[conspire] OT: Port wines

[Rick Moen]

Filling in a few things I forgot to mention:

1.  My account of the history of port glossed over and simplified.
E.g., the Portuguese had perfected the trick of adding neutral grape
spirits to red wine before the Napoleonic Wars -- reportedly before
1678.  It wasn't invented for British tipplers mourning for their lost
Bordeauxs, but were a serendipitous discovery for them.  

The Portuguese alliance with Britain went way back, to the Treaty of
Windsor in 1386.  In the unlikely event you want to know more, the
obsessives at Wikipedia can help:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Portuguese_wine


2.  One port variant I didn't mention explicitly is the 'aged tawny port'.
Starting point for these is non-vintage (not the very best) port wine
from two or three years, kept in wooden barrels for aging, and blended
to find the nicest mix.  After 10, 20, 30, or 40 years, the result is
bottled and made available.  It's never world-class but always really
good.  OTOH, you do pay quite a bit for the decades of cellaring.

Here's a good example, a Taylor Fladgate 10-y.o. tawny port blend:  $46.
https://www.beltramos.com/wines/Taylor-Fladgate-20-Year-Tawny-Port-w8565077gf
The 'NV' prefix on the description is wine-speak for 'No Vintage', i.e., 
it's not any specific single year.  The '10 years' is described as a
'target age profile' of how well aged on average most parts of the blend
are likely to be when opened.  (Contrary to popular opinion, it isn't
the minimum average ages of the blend.)

Think $46 for a 10-year-old tawny blend is expensive?  You should see
what the 30-year-olds tawny port blends cost.  Here's one from W.B.J.
Graham:  $100.
https://www.beltramos.com/wines/Graham-s-30-Year-Tawny-Port-Graham-s-30-Year-Tawny-Port-w9319193q9

You might be surprised to hear that it's definitly worth $100 if you can 
spare the dosh, but consider that this is for _non-vintage_ port, i.e.,
not the good stuff.  So, imagine how much better a _vintage_ port might
become after you've cellared it for 30 years.

And yes, it really does.   For $10 less ($90) than the cost of a 30-y.o.
tawny today, you can currently get Taylor Fladgate's 2011 Vintage Port
-- but, again, _not_ to drink now, but rather decades from now.  (2011
is the most recent port vintage year I'm seeing.)
https://www.beltramos.com/wines/2011-Taylor-Fladgate-Vintage-Port-w4153268wp

If not-the-good-stuff is worth $100 after 30 years, what'll be a fair
price for a good 2011 vintage port in 2045?  Maybe $500.  Maybe more.

And, for the luck owner, an experience memorable for years.


3.  Avoid getting shikkered (plastered) on port, whether good, bad, or
indifferent.  A port's hangover potential is atrocious.  Like brandy, it
contains significant fusel oils as a by-product of production.  I hear
that 'fusel' is an old German word for 'bad hooch'.
http://homebrew.stackexchange.com/questions/2837/what-is-fusel-alcohol-and-does-it-cause-hangovers


4.  One of the nice things you can do with a cheap tawny port around
Christmas is make gløgg.  Skål!
http://food52.com/recipes/2110-spiced-glogg-with-port-wine-and-cointreau


Don't know how to pronounce 'gløgg'?  Or skål, either?  Watch this
remedial video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f488uJAQgmw

-- 
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Rick Moen                      my parent process.  Prepare to vi.
rick at linuxmafia.com
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