Uncorked – Dec 23

‘Are you a friend of the Bishop of Norwich?’ – not an ecclesiastical question, but dinner table code for ‘I say, old chap, you’re hogging the port’. Buried somewhere in history is the identity of the drunken prelate whose selfishness gave rise to the expression, but it is a link between our county and the drink which is connected more than any other with the festive season.

The port we know today happened by accident. An impatient Englishman added brandy before the fermentation had finished, killing the yeast and locking in the sweetness from the unfermented sugar. And that, more or less, is how it is still made today.

Port derives its name from the city of Oporto at the mouth of the Douro river, Portugal’s second city and the epicentre of the Port market. Here you will find the big-name Port lodges, many of them still English owned to this day. Actually, although all Port is essentially wine which has had its fermentation stopped through the addition of grape spirit, the term encompasses a wide variety of styles, and this can confuse and deter the novice.

Essentially there are two types of Port: those which have been aged in a barrel prior to bottling, and those which have been aged in the bottle. This may sound like a detail, but the difference is important. Those which have been aged in barrel are ready to drink, without decanting, as soon as they are bottled.

Because those destined for bottle-ageing are bottled without being filtered and before the sediment has had a chance to drop out, they will continue to draw flavour from the lees in the bottle, and can take a very long time indeed to mature – and they will require decanting to draw the clear wine off the sediment in the bottle before drinking.

The main styles of port are:

Ruby: the cheapest style, aged for two or three years before bottling, generally blended from multiple vintages, and often pasteurised.   

Tawny: essentially Ruby which has been aged in wooden barrels until it starts to drop its deep red colour.  All too often the tawny effect is achieved by using lighter wines to start with, which lack the freshness and fruit of a proper tawny.

Aged Tawny: proper Tawny port, left to age in wooden barrels for many years (at least six), not only takes on that distinctive amber hue, but develops a depth of nutty flavour and a silky smoothness.

Crusted: bottle-aged ports, blended from more than one vintage.  They may have the character of a vintage Port, and need decanting because of the ‘crust’ or sediment which results from the absence of filtration prior to bottling.

Late Bottled Vintage (LBV): port from a single vintage, but bottled after the sediment has fallen from it, usually about six years after it is made.  These can be bottled with or without filtration; those bottled without will need decanting, but the reward is a much more characterful wine.

Vintage: the undisputed king of Port, these are wines from a single year from the best grapes, and aged in bottle.  Vintages are only ‘declared’ in the best years (the last widespread declaration was in 2017).

Tinpot Hut Marloborough Pinot Gris, 2022 (£15.90, Jarrolds)

Established in 2003, Tinpot Hut is just south of Marlborough’s Awatere Valley in New Zealand.  They grow Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Grüner Veltliner and Pinot Noir, as well as Pinot Gris – and this is a world away from the increasingly insipid Pinot Grigio (same grape) from Italy.  Expect aromas of spice, pear and stone fruit, with underlying notes of brioche and spring flowers, all with a touch of nutmeg.

Lions de Batailley, Pauillac, 2015 (£29.99 as part of a mixed case of six bottles, Majestic)

This is the second wine of the Fifth Growth Château Batailley, one of the oldest in the Médoc. Sometimes the second wines can be a pale imitation of the star wine, but not here: from the stellar 2015 vintage this is top notch stuff, with aromas of tobacco, raspberries and cherry, and silky-smooth tannins. It’s a steal at this price, and it will be accompanying my Christmas dinner this year.