Wine with Pete Stewart

Port is a fortified wine made from grapes grown in the Douro Valley in Portugal. The grapes include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo) and Tinta Cao. The wine is fortified by the addition of a neutral spirit during fermentation.

This effectively stops the fermentation, leaving a residual sugar in the wine, meaning that port is always sweet. The spirit also boosts the alcohol by volume (ABV) usually to around 20%, which is why port packs a punch. Household names such as Graham’s, Taylor’s and Dow’s are always reliable. I’m also a huge fan of Kopke and Barros. Port is particularly popular around Christmas, but you can enjoy it in its many guises throughout the year. As the weather improves, a white port in a tall glass with ice and tonic is refreshing.

A small glass of tawny port is lovely with a mushroom soup or risotto.

And a more traditional vintage port still works brilliantly with the cheeseboard, or with a slice of rich fruit cake, or simply as a digestif. Check the supermarkets at this time of year for the odd bargain.

Dow’s Trademark Finest Reserve Port (Sainsbury’s, £10).

This is rich and full with notes of dark chocolate. A

good all-rounder at a great price.

Graham’s Crusted Port bottled 2013 (Sainsbury’s, £20).

Crust is an old fashioned term for the sediment in a port. The crusted bottlings throw more of a sediment which also enhances the flavour. I’d certainly advise a careful decant on this one.

Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos 2005 Vintage Port (Sainsbury’s, £28).

This is a single quinta port, meaning that all the grapes have come from one property which is usually the best vineyard owned by the port house. The Malvedos is slightly lighter than the fullblown Graham’s vintage, which also means that you can drink it sooner.