The market · Wine, vermouth and sherry · Southern Europe
Tawny port
Port aged long in wooden casks, so it oxidises to amber and tastes of nuts, caramel and dried fruit rather than ruby port's dark berries.
nutty · caramel · dried fruit
Kinds
- Ruby
- Young and fruity — not tawny at all.
- 10, 20, 30, 40 years
- Aged tawnies; the age is the style of the blend, not a minimum.
- Colheita
- A tawny from a single year.
- White port
- Made from white grapes; with tonic, a summer highball.
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- A 10- or 20-year-old tawny for cooking and mixing; a cheap 'tawny' with no age is often just pale ruby.
- Worth knowing
- It keeps a month or more in the fridge once open. Stirred with cognac and bitters it's an after-dinner drink; reduced, a sauce for duck.
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