Not Any Port in a Storm
 By John W. Schultz
We can’t guarantee stormy weather, but we can
promise a great selection of fine ports for anytime you wish to
relax in a safe harbor.
Winter is a great time for reflection, to look back on the year
past and contemplate the year before us. What better way to relax
with your thoughts, a good book, your favorite music, your
sweetheart, a fine cigar (or all of the above as I prefer to do) for
a quiet evening at home, than to sip a glass of a most excellent port. Port is a wonderful thing! It has a special quality in that an
opened bottle can be enjoy for up to a few weeks and continue to
mellow and soften, so you can nurture and savor it over the course
of many evenings, rather than just one evening as it is with most
wines.
Below we have assembled some of the finest values and top-drawer
ports to be found in the Seattle marketplace for your drinking
pleasure.
Wyndham Old Tawny Port (Australia) $11
 Wyndham
Estate is recognized as Australia’s oldest operating winery. Cutting
edge winemaking techniques meld nicely with the history and
tradition of this fine estate’s ability to make wines that are as
timeless as they are enjoyable to drink upon release. The George
Wyndham Tawny Port is no exception! Blended from many years to
maintain consistency and high quality, so it tastes great from year
to year. The balance is superb and the bright fruit contrasts
beautifully with the aged raisiny character found in all good Tawny
Ports. Plummy, Jammy characters play against a backdrop of brandy
nuances and soft toasty oak.
Beringer Port of Cabernet Sauvignon 1997 (California) $21
"Among Beringer's Napa Valley vineyards for Cabernet Sauvignon,
three-State Lane, Gamble and Dos Rios-are concentrated in a small
area near the Silverado Trail.
 The
Cabernet from this area tends to display more fruit than tannin,
with a ripe, fleshy character and flavors of plum, black currant
(cassis) and spice. Port is traditionally a candidate for long
aging, but with a vintage that produces fruit as lush and rich as
1997 did, I have no problem drinking this wine relatively young. The
aromas and flavors show why Cabernet Sauvignon is such a star in
Napa Valley's climate and soils: the wine is richly fruited but
complex; mouthfilling yet not in the least cloying. The wine's
aromas and flavors of blackberries at the peak of ripeness are in
the forefront, but I also find suggestions of light herbs, peppery
spice and a toasty caramel note from the oak barrels that makes me
yearn for a roaring fire, a bowl of toasted walnuts and a circle of
friends to share a toast to the great tradition of Port."-Ed Sbragia,
Winemaster
Calem Ruby Port NV (Portugal) $15
This rich and jammy port has deliciously sweet flavors of plum, ripe
cherry and blackberry with nuances of vanilla oak and chocolate.
Very well-balanced and smooth for a port in this price range. An
excellent ruby for drinking now!
Graham’s Six Grapes (Portugal) $22
Rich, mellow and sweet with the
structure and depth to take on the darkest chocolate or the boldest
cigar. The Symington family modeled Six Grapes on the fresh fruit
intensity of a young Graham’s Vintage. The bright color implies the
freshness of the wine, built on clean cherry and plum flavors that
completely fill out a velvety suppleness. Uplifted, neither sweet
nor syrupy, this fragrant wine come to a crisp close. It’s a fine
youthful ruby port to sip now.
 Smith
Woodhouse Lodge Reserve (Portugal) $15
The Lodge Reserve is a blend of premium wines, which have spent five
years in wood before being bottled and is ready for drinking upon
release. It is a luscious, intense deep purple port, having the
benefits of wood maturation while retaining the youthful fruit
flavor one would expect in a young Vintage port. Taste dark fruit
with soft sweet tannins.
Graham’s Late Bottled Vintage 1994 (Portugal) $21
This super LBV is from the great 1994 vintage considered by most
experts to be the best vintage in the last decade. The LBV is a
great and inexpensive way to taste a stunning wine for a great deal less
than the Vintage port with out having to age it yourself. Like
Vintage port, LBV is a wine of a single year
 but it is
not a 'declared' Vintage port. Whereas Vintage port spends only two
years in casks and then matures in bottle, LBV is aged solely in
cask and then bottled at between four and six years old. At the time
of bottling it has completed its maturation and is ready for
drinking without the need for decanting. Graham's LBV has much of
the rich full fruity flavor and 'grip' of Vintage port, combining
this with a softness gained through oak aging.
 Smith
Woodhouse Ten Year Tawny (Portugal) $32
The
10yr is blended from wines of the very highest quality grapes,
matured slowly in wood cask and bottled for immediate consumption.
The maturation in oak casks lends this aged tawny a delicate 'nutty'
character, which marries beautifully with the delicious raisiny
fruit flavors. Aged Tawny is perhaps the most versatile port style
and is appreciated for its delicacy, complexity and harmonious
balance.
Quinta do Vesuvio 1996 Vintage Port (Portugal) $44
Opaque inky purple color, with a super rich concentrated nose of
blackberry fruit and undertones of black cherry and nuances of mint
and spice.  On
the palate it shows a dense body and luscious cassis flavors
balanced by firm tannins. The voluptuous finish is a fantastic
exhibition of power and finesse. An outstanding wine from a
spectacular cult Quinta in the Douro Superior. It is the opinion of
owners Peter and Charles Symington that the 1996 is one of their
finest ever produced. |
