How to Buy a Tawny Port Wine

Tawny port is the most popular of port wines in the United States and is produced through the blending of older ports. It is lighter in body and color than a Ruby port with the refined, soft characteristics of a vintage port. A Tawny offers port lovers the delicate and balanced flavors of a vintage port, without the vintage port price tag.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Port wine glasses
• Decanter

1. Decide if you want to buy a vintage Tawny or a non-vintage Tawny port. Naturally, a non-vintage bottle of Tawny is less expensive than a vintage bottle.
2. Learn about non-vintage Tawny port. Non-vintage Tawny port is aged for 2 to 7 years in wood before it is bottled.
3. Understand vintage Tawny port. Sometimes referred to as aged Tawny port, this port is aged for 10, 20, 30 and 40 years. You also can find these ports that are aged for more than 40 years.
4. Understand the flavors of non-vintage Tawny port. Non-vintage Tawny ports possess forward ripe, dark fruit flavors such as plums and blackberries and have a relatively high level of tannins.
5. Discover the flavors of vintage Tawny port. Vintage Tawny ports have a drier mouth feel than the non-vintages and contain more delicate ripe, dark fruit flavors such as dark cherries and currant with a slight hint of butterscotch and caramel. The tannins in vintage Tawny are considerably more mellow than that of a non-vintage.

Tips & Warnings

• Buy and hold a bottle of non-vintage Tawny port if you are not a fan of strong tannins. The tannins in this port will soften considerably as it ages.
• Drink vintage Tawny port now. Vintage Tawny's have already matured and the flavors and structure will not benefit from additional aging.
• Stand a vintage Tawny port upright for at least 30 minutes before serving to prevent natural sediments from reaching your glass.