 40 years and over in some cases.
Vintage - A year declared a vintage is an exceptional year for the grapes thus producing excellent port, not every year is a vintage. 1985 is a great drink right now. 1994 needs some more years to get the best out of it but is very drinkable right now. 2007 was the last declared vintage.