Guide: 5 types of port wine you should know
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'The shortest way between two people is a smile - the lasting one is a glass of Port!'
Most people know port as a dessert wine, but this sweet wine is so much more than that! We guide you to 5 types of port you should know and what to serve with them.
The 5 Port wines
🍷 Ruby Port
Generally the youngest - and cheapest - type of port wine. It is aged for a few years and usually has a taste of ripe red fruits and a fresh sweetness, with a touch of discreet tannin.
Ruby should be drunk while it is young and preferably chilled. Serve it with sweet desserts with chocolate or a strong blue cheese.
🍷 LBV - Late Bottled Vintage
LBV is a ruby port wine from a particularly good year that has been aged in barrels for up to 6 years before being bottled. An LBV port wine is sweet and more complex than the younger ruby.
There are lots of dried fruits, especially raisins and prunes, hints of nuts and more tannins. LBV is ready to drink when it is bottled. Enjoy it chilled and drink the bottle within 2-3 weeks of opening - it tastes best that way.
When drinking LBV, cheeses like Parmesan or Stilton are an obvious accompaniment, but its sweetness also pairs perfectly with chocolate desserts.
🍷 Vintage Port
When it comes to port wine, the absolute superstar is Vintage, or vintage, port wine. Vintage is only made in the best harvest years from exquisite quality grapes.
A vintage port wine needs to be in the bottle for a long time before it releases its full flavor experience and typically tastes best 15-30 years after the harvest. Vintage port offers a full, sweet experience, full of nuanced flavors. Here you will experience blackcurrant, cherry, chocolate, coffee, figs and much more.
Ågangsport wines are unfiltered and should almost always be decanted when opened. Enjoy it chilled, preferably the same day you open the bottle.
Vintage is a great match for strong, creamy cheeses like Gorgonzola, Stilton, Roquefort or blue cheese, where the complex sweetness of the port wine brings it all together. Other good serving tips include dark chocolate, figs and walnuts.
🍷 Tawny Port Wine
Tawny port wine is aged in wooden barrels for at least 3 years, during which time it loses some of its colour pigment and becomes golden brown in colour - called Tawny in English, which also gave the port wine its name.
Tawny is not as sweet as its dark counterparts. You will still find sweetness in a tawny port, with caramelized notes, toffee and vanilla woven together with dried fruit, especially oranges, sweet figs and mocha notes.
Tawny is aged for at least 3 years, but is often aged for 10, 20 or even 40 years, indicating the average age of the wines used. Tawny should be enjoyed chilled and can be served with cheeses such as Pecorino or Manchego - and of course rice pudding, where the subtle sweetness and notes of nuts really come into their own.
The long aging process means that Tawny can last up to 4 weeks in the refrigerator after opening.
🍷 Colheita port wine
The last variety of port wine you should know is Colheita.
Colheita means harvest in Portuguese and is in reality a vintage port wine that has been aged in wooden barrels since the harvest year. Colheita is closely related to Tawny port wine, with the crucial difference that Colheita is wine from the year stated on the label, where Tawny is a blend of many wines with an average age of at least 3 years.
Colheita is often at its best when, like Vintage, it has been aged for many years. Here the notes of nuts and dried fruit will really come into their own and, like Tawny, Colheita goes really well with hard cheeses and rice dishes.
6 comments
Hej Klaus
Tak for din kommentar.
Det er to fremragende portvinsårgange du har, og Taylor’s Vintage portvine fra disse år er meget velsmagende. 2003 begynder så småt at være klar til at drikke, der vil dog være dem der mener at den gerne må ligge en årrække endnu. Personligt ville jeg vente med 2003 til omkring 2025.
2017 er et virkelig godt portvinsår, den har mange år foran sig, så der skal du være tålmodig et stykke tid endnu.
God fornøjelse :-)
DBH Jens – Tastingclub
Hejsa. Jeg har fået to flasker portvin – Taylers Vintage Port fra 2017 & 2003. Hvornår vil du vurderer at de er bedst, altså hvor lang tid skal de ligge i vinkøleskabet ?
Hej John
Tak for din kommentar.
Det kommer lidt an på hvad der står på din flaske; Er det en Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) kan den drikkes allerede nu. Er det en årgangsportvin (Vintage Port), kan den med fordel ligge nogle år endnu, forudsat at den bliver opbevaret mørkt og under stabil temperatur :-)
En Grahams Vintage fra 2006, flasket i 2008 hvornår kan den anbefales at kunne drikkes ?
Vh
John Hansen
Hej Sven
Tak for din kommentar.
Lige som Tawny portvin, så har Colheita været på fade i flere år, hvilket gør den lidt mere ‘robust’ efter åbning af flasken. Så når du åbner en flaske Colheita, vil den kunne holde sig 3-4 uger i køleskab.
DBH Jens – Tastingclub