Port, Sherry, Madeira and any other Fortified Wine thread

Haven’t bought my sweet wine yet, partner has more Tokaji than we need but I like red/brown sweet booze.

Not a vintage port fan apart from a Colehita where all the aging is done for you so was thinking of a bottle of Matusalem as PX is great but this is mixed with oloroso so less sweet and a bit more complex, has anyone tried it?
Had this organic red from Alella (just north of Barcelona) last year which was great but out of stock.

Would like an affordable half bottle of Riversault but a bit thin on the ground.

I bought two entry bottles this week:
Gonzalez Byass Leonor 12 Year Old Palo Cortado
Port Of Leith Distillery Manzanilla Sherry

Ignore all the capping up, I just copied and pasted from my order.
Never ordered sherry but the idea of something being picked as a fino but then becoming something else is interesting.

And then a seaside fino also sounded cool.

I think the brief was a “medium”. I think I failed.
“But medium is a blend!”

More I'd suspect it being fortified

I have a couple bottles of port that have hung around the kitchen for a few years. One is half full. Worth a go or likely vinegar?

If the cork was good should still be good.

It should be nice to drink and somewhere between the salty nutty fino and pedro ximinez.

I went for a straight Pedro Ximinez and a bottle of Banyuls (sweet red)

Sounds like a “medium” to me!

(But not the blended medium)

Worth a smell.
If vinegar (unlikely) use in cooking

Think it'll be the day for this one tomorrow.

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Found this in the cupboard yesterday, very nice

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My core Christmas memory is from a few years back. All of my family stuffed into my parents house. Brother in law dying of cancer, too many people for the house, lots of young kids. Uptight parents, a love of stuffy ceremony, and an atmosphere you could cut with a knife.
I exit to the kitchen to ask mum if she needs a hand with any of the cooking. She mentions that the mash needs doing.
So I square myself away with the tatties and a litre of port. I send the full bottle in an hour.
For some reason I ended up blaring Pavarotti on my portable speaker (despite no previous affection for opera), just something about a large amount of port in my blood, and a large powerful Italian singer just seemed to be right.
Everyone kept popping their heads in (no doubt to escape the tension next door) bewildered by the scene. I was so pissed by the end I couldn’t even mash the taters . Good times tho.

When in doubt, send it.

A litre of port before lunch is um, strong work.

It was the evening meal. I used to work with a guy who would drink a litre of baileys before getting out of bed on Christmas Day!

Interesting move. My experience was always the other way around. “Getting on the Baileys” being a euphemism having drunk everything else in the house.

Need to tag the Danes in this

@JesperXT @Hulsroy @Simba

Update : it was nice (not finished it) it starts sweet on the nose, is dry finish.
I like it.

Still have the manzanilla to try.

“Maybe I wanted an olorosso?”

I was gifted this Ramos Pinto 1983 by Cousin Jan.

I’m a total philistine but my days, the smoothness and flavour are like nothing I’ve tasted. Not surprising when I looked up the price 😳

Upside is that I’ve been advised that it should be consumed less than a week after opening. Oh well, if I must….

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March this year my firstborn daughter was born and I’ve decided to purchase a couple of bottles of vintage port form different houses to store. I’ve bought mostly vintage 2000, 2003, 2016 and 2019. The plan is to drink some of them now (duh!) and store the rest to open when we will be celebrating daughter’s 21 or 30 birthday. I wonder if anyone on here has done the same? How did it work out?

I've brought gift vouchers for a bottle from the year of birth, after a year or two you get sent a bottle. No idea what it tastes like, niece is 7 and nephew 4 so a few years to wait until I find out!

Not done it myself but unless it’s stored properly in cellar conditions you usually end up with vinegar.
I know someone who bought cases of vintage port and kept them in the loft, so they had a nice yearly cycle of 35°+ to around freezing, they were poured down the drain after more than a decade of cooking/freezing.

That is a nice idea! I’m pretty sure they’re going to be stoked to be able to drink such vintage when they’re of age. Did you get to choose which producer/house they’re going to get a bottle of?

Thank you for the reminder, this is indeed a horror story im worried is going to happen to me as well! From the limited information I’ve gathered from the internet port is supposed to be more forgiving of the cellaring than some other types of vines. Supposedly as long as there are no huge swings in temperature the bottles are going to be fine. I’m going to stick mine in a closed that’s right in the middle of my house. I’d guess that the max temp difference during the year is 4-5 degrees.

I guess I’ll just have to pop a cork from a bottle from time to time and see if everything’s alright.

I don't think so, at least not the shop I used, was a Graham's bond.

my kids are 18 and 20, one of them drinks alcohol and the other doesn't.

2002 was a shit year for most wines in Europe, 2004 not so bad but tbh i don't recall if it was a vintage port year or not.

Getting the cork out cleanly was a challenge but this is lovely

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