A Cold Night and a Glass of Port
Robinson, Michael. "Grape Expectations: The First Brunello" The Royal Gazette [BDA] 19.02.2016 Print
I was taking my customary 5.30 a.m. walk to
town and back this morning and as it was
particularly cold I got to thinking about the
“warming” effect of a glass of Port. But why do
we perceive this to be happening?
regular table wines. Alcohol actually causes
your blood vessels to expand a little and more
blood flows to your hands and feet making them
feel warmer. I should warn that if you are really
in danger of hypothermia this is not a good fix at
all as your body is dispersing heat.
Taylor’s Scion 1855 Tawny Port
Warming the soul – A glass of Port Wine
Well first of all as part of the process of making
Port, grape brandy is added during fermentation
and so the alcohol level is a little higher than in
One web site says that Port is a sweet wine with
flavours of raspberry, blackberry, caramel,
cinnamon and chocolate sauce. Can’t get much
better than that. We actually have thirty nine
Port listings in our price book, but for this article I
will narrow it down. For instance I will not spend
time on our Taylor’s Scion 1855 Tawny,
because even if it has recently been rated
100/100 and is perfect after one hundred and
sixty one years I must come clean on the fact
that at $3,790.00 a bottle it is somewhat slow in
sales. Same goes for our Taylor’s 1863 at the
same price, but can you just imagine sharing
either with some of your best friends. The
ageing ability of great Port is stunning.
Taylor’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port
The tawny colour comes from years in the
barrel, ten, twenty, thirty and so on. Vintage
Port only resides in wood for about a year before
being bottled to take its very long journey to
maturity. So let us say that you have purchased
the Taylor 10 Year Tawny, look at the label and
you will see that it was bottled in 2014.
Taylor’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port
So for mere mortals on a cold winter’s night may
I suggest Taylor’s 10 Year Old Tawny for
$43.45.
I have no argument with Robert
Parker’s Wine Advocate when they rate it
93/100 and say “It is our opinion that Taylor’s
Tawny Ports are the best of their type. When
tasted against other tawnys they exhibit more
aromatic personalities, greater fruit and ripeness
and a wonderful sweetness and length”.
If you keep it for ten years it will not become a
20 Year Old Tawny as the ageing basically
stops once it is out of cask and bottled. By the
way the Taylor’s 20 Year Old Tawny costs
$76.05 and both are so yummy with chocolate or
coffee flavoured dishes. Cremé Brulée is the
ultimate match-up.
Once you open a good tawny it should keep for
up to a month and like all opened wine, if you
refrigerate it will extend its life a little.
Taylor’s 2010 Late Bottle Vintage
If you would prefer the intense ruby purple
colour of a vintage Port then you should try a
bottle of Taylor’s 2010 Late Bottled Vintage
(LBV) as they invented this modern, reasonably
priced, quick ageing wine. If you seek this out
you will notice that it tells you on the label that it
was bottled in 2014 and it is the extended time
in barrel that causes it to age far more quickly
than true vintage Port does in the bottle. It is
ready to drink now, is sediment free (this was
left in the barrel) and the cost is $30.05.
Flavours of red currant, raspberry and blueberry
and delicious black licorice would just hum along
with a cracker covered with Stilton cheese or
other blue types.
Taylor’s Vintage 2003
For the purists amongst you I should briefly
mention a classic vintage Port and here I am
thinking of the 2003 from Taylor’s. I cannot say
that it is perfect, only near, as Parker scores it
98/100.
It is a baby that should be fully
developed between 2035 and 2060 but I
certainly would get tons of enjoyment out of it
now. Serve a plate with stilton, crackers, dried
fruit and nuts and just experience from the glass
a mix of raisins, molasses, licorice, plums, black
cherries, rose blossoms and chocolate. $108.15.
Keep warm!
Michael Robinson is Director of Wine at Burrows, Lightbourn Ltd. He can be contacted at [email protected] or on
295-0176. Burrows, Lightbourn have stores in Hamilton (Front Street East, 295-1554), Paget (Harbour Road, 236-0355)
and St George’s (York Street, 297-0409). A selection of their wines, beers and spirits are available on line at