![\"novalblack](\"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/novalblack.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Port is one of the most seasonal drinks of all. And we\u2019re in peak Port-drinking season right now. I drink quite a bit of Port \u2013 all year round \u2013 and I reckon that if you are a Port fan, these are happy days. Quality across the board is pretty good, and the cheaper wines have got quite a bit better of late. Here\u2019s my round-up of some of the easy to find Ports on the market.<\/p>\n
The two giants in the Port world \u2013 the Symingtons and the Taylor Fladgate Partnership (Quinta & Vineyard Bottlers Vinhos SA) \u2013 supply most of the main supermarkets with Port. They are both currently doing a good job.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve divided these Ports into four categories. Reserve Ruby<\/em> represents the most affordable style, and these are increasingly good buys, rich in fruit. Then we have the staple of the vintage style \u2013 Late Bottled Vintage<\/em>. These are ready to drink, made in a fruit-forward vintage style, but with longer in cask before bottling, and they can be pretty smart wines. Then Vintage<\/em>, which includes the Single Quinta<\/em> wines. This is where things get pretty serious. And finally Tawny<\/em>: a very different style, aged for a long time in casks, with less emphasis on fruit and more the complexity that comes from ageing in barrel. Don\u2019t be afraid to serve tawnies a bit chilled: it can really help them.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Reserve Ruby<\/strong><\/p>\n Marks & Spencer Finest Reserve Port NV Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Taylors First Estate Reserve Port NV Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Sainsbury\u2019s Taste The Difference Special Reserve Port NV Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Noval Black Port NV Douro, Portugal<\/strong> <\/p>\n LBV (late-bottled vintage)<\/strong><\/p>\n Croft Late Bottled Vintage Port 2009 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Waitrose Late Bottled Vintage Port 2010 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Tesco Finest Late Bottle Vintage Port 2010 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Taylor\u2019s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2010 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> <\/p>\n Vintage Port (including Single Quinta Vintage)<\/strong><\/p>\n Tesco Finest Vintage Port 1997 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Sainsbury\u2019s Taste The Difference Vintage Port 1998 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Marks & Spencer Vintage Port 2011 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Taylors Quinta de Vargellas 2002 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Graham\u2019s Crusted Port 2007 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Warre\u2019s Quinta da Cavadinha 1998 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Cockburn\u2019s Quinta dos Canais 2001 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Sandeman Vau Vintage 1999 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Taylor\u2019s Quinta de Terra Feita 1995 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> <\/p>\n Tawny<\/strong><\/p>\n Pocas Colheita Port 1995 Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Taylors 10 Year Old Tawny Port NV Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Taylors 20 Year Old Tawny Port NV Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Grahams \u2018The Tawny\u2019 Port NV Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Croft Reserve Tawny NV Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Warre\u2019s Otima 20 Year Old Tawny Port NV Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Sandeman 20 Year Old Tawny Port NV Douro, Portugal<\/strong> Quinta do Noval 20 Year Old Tawny Port NV Douro<\/strong> M Signature 10 Year Old Tawny Port NV Douro, Portugal<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Port is one of the most seasonal drinks of all. And we\u2019re in peak Port-drinking season right now. I drink quite a bit of Port \u2013 all year round \u2013…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,7],"tags":[362,54,350],"class_list":["post-13530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-douro","category-portugal","tag-douro","tag-port","tag-portugal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13530"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13533,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13530\/revisions\/13533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a312.99 Marks & Spencer
\nMade by Taylors. Very sweet and rich with smooth berry fruits, some caramel and a hint of pepper. An attractive sweeter style. 87\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a312 widely available
\nSweet, vibrant and berryish with nice grip. This is a lovely fruity Port with brightness and sweetness. 90\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a310 Sainsbury\u2019s
\nMade by the Symingtons. Sweet and a bit appley, with raspberry and spice notes. Juicy and herby. Unusual. 84\/100<\/p>\n
\n19.5% alcohol
\n\u00a313.19 Ocado
\nBeautifully packaged, this is sweetly aromatic with lovely raspberry, cherry andplum fruit. Sweet and quite silky with a nice rounded texture and lovely smoothness. Brooding and appealing. 89\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a310.99 Majestic, multibuy price \u00a39.89
\nVery sweet with lovely lush black cherry, blackberry and plum fruit. This has a delicious core of intense fruit. 90\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a310.99 Waitrose
\nMade by the Symingtons, this is really lovely. It\u2019s direct and focused with bright cherry and plum fruit. Not too sweet, with nice structure and lovely floral fruitiness. 90\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a310 Tesco
\nMade by the Symingtons. This rather sweet-tasting Port has fresh raspberry and cherry fruit with a bit of spicy structure. It\u2019s floral and enticing, with lovely weight. 89\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a315 Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury\u2019s, Morrisons, Waitrose, Booths
\nWith generous blackberries, spice, cherrie and plums this is quite a rich Port with some violet floral notes adding interest. It\u2019s sweet but has a lovely salty, savoury quality. 90\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a316 Tesco
\nMade by the Symingtons. This is a bargain. It\u2019s mellow and rounded with some spicy, leathery maturity and really nice smooth berry fruits. Textured and delicious. 90\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a320 Sainsbury\u2019s
\nMade by the Symingtons. Warm, spicy and sweet with some spice, liqourice and leather notes. Attractive and mellow with ripe berries at its core. 89\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a325 Marks & Spencer
\nmade by Taylors. Very deep coloured. Rich, powerful, structured blackberry fruit here with supplementary notes of cherries, spice and plums. There\u2019s also some mintiness. 90\/100<\/p>\n
\n\u00a330 Cambridge Wine Co, Corney & Barrow, Lay & Wheeler, Tanners, The Wine Society
\n2002 was a tricky vintage in the Douro, and this single-quinta vintage Port is spicy and earthy with some savoury notes under the powerful cedary black fruits. It\u2019s warm and dense, and really good considering the vintage. 92\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a317.99 Morrisons
\nAlthough this is vintage-dated, \u2018crusted\u2019 Port is a blend from several harvests, bottled in the indicated year. This is sweet, mellow and rounded with lovely black fruits, herbs and some spiciness. Some grip, too. Lovely. 92\/100<\/p>\n
\n\u00a326.99
\n20% alcohol
\nNice blackcurrant fruit core to this warm, spicy Port, which has lovely weight and some herb and pepper complexity. There\u2019s still some structure, too. 93\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a319.99 Lidl
\nKeenly priced for a single-quinta vintage Port, this is textured and dense with sweet, firm black fruits and some spiciness. Structured, firm and dense. 92\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a319.95 Oddbins, Slurp, Hawkshead
\nWarm with a sweet, spicy nose of herbs and tar. Lush, concentrated palate with sweet, rounded blackberry and black cherry fruit. Smooth and textural with nice density. 92\/100<\/p>\n
\n20.5% alcohol
\n\u00a326 Marks & Spencer
\nMellow with a minty, herby, tea-leaf edge to the sweet, textured cherry and plum fruit. Mellow and complex, this is drinking well now.<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a314.99 Majestic, multibuy price \u00a313.49
\nColheita is the term used to describe a vintage-dated tawny Port. This is beautiful. Pale in colour, it has mellow red cherries and plums with some spicy old cask characters, and a long, nutty finish. 93\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a322 Booths, Majestic, Morrisons, Sainsbury\u2019s, Selfridges, Tesco, Waitrose
\nWarm, spicy and rich with nice sweet rasoberry and cherry fruit. Vibrant with notes of earth and casks in the background. 92\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a338 Berry Bros & Rudd, Selfridges, Waitrose, Costco
\nCedary, spicy and raisiny with real complexity, some marmalade hints and lovely smooth, intense flavour. This is serious. 94\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a315 Marks & Spencer
\nLovely packaging in a squat bottle. Pale brick\/cherry red colour. Complex, spicy and sweet with nice raisin, cherry, spice and pepper notes. Very moreish. 91\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a314.99 Majestic, multibuy price \u00a313.49
\nNicely packaged. Full red colour. Lovely elegant cherry fruit with some mellow cedar hints. This is really stylish. 91\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a319.99 Lidl
\nLovely weight to this mellow, warm tawny, which has attractive raisin and herb notes. Smooth and sweet with some red cherry fruit still in the mix. 91\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a337.49 Waitrose
\nElegant and fresh, with pure light red cherry fruit and fine spiciness. This is just so elegant and supple, showing perfect balance. 94\/100<\/p>\n
\n21% alcohol
\n\u00a345.90 Tanners
\nWarm, rich, spicy and bold with lifted red cherry and raisin aromas as well as some cinnamon and herb notes. Rich, bold, complex and spicy. 93\/100<\/p>\n
\n20% alcohol
\n\u00a312.99 Morrisons
\nMade by the Symingtons. Peppery and spicy with notes of old casks. Warm and sweet with lovely cherry and plum fruit and some subtle herbiness. 89\/100<\/p>\n