nyc_cuisine write-up) tonight with my friend and former coworker S. I get dinner with him every other Thursday, give or take, so that wasn't all that noteworthy.While I was out, though, I managed to score a bottle of Taylor Fladgate 1997 Vintage Port. All I can say to that is: FUCK YEAH! I've been questing for a bottle of that for weeks and every place I found was either out or wanted a ridiculous sum of money for it. (I won't tell you what I paid for it, but it was more than any sane person should pay for a single bottle of liquid. Still - I'm dying to crack it open, I've had a glass of this stuff before and it's absolutely amazing.)
Life is good.
(Incidentally, if you see an "LBV" vintage port, run! Well, don't necessarily run, but realize that LBV stands for Late Bottled Vintage, which is basically a fake vintage. They take the dregs of the listed year, mix it with the dregs of a few other similar years, and bottle it. It's not bad, but it's worth what you pay - a fraction of the cost of the original vintage. In my opinion you'll get more bang for your buck with an aged tawny, like the Taylor Fladgate 10 year tawny, or the Niepoort 10 year tawny, both of which are excellent bottles and can be had for around $25 each - around the same as the LBV. While I was paying the guy said "you got the LBV 97 right?" and I almost choked - it's worth maybe 1/3 as much and doesn't even taste 1/3 as good IMHO. I double checked - and I hadn't been cheated, they did give me the right bottle. Scared me for a sec, though. Jackass.)
