If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes greater than great, as is the case with today’s wine from Kaz Winery’s Bodega Bay Portworks.

Mission Codename: Port of call

Operative: Agent White

Objective: Meet the demands of our Field Operatives by surveilling a Port wine

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Kaz Winery’s Bodega Bay Portworks

Wine Subject: White Port

Winemaker: Kaz (Richard Kasmier)

Backgrounder: Wine Spies Central Command has been getting requests for exceptional Port wines. When Agent White was dispatched, he did not need to look too hard; Kaz Winery, which has become a favorite of our Operatives, had recently begun producing a small variety of Port wines. Among them, a White Port. Partial to white wines as Agent White is, he honed in on Kaz’s white masterpiece… and secured a small quantity for our Operatives to enjoy.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Poured from its slender 375ml bottle, this wine pours clear and beautiful with a glinting golden color and a thick and viscous bounce

Smell -Think Toblerone white chocolate with nougat, with buttery hazelnut tones and a hint of apricot

Feel -Heavy and rich and increasingly warming on your tongue with each small sip. Not too syrupy as you might find with some red ports

Taste – A pleasant blast of walnut and more subtle hazelnut. At first it seems impossible that grapes can deliver nutty flavors, followed by mild tastes of white chocolate, with hints of honey, toasted almonds, vanilla and butter

Finish -Like any port, this wine leaves a pleasant bit of sugariness and warmth in your mouth. This unique white port is nowhere as syrupy and heavy as the feeling you get from most ports

Conclusion – If you have tried traditional port wines before, this is a port that I must recommend to you. While it is unique, it is no novelty wine. This is a fun to drink port that can be enjoyed by anyone, but it is also serious enough to be enjoyed by any lover of great port. With unique flavors and a sweetness that lends itself to complimenting a great dessert, I also enjoy it as dessert. With the holidays and the colder weather upon us, this port finds a special place in my home and when party hopping between now and the New Year, I’ll be dragging along several bottles.

Mission Report:

Ahhh. I just love these no-brainer, drop-kick missions. Let Agent Red have the more complicated away missions. This time of year I prefer to remain close to hearth and home here in our Wine Spies L.A. enclave.

When Central Command issued the directive for Port, I knew exactly where to look; Kaz Winery is a Wine Spies favorite and I knew from previous intel gathering that cult winemaker Kaz had a fabulous White Port. One phone call was all it took to express a few bottles down my way from the Kaz estate in Kenwood, California. A day later and my samples were here.

After just one pour, I was happily convinced that I need look no further. This was the Port for our Operatives. It is delicious and different enough from more traditional ports to make it extremely interesting. Other spies I tried it with enjoyed this port with dessert. I love it on its own, but also found that it works well as a before dinner aperitif or an after dinner dessert. How ever you like your ports, I recommend this with with great gusto! Yummy.

Wine Spies Satellite Recon:

The Kaz Estate vineyard and tasting room can be seen in this satellite photo