Give one of the world’s foremost experts on Port the opportunity to put together a dozen bottles of his choice, and you have a ready-made Port buyer’s guide...
In 30 years of contributing to Decanter, this is without doubt the most self-indulgent article I have ever had the good fortune to write. However, drinking a dozen bottles of Port over the 12 days of Christmas might be taking the self-indulgence rather too far – after all, some Ports are for life and not just for Christmas!
I want my case of 12 Ports to last the better part of the next year, or longer if I’m thinking about cellaring something special for the future. As well as fireside drinking this winter, I’m already thinking ahead to the lazy days of next summer, when I want to bide my time with a glass of cool tawny in the garden. Then there’s that most wonderful of aperitifs: white Port and tonic or Portonic. Port, so often associated with the winter months, is very much a drink for all seasons.
The following is a personal selection of some of the best and most innovative Ports I’ve had the pleasure to taste over the past year or so. My choice covers the entire style spectrum (and most of the price spectrum), though I do admit to a penchant for suave, aged colheitas and tawnies. One of the great advantages of these wood-aged styles is you can keep a bottle open to the air and help yourself to a glass over weeks, even months.
All the wines in my perfect case are available to buy now, and there’s a great wine here for nearly every occasion – that’s the beauty of Port.
White Port
I used to be down on white Port, but it all changed when more cask-aged wines came on the market about 20 years ago. Churchill was one of the first to bottle this style of wine and since a change in the legislation there are also white Ports bottled with an indication of age, and as colheitas [single-harvest wines aged long in casks until ready for consumption]. It might seem a bit taboo, but in summer I rather like mixing an older white Port with tonic: this style of Portonic has the bittersweet zest of a Negroni cocktail but is considerably more refreshing – and you can drink more of it.
1 Ferreira, Dona Antónia Reserva Branco 95
£21.49 Alexander Hadleigh, Liberty Wines,
Shekleton Wines, Shelved Wine, The Fine Wine Co, The Wriggly Tin Wine Co, Velvet Bull Ablend of wines aged in casks of 640L for four to nine years. Old gold in colour with a bittersweet marmalade character, a floral,nutty complexity, dried apricot richness (120g/L residual sugar) and a white pepper finish.Serve cool from the fridge either on its own or (if you dare) as a mixer with a twist of lemon rind and a sprig of mint. This will keep well after opening for about two m
