Port Wine Values

Posted May 2009

While the country of Port is just 370 miles long and 125 miles wide (smaller than the state of Kentucky) it ranks fourteenth in the world wine production. The grapes used in Port are a blend of unique grapes not commonly used in other parts of the world. Although a wide variety of grapes can be blended into Port to give it complexity, the most common five varieties are Tinta Barroca (for alcohol, body and aroma), Tinta Roriz (for body, flavor and aroma), Tinta Cao (for spiciness), Touriga Francesa (for floral aromas) and Touriga Nacional (for color, flavor and aroma). For the final product, Port is about 10 percent residual sugar and 20 percent alcohol.

“Port descriptors include a wide range of flavors and aromas including sweet red and black fruits, licorice, spices, spring flowers, black raspberry liqueur, cassis, caramel, walnut, chocolate, toffee, mocha, baked cherry, blackberries, minerals, wet earth, boysenberry syrup, ripe plum, black currant and brown sugar. Mouth feel characteristics are commonly described as full-bodied, rich, sweet, concentrated and tannic.”



Serving Port Wines
Port is an ideal wine to finish a meal as it goes well with desserts and can hold up to the smoking of a cigar. The classic food pairing for Port is a strong blue cheese (Stilton or Gorgonzola), roasted nuts and bittersweet chocolate. A 3 to 4 ounce pour is custom. Decanting of Vintage Port, single quinta vintage Port, traditional late bottled vintage Port and crusted Port should be done three to 12 hours before being served from a bottle that was stored upright for about a week to allow the sediment to settle in the bottom of the bottle before decanting. Ports that do not throw a sediment (ruby, young and aged tawny, vintage character, colheita, regular late bottled vintage and white Port) may be poured straight from the bottle. Bottle temperature should be around 65 degrees.

Port wine values from The Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator and WineBlueBook

The Wine Advocate recommends these value Port wines:

  1. NV Taylor Ten Year Tawny Port scored 93 and suggested retail is $35
  2. NV Quinta Das Heredias Ruby Porto scored 92 and suggested retail is $16
  3. NV Quinta de la Rosa Finest Reserve Port scored 92 and suggested retail is $14
  4. NV Quinta do Noval Late Bottled (Vintage Character) scored 91 and suggested retail is $19
  5. NV Quinta do Noval Ruby Old Coronation scored 89 and suggested retail is $11

WineBlueBook.com recommends these value Port wines:

  1. NV Fonseca, Vintage Character Port Bin 27 scored 87 and suggested retail is $13
  2. NV Quinta do Noval, Vintage Character Port LB scored 89 and suggested retail is $17
  3. NV Taylor Fladgate, Tawny Port 10 year old scored 92 and suggested retail is $27
  4. NV Warre's, Port Port 10 Year Old Tawny Otima scored 91 points and suggested retail is $20
  5. NV Ramos-Pinto, Port Port Collector Reserva scored 87 points and suggested retail is $15

The Wine Spectator recommends these value Port wines:

  1. NV Niepoort Tawny Port 10 Year Old scored 95 and release price was $30
  2. NV Martinez Tawny Port 20 Year Old Directors scored 93 and release price was $25
  3. NV Graham Tawny Port 10 Year Old scored 91 and release price was $24
  4. NV Taylor Fladgate Tawny Port 10 Year Old scored 91 and release price was $29
  5. NV Quinta do Noval Tawny Port 10 Year Old scored 90 and release price was $27
For more information about Port and other wines we recommend Karen MacNeil's "The Wine Bible." Among wine encyclopedias, it has the distinction of being both authoritative and entertaining. For wine prices we recommend WineSearcher.com and to find wine values, we recommend WineBlueBook.com.