Bottle of port for a special occasion?

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by SteveH

Here's my .02....
First- what are your tastes ? No sense in buying a $160 dollar bottle of Vintage when a $50 bottle of Taylor 20 will do the trick (which, by the way is my favorite tawny). All ports benefit from a proper decanting; although no need to go crazy with a tawny 10 or 20...Its perfectly fine after 15mins of the bottle being open. Careful though, as most ports will have sediment (especially if labeled 'Crusted')
Second - Not sure about where you are at; but you will not find any 1980 Dow, Taylor, or anything in the North East for $60. I reciently bought a bottle of 1980 Dow, 1980 Taylor, 1980 Fonseca, and 1980 Offley, and the prices ranged from $80 up to over $150 for a properly stored bottle.(Which, frankly I found the 1977 Dow much better than the 1980 fwiw)
Im guilty like most people in buying cases of 2007 vintages with the intent on storing them for a couple of decades. By far, the Quinta do Noval 2007 seems to be the most promising....If you see it - Snag it

You'll be waiting a lifetime to drink a 2007 Noval. 1980 Dow has less bottle variation than 1977 Dow and are on par in quality when the Dow 77 is "on". Take a look for Sandeman and Ferreira 1980 too; both are good and can be found at decent prices.