Mayson’s seasonal selection: 15 sumptuous Ports to try
1 Churchill’s, Dry White Port 92
£17-£21.50/50cl Bar Douro, Christopher Piper, Harvey Nichols, Hedonism, Hic, Love Wine, Master of Malt, Mr Wheeler, St Andrews Wine Co, Tanners, The Oxford Wine Co, The Secret Cellar, The Somerset Wine Co, Vinvm
Made in resolutely traditional style and it shows beautifully: old gold in colour with a savoury-nutty, white pepper character on the nose, rich and slightly honeyed with dried apricot and spice returning on the finish. Moreish to drink on its own, with a twist of lemon peel to sharpen it up, or as a long drink served with tonic and a sprig of mint. Drink 2021-2025 Alcohol 19.5%
2 Sandeman, 40 Year Old Tawny 99
£156 Cru, Dunell’s, Hedonism, Inn at Home, Slurp, South Downs Cellars, The Leamington Wine Co, Vintage Wine & Port, Vinvm
Sandeman is a consistent winner across all the tawny categories at the Decanter World Wine Awards. This 40 Year Old with its lovely mid-deep orange-amber colour, lifted aromas and milk-chocolate richness and creaminess won Platinum this year. It is particularly good, perfectly poised with a presence, texture and finish that sends it into the outer realms of greatness. Prepare to be spellbound. Drink 2021-2025 Alc 20%
Real Companhia Velha, Very Old Tawny 1927 98
POA Fine & Rare A spectacular year for Port: undoubtedly one the best of the 20th century. The 1927 is one of three very old tawnies being released to celebrate the 265th anniversary of RCV’s founding in September 1756 (the others are from 1908 and 1900). Redmahogany in hue, this has wonderfully lifted, delicate aromas, floral with an underlying hint of toast; sumptuously rich and sweet with crystallised fruit, a touch of smooth butterscotch and a hint of spice and ginger, long and still remarkably lithe on the finish. Testament to an outstanding year. Drink 2021-2030 Alc 22.5%
Taylor’s, Single Harvest 1896 98
£3,500-£3,950 Bordeaux Index, Farr Vintners, Harvey Nichols, Hedonism, House of Malt, Master of Malt, The Whisky Exchange
Good things come to those who wait. The last two pipes (casks) of a wine set aside 125 years ago were bottled earlier in 2021. The 1896 vintage was a watershed for the Port trade as it was much the best harvest since phylloxera had ravaged the Douro Valley in the 1870s. The wine came to Taylor’s through Wiese & Krohn, latterly a small Portuguese-owned company that was bought by the Fladgate Partnership in 2013. Deep mahogany centre with a thin olivegreen rim; distinctly and very beautifully lifted on the nose, a touch balsamic or, in Portuguese terms, vinagrinho, with a touch of cask dissipating to reveal a wonderful perfume of quince and a hint of roast coffee. Richly concentrated, with wonderfully mellifluous texture and a fresh streak of acidity that stops it from cloying, there’s a hint of molasses, butterscotch and leather on the finish which, as you might expect, goes on and on and on. The essence of Port: glorious and the last of its kind.
Drink 2021-2030 Alc 20%
3 Graham’s, Vintage Port 1985 97
£69-£119 Fingal-Rock, Handford, Hedonism, JN Wine, Nickolls & Perks, Palmers Wine Store, Tanners, Vintage Wine & Port
Probably the best wine from a good, ripe, though rather variable vintage: still deep at the centre with a thin tawny rim; lovely ripe plummy aromas, open but still brooding, with more to reveal; ripe and fleshy on the palate with glorious plum and cherry fruit backed by firm, ripe tannins leading to a powerful finish. Ready to drink now and will keep and develop in bottle for another 30 years at least!
Drink 2021-2050 Alc 20%
4 Quinta do Noval, Colheita 2007 97
£49.99 Ocado
Declared as a vintage by most shippers including Noval, 2007 was a relatively cool year in the Douro with wines characterised by their purity of fruit. Mid-deep and still quite youthful in colour with a lovely orange-tawny glint; forthcoming on the ▶
nose with a complex creamy-floral character along with a touch of malt and spice; soft and sublime on the palate, sweet but a touch savoury toasted-almond character too, piqued with peppery tannins and leading to a long, beautifully lithe finish. Drink 2021-2030 Alc 20%
Quinta do Noval, Vintage Port 2019 97
£43.33 (ib)-£83.33 Berry Bros & Rudd, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Dunell’s, Justerini & Brooks, L’Assemblage, Lay & Wheeler, Millésima, Tanners, The Wine Society, Vintage Wine & Port
A late release, on sale this Christmas, from the year most recently declared for vintage Port, if not by all producers. Deep, opaque, inky black hue; tight-knit and unyielding with underlying minty ripeness on the nose. Well-defined minty fruit with great purity and intensity on the palate, dark chocolate depth at the core, firm but ripe linear tannins with long, lovely freshness (the hallmark of this vintage) present on the finish. Drink 2035-2080 Alc 20%
5 Kopke, 10 Year Old Tawny 95
£21.95-£25 Cambridge Wine Merchants, Connolly’s, Ellis Wharton, Fairley’s, Field & Fawcett, Friarwood, Hennings, KWM, Nickolls & Perks, Northern Wine & Beer Co, The Secret Bottle Shop, Tom I’Anson, Weavers, Worsley Fine Wines
Kopke is the oldest of all the Port wine houses, having been established in 1638. It produces outstanding tawnies (and aged whites) at all levels, up to and including a new 50 Year Old Tawny. Pale orange-amber in colour, this is gently toasted on the nose with lovely fresh citrus and dried fruit, then smooth, savoury complexity on the finish.
Drink 2021-2025 Alc 20%
Quinta da Côrte, 20 Year Old Tawny 95
£50 Chiltern St Wine Co
This beautiful estate in the Torto valley used to supply Delaforce with sumptuous tawnies. It is is now out on its own (under French ownership) and continues to age wines conscientiously in the Douro. Pale amber-tawny in colour with a touch of orange, too, this is mature, savoury and a touch leathery on the nose, showing great complexity on the palate with soft, smooth, suave fruit, a touch of Douro rusticity and great texture and presence all the way through to the finish, which goes on and on.
Drink 2021-2025 Alc 20%
Ramos Pinto, Late Bottled Vintage 2015 94
£19.81-£25.80 Haynes Hanson & Clark, L’Art du Vin, Le Vignoble, Roberts & Speight, The Drink Shop, The Whisky Exchange
A Gold winner at this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards, this LBV stands out from a large crowd. Mostly Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca (the grapes that give it fragrance), foot-trodden, then aged for years in wood before bottling, this wine has real power and depth with rich, tight-knit fruit and gentle peppery grip. It already shows considerable floral finesse but, bottled unfiltered with a driven cork, this will age and soften in bottle if laid down for another decade. Drink 2021-2031 Alc 19.5%
6 Sandeman, Imperial Reserve 93
£15.99 Alexander Hadleigh, Eynsham Cellars, T Wright Wine, The Secret Bottle Shop
The ‘reserve tawny’ category in Port is a hard one to interpret, but with large stocks of cask-aged wines to draw on, Sandeman has got this one absolutely right. Look on this as a junior tawny: brick-red with a hint of tawny in hue, enticing spicy fruit cake character; smooth on the mid-palate with a lovely fresh, piquant finish (see the 40 Year Old, p77, for the fully grown-up version).
Drink 2021-2025 Alc 20%
Warre’s, Quinta da Cavadinha 2005 93
£27.95-£40 Ashby Wines, Averys, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Connolly’s, Harrisons Fine Wines, Loki, Noble Green, Terra Wines, The Oxford Wine Co, The Secret Bottle Shop, The Whisky Exchange, Waitrose Cellar
The altitude of this property in the upper/ mid-Pinhão valley (a tributary of the Douro) stands it in good stead in a hot year such as 2005. Good mid-deep youthful colour; ripe, heady warm-country nose, similarly ripe and round on the palate, at the same time the fruit is well defined and focused with a touch of bitter chocolate intensity; well-integrated dusty tannins and a ripe, supple finish. Drink 2021-2032 Alc 20%
Taylor’s, Quinta de Vargellas 2008 92
£30 ND John, Ocado, The Secret Bottle Shop, Waitrose Cellar
Vargellas is the Taylor’s flagship estate and provides the backbone for its outstanding vintage Port blends. 2008 was not declared as a vintage, but this year’s small harvest produced some excellent single quinta wines. Opening up on the nose to reveal minty ripeness with fine, focused cherry and plum fruit on the palate backed by lovely stony tannins and a wonderfully fresh yet ripe finish. Restrained but ready to drink now and at any time over the next decade.
Drink 2021-2031 Alc 20.5%
7 Fonseca, Crusted Bottled May 2015 91
£15.99-£22 Cambridge Wine Merchants, Champagne Direct, Frazier’s, Hay Wines, Noble Green, Saxtys, The Drink Shop, The Whisky Exchange, Waddesdon Wine
Crusted Port is a well-priced substitute for vintage Port. Blended from a number of different years, the wine is bottled without filtration so it throws a sediment (‘crust’) in the bottle and should be decanted as you would a vintage Port. Deep and youthful in hue with lovely dense, ripe berry fruit on the nose (it needs time to open up in the glass), rich and succulent, mid-weight, balanced by firm, spicy tannins which linger with a hint of bittersweet dark chocolate on the finish. Drink now or keep in bottle for up to five years. Drink 2021-2026 Alc 20%
Graham’s, Six Grapes Reserve 90
£12-£17.50 Widely available at independent merchants via UK agent Fells
This is a supremely good reserve ruby Port. It is never the cheapest in the category, but it does consistently outperform. Aged for two years in barrels before being bottled, Six Grapes is a bright, vigorous, full-bodied Port that combines ripe, upfront fruit with purity and finesse. Glorious winter drinking.
Drink 2021-2025 Alc 20% D