Port
Starting at entry level we have ruby port, which is what used to make a good old port & lemon for the girls. The basic style is matured in wood for 3 years, filtered and then bottled. Ruby Reserve such as Cockburn's Special Reserve indicates better grapes have been used.
Tawny & White ports are a combination of wines matured in wood and in stainless steel. Both are great chilled. I was once high up in the Douro Valley on a very hot day and had Sandleman Extra Dry White Port with Schweppes tonic, what a thirst quencher!
Aged Tawny are wood matured up to 40 years, these are complex and delicious. We stock 10, 20, 30 & 40 years which make a great anniversary present, Colheita is a Tawny Port from a single year, which is on the label.
LBV is a late bottled vintage highly popular wood matured between 4 and 6 years filtered and bottled, made from wine from a single none vintage year. Traditional LBV is only wood matured for 3 years then bottled unfiltered, so needs decanting but this ports will improve with further bottle ageing.
My Favourite are the single Quinta Ports which are from a single estate. Most large port houses produce these wines when a vintage hasn't been declared. These are also aged in wood for up to 2 to 3 years and bottled unfiltered resulting in them needing to be decanted.
Crusted ports are a blend from several vintages and again need decanting, these will improve with age but the blender often seeks to make these wines more approachable at a younger age than vintage.
So the top of the tree is Vintage Port what only accounts for 2% of overall port production, Not every year is declared a vintage in the Douro. The decision is made in the spring of the second year following harvest, it is never taken lightly and only the best year becomes a vintage, on average about 3 years every decade. The wine spends 3 years in wood and is then bottled, from which the ageing potential is endless. A bottle of Dows 1924 is now fetching around £940.
I bought 10 dozen Taylors 1966 in 1969 on a whim as England had just won the World Cup in that year. I paid one pound seven and six (£1.37) per bottle and sold them all for a small profit, today it's fetching £100 plus per bottle, I wish I had kept some but hey ho!!
Cheers
John
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