WINE
TAWNY port is one of the most versatile fortified sweet wines.
Often relegated to a role at Christmas, it is so much more than just a wine to match with Stilton cheese during the festive season.
It likes to be chilled a little which helps to bring it to the table in a surprising number of circumstances for food matching - extending as far as pâté and, at a push, roasted or skewered meats such as pork served with a sweetish sauce.
In my experience ten-year-old tawny is, by far, the most common and you’ll find plenty of good examples at supermarkets such as the very reliable
Taylor’s (£22 widely available).
But, as a tasting of ports from Quinta do Vallado at the Brazilian restaurant Fazenda in Spinningfields proved recently, the more expensive 20-year-old is most definitely a sweet spot for tawny.
The occasion was organised mainly to show off the estate’s 129-yearold tawny available at Fazenda for £240 for a £50ml glass and £120 25ml glass.
For the less monied customers Vallado makes three tawnies (10, 20, and 30 years old) as well as some very decent table wines – reflecting the modern approach to wine-making among modern Douro port houses.
The Vallado Moscatel Galego 2013 (Retail £10.95 Wine Direct) is a prime example of the expansive nature of Douro wines.
Douro schist and high altitude is giving table wines a mineral character.
A Douro Branco 2015 (£12 Wine Direct) made strictly from Portuguese varieties sings with that waxy lemon zest character that is as distinctive in the country’s whites as is the almondy note often found in Italian whites.
Two reds were a reminder that red grapes that have made the Douro great.
A Touriga Nacional 2014 (£22.50 Wine Direct) was silky with aromas of violets and a lick of balsamic, while The Douro Reserva Tinto Field Blend 2014
(£27.75 Wine Direct) is more concentrated with intense blackberry fruit and herbal perfume.
Again, both are riven with a typical Douro mineral character. Back however to the tawnies. They are aged traditionally in huge foudres allowing the wine to partially oxidise and giving it a lighter colour as time passes.
The Quinta do Vallado 10-year-old (£17.50 Wine Direct) is a sleek wine with citrussy scents of dried fruits, particularly dates and a hint of coconut.
The Quinta do Vallado 20-year-old (£28 Portugal Vineyards) is very luscious with similar notes to the 10, yet is more harmonious, and surprisingly a lot of freshness to combat the tobacco notes.
The Quinta do Vallado 30-year-old (£69.48 GP brands) is a different type of beast altogether where sweeter caramel and honeyed notes dominate and freshness is, in part, provided by volatile acidity.
Fazenda Spinningfields offers some of the table wines by the bottle and the tawny ports by the glass – check out the in-house wine menu for prices and availability.
“The more expensive 20-yearold is definitely a sweet spot for tawny port”