Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port 75cl

Product Information

Rated as outstanding by Wine Spectator and receiving the International Wine Challenge gold award, this amazing 40-Year Tawny Port is now available again in the UK through VWP! Donnelly told db: “Following on from the huge success of the 25-Year-Old Decanter, released at the end of 2021, we are taking the Glenfarclas connoisseur in an unusual and exiting direction away from the wonderful Sherry Cask.” One of the most graceful of wines, tawny port comes in a bewildering number of different guises, and has its own in-built hierarchy. The apogee, to my mind, is 20-year-old. It represents the epitome of balance and poise, combining the primacy of fine Douro fruit with the secondary complexity that comes from ageing in cask. But enough of the sexing up. For although they are totally different in style, I am not alone in ranking the finest 20-year-olds just as highly as the best vintage ports. Vintage Port – Made using grapes from a single, exceptional harvest, vintage port spends no longer than two years in the barrel before being bottled and tends to be fuller-bodied and deeper red than both ruby and tawny varieties. A rare breed, vintage ports tend to account for 3% of port production but are a class above (often, with the price tag to match).

Tawny Port – After being aged in oak barrels, tawny ports are further aged in bottles for periods such as ten, 20, 40 years, etc. 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. They go well with cheeses and some puddings. Tawny Port – Aged in wooden casks, tawny ports tend to be sweeter and dominated by dried fruit and caramel aromas. Exposure to oxygen in the barrel imparts a moreish toasted nut quality, as well as the characteristic golden-brown hue.There are two kinds of wine that are distinctly Portuguese. One is the very satisfying mostly-white, rosé, and red wines from the Vinho Verde region, and the other is the sweet fortified port wine which also happens to be one of the country’s national treasures. Kate Dingwall is a seasoned wine and spirits writer and trained sommelier. She’s spent a good amount of time hiking up and down the Douro Valley and complains about her legs accordingly. Between the mountains and the coast, on fertile clay soils, is Bairrada (barro is Portuguese for clay). Better known for red wines, this is one of the only wine regions in Portugal to be dominated by a single grape variety,the tannic, high-acid baga, making wines that can be tough and astringent in their youth but which soften with age, becoming beguilingly perfumed. These days many blend baga with non-indigenous grapes to make a friendlier style, but the greatest are pure baga. The area also benefits from late-afternoon breezes which favour the production of fresh, food-friendly whites and increasingly popular sparkling wines.

White! Rose! Tawny! Vintage! There are different ports for different people. Whites are bright and best served chilled, vintage ports are pricier, but ready to sit in your cellar. Rose ports are a happy medium – easy for sunny days, after dinner drinks, and beyond. The Symington family is the dominant force in the Port trade. They own 2,400 hectares of land in the Douro Valley across 26 individual Quintas (Estates) where over 1,000 hectares are planted with vines. They own several well-known brands of Port, and since 1999 have been producing table wines from the Douro. As of 2017 they are also owners of an estate in the Portalegre sub-region to the north east of the Alentejo - their first outside the Douro - with the first wines released in 2019. Provided the wine has been well nurtured, a certain amount of bake can be a positive characteristic in a mature tawny. Many shippers use a small component of Douro-matured wine in their aged tawnies.Bucelas was the first wine The Society ever sold! This tiny DOC is one of the closest to Lisbon. It produces breezy dry whites which are popular locally. To find the best port, the GHI’s panel of 10 WSET-trained experts and consumers tried 32 bottles – from white to ruby – from the leading supermarkets and big brands. Each was tasted blind to prevent brand bias, and they were looking for easy-drinking styles that would work well with a classic cheese board and desserts. An outstanding Tawny Port Wine from Sandeman Port. A rich yet elegant combination of flavours - dried apricots, honey, nuts, spices, vanilla - creates an endlessly complex wine that unfolds smoothly and develops in the mouth. It depends on how long you anticipate aging it for! If something is left to sit for time, let it rest on its side away from direct sunlight, just as you would any fine wine. If you have an open bottle, you can store it at room temperature or in the fridge. Chilling a bottle will extend the lifespan — the cold slows down the oxidation process.