Serving Tips: Most Tawny Ports have an age designation on the label: 10, 20, 30 or more years, which indicates the average year of the grapes in the bottle, not the vintage age of the fruit harvest.

Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port | Master of Malt

Then there are tawny ports which are barrel-aged for longer with oxygen contact, like with sherry, until they lose their colour and take on a nutty quality. Delivering cherry and blackcurrant jam on the nose, with undercurrents of molasses and woodsmoke, this is a rich and aromatic wine with a soft, lingering finish. With often only half the alcohol content of vodka or gin, you’ll find a growing number of bar lists featuring port in all sorts of ways you had probably never imagined. Not too sweet, not too oaky, this is a fine example of a characterful port that’s a great crowd pleaser – and all the more so if you have eco-warriors at your dinner table. Vintage Port is best drunk old (15–30 years of age), however, young Vintage Port (up to 5 years of age) can also deliver an excellent drinking experience.As the name implies, LBV Port is developed from a single-vintage Ruby Port and may enjoy up to six years in the barrel before being bottled and released. Therefore, you can expect these delicious fortified wine divas to develop some serious sediment over the years, making decanting a must for most bottles. The endearing characteristics that highlight a classic Vintage Port pairing involve buttery and tangy elements, ok… and probably the crazy stink of Stilton blue cheese.

port 2023: We round up the finest Ruby, Reserve, Single Best port 2023: We round up the finest Ruby, Reserve, Single

Flavor: Expect citrus and stone fruit to carry over into the glass and Port’s trademark nutty, raisin, and spice influences will surface front and center. It can be drunk now or laid down – but you’ll absolutely need to decant it when you do decide to go for it. Showing a simple, fruity, youthful character, Ruby Ports are generally the least expensive of the Port wines available on the shelf. The sweetness in the wine comes from the brandy that is added during fermentation, which halts the fermentation process, leaving some sugar behind and increasing alcohol levels to up 20% ABV. Flavor: This wine has a nutty, caramelized character that often delivers buttered toffee and smoky vanilla themes in tandem with blackberry, ripe cherry, and crème brûlée alongside dried orange, sweet figs, and mocha notes with some age-designated bottles carrying the unmistakable aromas of spiced candied pecans or sticky toffee pudding (a classic English dish).

With their sweet to semi-sweet character, nutty nuances, dried apricots, and spiced toffee aromatics, Tawny Ports are a natural pairing for all sorts of nutty delights. The name comes from the tawny colour they develop over time and they tend to be very smooth and mellow, with flavours of fruit and nuts. Built on the blended synergy of Portugal’s indigenous red grapes, most of the region’s Port production is focused on Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo), Tinta Barroca, and Tinto Cão. In years that aren't quite good enough for vintage port, producers will release a wine under a second label.