Cockburn's Special Reserve Port Wine, 75cl

Product Information

Before a Port can be bottled as a vintage it must be submitted to the IVDP (Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto) for approval. This can happen anytime between 1 January and 30 September in the second year after the harvest. Once the wine has been bottled it continues to evolve slowly over a period of at least 15 to 20 years or more, before it is considered ready to drink.

Geosmin is a chemical compound that can give wines and ports an unpleasant, earthy odour, usually the result of using grape crops having been affected by rot. Port is a Portuguese fortified wine often enjoyed alongside a cheese board, after a big meal or simply as a relaxing evening treat. Rather like the seven ages of man, vintage Port enjoys a short, fragrant bloom of youth before it shuts down and goes through 10 to 20 years of surly adolescence. Then it slowly emerges as an adult gaining in gravitas until it reaches its peak, often between 20 and 40 years of age. As mentioned above, Ruby Port stays good for about three to four weeks after opening. Tawny Ports can be kept in the fridge for about a month, or two weeks at room temperature. LBVs can last for a week, maybe two if it’s unfiltered.

White port – Best served cold, white port is delicious and refreshing with a splash of tonic, and makes a great alternative to your beloved G&T. Often drunk as an aperitif, we’d recommend serving it with a side of salted almonds. The wines undergo a steady process of controlled oxidation and esterification as the colour fades from deep, opaque ruby to orange-amber-tawny. The tasting and blending of an aged tawny is a continual process. Wines set aside initially are often marked with the year of the harvest (‘colheita’). But as the shipper makes up new blends followed by blends of blends, the characteristics of individual wines gradually meld into the house style. A blend of premium-quality wines often aged for slightly longer than a basic ruby before bottling: giving a rich, satisfying Port. A reserve tawny is a blended wine that has spent about seven years in wood. It can be excellent value compared to wines bottled with an indication of age. Crusted This means that it interferes much less with the fruit in a young wine than the coarse, rather oily spirit used previously. Certainly recent declared vintages such as 2007 and 2011 are notable for the purity and clear expression of fruit, even at this early stage. David Guimaraens, head winemaker for The Fladgate Partnership, maintains that the transition from youth to maturity will be much smoother in future, with less of that awkward adolescent stage. This should make vintage Port easier to broach at an earlier stage but the best wines should still age for a lifetime. With huge improvements in winemaking from the 1980s onwards, the production of a good vintage Port is much less of a hit-and-miss affair. Unless the year is a total washout (eg 1993 and 2002), wines of potential vintage quality can be made every year. Consequently wines from good years (in between declared vintages) are bottled by the major shippers as single-quinta vintage Port (SQVP). The same rules apply as to vintage Ports, the only difference being that the wines come from a single quinta or estate with the recommendation that they may be drunk earlier, after 10 rather than 20 years.

Eat well, live better, stay healthy - sign up for our free monthly Food & Health newsletter for the latest insights delivered straight to your inbox There is a tradition of giving port to a newborn to enjoy years down the line, once they’re old enough to drink it. However, the vast majority of port these days is sold to be consumed immediately, and very few will develop at all once they’re in the bottle – much less improve. You might think port lasts forever after it’s been opened, but sadly that’s not the case, though it differs by type. 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.Port fell off the map for recent generations of drinkers due in part to its daunting complexity. It’s this very same complexity that makes Port extremely rewarding. 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. Except for Vintage Port, Port is relatively resilient and can be stored upright or sideways in a cool, dark place. You can buy specially made Port glasses, which are 8 ounce stemware glasses meant to be filled halfway, but eyeballing 4 ounces into a wide-mouthed red wine glass works, too. Since most Port is red wine, the rule of thumb of serving it at a cool room temperature around 64 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit applies. But aged, less tannic Ports can easily be enjoyed slightly chilled. Port is produced by adding aguardente (sometimes referred to simply as “ brandy”) to (usually) red wine. This does a few things. Obviously, it ups the alcohol content (20% ABV on average), but it also preserves more of the natural sugars from the grapes by stopping the fermentation process. Lastly, the fortification in Port brings warmth to your body. (On that note, Port is often used as communion wine for its sweetness. When I was a kid, I thought that warm fuzzy feeling was Jesus’ love. True story.) Vintage ports are the top-quality red ports from a single year – and only the best years. They’re aged in wood for just a couple of years. Unlike most ports, they have the potential to develop in the bottle (more on that later).

Ruby Reserve Port (formerly known as Vintage Character Port, until the term was banned in 2002) is similar to Ruby Port in that it’s affordable, bottled ready-to-drink and blended from several vintages. The difference is that Ruby Reserve Port is blended from higher quality wines and is barrel-aged for about five years. Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) Port – Aged for 4-6 years, these ports have lots of character but are lighter than traditional vintages. Best with soft cheeses.Crusted Port – A blend of outstanding young ports from two or three harvests, these are left to mature in the bottle, forming a “crust” (natural sediment) as they age. Read on for our full guide including what the difference is between red and tawny ports, decoding the label, and the best way to serve it for maximum flavour. It’s safe enough to drink, but if you’re sensitive to the smell, it can be offputting, and impacts the flavour of the drink. Ruby port – These tend to be inexpensive, deep ruby-coloured, and often associated with the cheeseboard. Within this category, you’ll find your slightly more premium reserve ports, late bottled vintage port (otherwise known as LBV, these are aged for longer but still designed to be drunk young) and vintage ports. How we test port We could go further in-depth about the differences between these two styles, but let’s not. You’ll have plenty of time for that later, when you’ve gotten your palate a little bit more snobbed up. For now, let’s talk about the first bottle of Port you’re going to buy. Your First Bottle of Port: Ruby Port

You can spend a lifetime exploring the nuance and history of the types Port wine. But all it takes to get started is 10 minutes of reading. Start here. What is Port Wine?Apéritifs and digestifs are alcoholic drinks served with meals; Apéritifs are served before to stimulate the appetite, digestifs served after to aid digestion. Barrel-aged Port vs. Bottle-aged Port You can find a range of ports at most major supermarkets, as well as specialist retailers. Supermarkets that sell port wines include: