I searched and couldnt find my answer. How long will an opened bottle of port hold. The reason I ask is that I love to drink it with a cigar but cant finish a bottle in one sitting. Is there any way I can prolong the life of it or should it be bottoms up everytime I open a bottle.
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Get a little vacuum pump thingy and you'll be fine for quite a while. i don't like to let an open bottle out for more than a month, though. Just my thing.
a bottle of port would last aprox 10-14 days with just the cork re-inserted. I find that after about a week you realy can taste the port getting oxidized. Its kind of a more alcohol taste and the fruit flavors arnt as up front. Still i have had some ports sit out on my counter for about a month before i finnished them and they still taste ok, just not quite up the the standard of freshly opened.
Just along the same topic, I went to a restaurant a few months ago and ordered a glass of Dows vintage 96 porto after my dinner. I got the port and it tasted like it had been on the shelf for about 2 months. Very disapointing. So anyway if you go to a restaurant and order port, i would recomend you get a tawny or a LBV as they sell much faster than a vintage and less likly to be oxidized.
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Posts: 989 | Location: Victoria ,BC. Canada | Registered: December 28, 2004
If you are drinking vintage port with any age, decant it after opening and it'll keep a little better. Store it in a cool dark place...those port bottles are really dark because port (like cigars), doesn't keep well when exposed to light. If you are nipping at it a few evenings after dinner it'll be gone before it looses anything.
Posts: 148 | Location: Central New Jersey | Registered: March 01, 2005
Originally posted by Mr. Fingers: If you are drinking vintage port with any age, decant it after opening and it'll keep a little better. Store it in a cool dark place...those port bottles are really dark because port (like cigars), doesn't keep well when exposed to light. If you are nipping at it a few evenings after dinner it'll be gone before it looses anything.
Why do you recomend decanting it?? I am definitly not an expert on the subject but decanting would oxidize the wine 2x as fast. The whole point of decanting wine is to open it up by exposing it to a higher amount of O2.
Keeping it in a cool dark place is a good idea, like stated above the fridge is the best spot.
**S.H.U.T.U.P. #4** R.O.C.A #0012
By the way, if you don't like it, start you own magazine and web site... - James Suckling
Posts: 989 | Location: Victoria ,BC. Canada | Registered: December 28, 2004
Dre, The primnary reason I decant is that vintage port with any throws off a lot of sedament an I find that if you are pouring repeatedly out of the bottle the sedament starts to break up. It doesn't taste great and clouds the port. On the additional oxidation, ports do "open up" after they get a little air, but the high alcahol keeps them from turning quickly.
Posts: 148 | Location: Central New Jersey | Registered: March 01, 2005
Originally posted by Mr. Fingers: Dre, The primnary reason I decant is that vintage port with any throws off a lot of sedament an I find that if you are pouring repeatedly out of the bottle the sedament starts to break up. It doesn't taste great and clouds the port. On the additional oxidation, ports do "open up" after they get a little air, but the high alcahol keeps them from turning quickly.
good call, for some reason i forgot about the sediment in the vintage port.
**S.H.U.T.U.P. #4** R.O.C.A #0012
By the way, if you don't like it, start you own magazine and web site... - James Suckling
Posts: 989 | Location: Victoria ,BC. Canada | Registered: December 28, 2004
I've had a couple of bottles open for a while. They certainly don't taste good anymore. I find that if they're left over a month, they taste somewhat spoiled.
Somewhat on the same topic, I read somewhere that when a bottle of cognac (and I guess by logical extension, brandy) is opened it should be finished within a short period or risk spoiling. I've had a bottle of Courvoisier XO opened for 5 years (before it was discovered by hip hop artists) and it still tastes great. Any one have some insights?
Swisher, I'm not sure what you mean by "a while" but if you have a bottle of port opened and it has been around for more than a week or so...you need to get some friends............to join you. Or, as the others have said...commit yourself.
btw, the tradition is to Pass The Port to the right (clockwise around the table).
A bottle of port is only 750 ml when bottled...(after decanting and a long rest) is no more than 24 ounces...so maybe you'll get 10 or 12 smaller servings (7 or 8 heftier pours). Have a few friends over, serve cigars and port. Kiss the bottle goodbye.
FYI, on the age vs spoilage issue...the higher the alcohol content the less likely to go bad. Keep in mind that a decanter stopper or bottle cork won't stop the wine from oxidizing, but it will stop some evaporation which can negatively impact the taste/flavor.
Posts: 148 | Location: Central New Jersey | Registered: March 01, 2005
. Drink it while smoking a coupla double coronas. You'll finish the bottle. Or die. 
