What to drink this week

Fortified winter favourites

Our ancestors (the lucky ones, anyway) drank huge quantities of fortified wines, especially in winter. I recall reading that the Younger Pitt, near the end of his sadly short life, was confined by his doctor to just one pint of Port a day. The Rev James Woodforde, that estimable 18th-century Norfolk parson, also drank a bottle of Port a day for many years. One of the reasons for this was, undoubtedly, the lack of central heating: on January 25, 1795, Woodforde reports ‘the frost this morning more severe than Yesterday. It froze the Chamber Pots above stairs’.

A small dose will invigorate both flesh and spirits, enthuses Harry Eyres

Why you should be drinking them

Fortified wines do more than warm chilled muscles and bones—they invigorate the spirit, as well as the flesh. Not for nothing did Dr Johnson remark that ‘claret is the liquor for boys; port, for men’. I find these wines both satisfying and versatile. Although a little stronger in alcohol than normal table wine (not much stronger, in the case of fino and manzanilla sherry), they can be consumed in smaller quantities and will keep in the bottle for a week or so (do remember to keep your fino or manzanilla in the fridge).

What to buy

My own everyday fortified favourites start with González Byass’s ever-reliable, bone-dry, pure and tangy fino Tio Pepe (£10; www. sainsburys.co.uk). Hidalgo’s Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana (right, £12.99; www.waitrose cellar.com), from a single vineyard, is even more delectable, with stronger flor character and great finesse. Moving to Port, I have a special fondness for tawny (aged in the barrel, rather than the bottle): Taylor’s 10-year-old tawny (£22.30; www.masterofmalt.com) has a winning combination of nuttiness and freshness and can be drunk (in small doses) at almost any time of day.