ANY PORT EXPERTS ABOUT, NEED HELP ASAP!

[L00fah100]

Hi i have some port from Fortnums & Mason's called Fercentenary late bottled vintage port 2003 which was bottled in 2007 which came in a wooden gift box with stilton cheese. I still have the cheese vase ( Now empty ) gift box and unopened bottle of port.

I have guests coming now and need to know is this port worth anything or likely to be worth anything in the future or should i just dive in?

Also do you know whether it's a twist cap or twist cap and cork?

Tia!

[SirOracle]

Is this a Tercentenary port from Warres?. If so then google Warres Port Wines and see if you can locate this particular bottle and the price it sells for.
Do the same if the company is not Warres,getting the name from the label on the bottle.

[Sqad]

Even with "vintage" wines one cannot guarantee that they will not "go off" for a multitude of reasons.

If you have guests, special guests or a special occasion... then drink it.

I have no idea what "stopper" it has.

[shaneystar2]

Are you sure it's not Tercentenary ?
http://www.cellartrac...wine.asp?iWine=444968

[DTCwordfan]

You mean F&M's Tercentenary Port - retails around £25 - Arte et Vinho in Germany have some.

It should have a cork in it - its not a full vintage, just a later one and will be a bit thinner - probably doesn't need decanting but always better for it and allowing it to breathe before drinking.

Do you have a funnel and any tiny glass beads to drain (putting a bigger one in at the bottom, or (the worst way), use a coffee filter, or put a tea-strainer over the funnel and slowly pour through that.

Enjoy it!

[L00fah100]

Thanks guys! I read your replies earlier on my phone but couldn't reply as i was busy. Yes it's Tercentenary but the swirly f looked like the letter t and it's a bummer that it's not worth anything but then at least i can now drink it.

We didn't end up drinking it anyway as none of the other girls liked port and even me only drank it once and if i can remember rightly it tasted between brandy and red wine???

I know i'm committing sacrilege by asking this but i have another friend who's coming tomorrow who won't like port so i need to know what can i mix it with to make it or palatable???

[L00fah100]

Oh and i won't be able to answer until tomorrow as i'm off to sleep.

So night and t.i.a!

[sandyRoe]

Didn't Ena Sharples in Coronation St have a port and lemon?

[SirOracle]

Chacun a son gout.....Port is a beautiful drink normally taken after a meal. Sipped rather than slugged down like an unfortified wine.
You can add brandy,or as already suggested by Sandy,lemon. A port and lemon was often drunk years ago mainly by females.

[FredPuli43]

If you drink it, you must get rid of the sediment first, as DT says. If you're flash (or skilled) you decant it by pouring it very carefully into a decanter (or jug) keeping an eye on it so you stop pouring as the sediment appears from the bottom of the bottle and doesn't get into the decanter.In this house, we use a coffee filter in its cone (slobs!). When I mentioned this use to a fussy wine merchant he said sarcastically "Or an old sock?" but the filter works, so there!
If it's sold by Fortnum and Mason, it will have a simple cork. Easier than the old way; good port used to come in corked bottles sealed with some kind of tar or pitch. You had to open those by getting a red hot wire to crack the neck of the bottle!

[mccfluff]

if you mix it with blue wkd you make a cheeky vimto. very popular drink when i was working in the pub

double measure port - one bottle blue wkd

[sunny-dave]

eeeeh but you do move in serfisticated circles oh fluffy one .... nice to see your gold covered arse again though :-)

[jno]

that's gold Marmite, dave

http://www.lovefood.c.../body/marmitegold.jpg

goes well with port + Wkd

[sunny-dave]

but I hate marmite and I live fluff's arse ...

< confused dave>

[mccfluff]

you wouldn't get me drinking it, but it's certainly popular

gerroff my arse

[jno]

they are separable. That's what the port + wkd is for.

[sunny-dave]

I think it may be beyond " lift and separate " even with magic pants ...

[mccfluff]

oiiiiiii

[L00fah100]

Thanks for the answers!

You'd be pleased to know that we drank it straight as it wasn't as bad as i remembered it or maybe this one was a better quality?


It said it was only 20% but felt much stronger.

Does alcohol strength increase the longer you keep it?

[FredPuli43]

Don't think alcohol content increases with age, loofah, unless the drink is still fermenting in the bottle or barrel. Guinness in barrel and some Guinness in bottle does ( or did) that.

Port is made strong by being fortified; it's just red wine which has had brandy added; and it matures in barrel for years. The traditional gift, from someone well off, to their newborn son or grandson was a 'pipe' of port, a very large quantity (about 105 gallons), which he would be able to start drinking when he was 21 and was kept for him until then, when it would be ready. Other fortified wines can be the same: Madeira is still available, just, which dates from about the time of the Great War, though, in its case, the makers are inclined to top up the barrels from time to time (the 'solera' method)