The grapes used in the production of Dow?s Fine Ruby were a blend of traditional Portuguese varieties from the Douro Valley, such as Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz and Tinto Cao. Dow?s Fine Ruby was aged in seasoned oak casks at our lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia for an average of 3 years, and bottled when ready to drink. Exuberant youthful fruit flavours make it perfect for informal drinking.

newwine0723, newport, 

White port is one of our staff favourite drinks at Regional Wines and this one is a deliciously well balanced blend of white Portuguese grapes, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina, Moscatel Galego and Rabigato, often including other lesser known varieties as well. It is the Moscatel that expresses itself most in many white ports, with flavoursome hints of caramelised orange peel and zesty citrus sweetness. 

Deliciously good. Serve on ice or lightly chilled in a real glass. No thimbles, please.

Kopke is a family owned port producer with a long and illustrious history of making complex tawny ports with long aging time in a range of styles, including this 10 year old, which is where the fun and complexity all begin. 

The average age of each of the component wines in this port is 10 years old, hence the name, which describes the style. It is sweet, richly flavoursome and drinks well either lightly chilled or at room temperature; even better served with walnuts, quince paste and aged cheddar. 

Taylor?s Fine Ruby a blend of full bodied Port wines aged for around two years in large oak vats in Taylor?s cellars, or ?lodges?, in Vila Nova de Gaia.  

As they age, they gain smoothness and elegance while retaining their fruitiness, intensity and youthful ruby colour.  They are then blended together for balance and consistency. With its firm tannins and concentrated fruitiness, Fine Ruby is perfect for the classic port-and-cheese combination.

It is particularly good with blue-veined and richly flavoured soft cheeses.  It also pairs well with berry fruit and dark chocolate flavours and, like all red Ports, makes an excellent after dinner drink.

source - www.taylor.pt

Graham?s Late Bottled Vintage Port (LBV) is a superb wine, selected from the finest production of what was a spectacular year. Whereas Vintage Port spends two years in casks and then matures in bottle, LBV is matured in seasoned oak and then bottled at between four and six years of age; hence the term, ?late bottled?. Its ageing process encourages the wine?s development, and as such, at the time of bottling it is ready to drink without the need for decanting.

Character

This Fine Tawny has fervent fans around the world who love it for its approachability and its caramel nuttiness. And who are we to argue?

Style

Young, vibrant wines are expertly blended and oak aged for up to three years. Fine Tawny has a fruitiness of youth and a nuttiness from the casks, while the ageing makes it lighter in appearance than ruby ports. A not-so-dark horse.

Goes well with

Creamier desserts like rice pudding as well as dried fruit and nuts. Pairs brilliantly with after-lunch card games.

Warre?s Otima 10 Year-Old-Tawny balances the generosity of fresh, youthful fruit with the sophistication and elegance that a decade in seasoned wood brings to the wines. The Port displays amplitude, combining fruit-driven volume with the seductive mellowness and delicacy of wood ageing. 

Rich tawny colour, with an excellent nose of nuts and hints of mature fruit. On the palate light and delicate, beautifully rounded, with hints of dried fruits, and a long elegant finish.

A fortified wine from Duriense, Northern Portugal made from an assemblage of grapes including Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca. As a tawny, it has been aged in oak oxidatively and will show the sumptuous dried fruit flavours that this creates.

Niepoort is one of the oldest port families in the Douro in Portugal; the home of port and producers of a range of outstanding sweet ports, including this refreshing white. This is made the same way as ruby port, only using white grape varieties, all indigenous to Portugal. 

Serve on ice in a short glass or lightly chilled as an aperitif or late summer after drink. Surprisingly, deliciously different and very, very good. 

This sweet tawny port from Graham's is a blend of ports aged in old oak casks for an average of 10 years. This is where great tawny port starts as it is part of the reserve category of port. This classification includes 10, 20, 30 and over 40 year old designations. 

These age indications allow port producers the freedom to fine tune their wines, which are aged in seasoned oak casks of between 600 to 640 litres in size. This controlled oxidative aging process allows the wines to develop slowly into nutty flavoured, complex tawny ports as the colour fade and esters and acetals develop in the wines. 

Think of this as a great dessert wine or drink it in a more classic style as an accompaniment to an aged cheddar cheese board.