14 best ports and fortified wines to ring in the cosy season

Special reserve is the style that shook up the port world when it was introduced by Cockburn’s in 1969. Some readers may remember the wonderful TV ads that went with it, still available on YouTube. Aged for five years in casks before being bottled, it reflected the company’s vintage port style and acted as a link between those famous vintages and the newer ports. Lots of mellow fruitfulness (think Keats) here, with damsons and dark cherry to the fore.

From one of the premier names in port making, here’s an offering that’s billed as “the port that never says no”. So, here’s a big “yes” to a bright and lively port that’s made with a selection of young wines from a variety of vintages. Fresh and fruity, it’s loaded lavishly with red fruit and plum flavours and should add zing to any after-dinner conviviality. Great quality port at a price that is more than reasonable.

An LBV denotes an unfiltered port made from grapes harvested in a single year. The port is then left in the barrel for four to six years before bottling. This example from a house founded by Adriano Ramos Pinto in 1880 is made from grapes picked by hand and then crushed by foot in a large stone pool called a lagares – a centuries-old tradition that ensures the quality of the port. There are huge, fruity red berry notes here, with hints of spice and chocolate. Perfect with a soft cheese or a chocolate dessert, it could also do wonders for a red meat dish.

A port with a history that goes back to 1636, when Hamburg merchant Nicolau Kopkë moved to Portugal as consul general of the Hanseatic League. By the late 18th century, the family had settled in the Douro region and become winemakers rather than wine sellers. With a reputation for excellence built up over that length of time, this tawny, matured in the cask for 10 years, doesn’t disappoint. Big and intense flavours of nuts and dried fruit are amplified by notes of fig and spice. It’s one to enjoy with a big and varied cheeseboard.

We’re talking vintage here – the Rolls-Royce of port styles, made from carefully selected grapes from the finest vineyards. These grapes from Quinta do Seixo, a winery situated in the Cima Corgo sub-region of the Douro, were crushed by foot in a traditional lagares before the grape spirit was added. The fortified wine was then matured in oak barrels. The result is an intense and complex port that declares its quality from the first mouthful. Full-bodied with a texture as smooth as silk, it combines concentrated red fruit and damson flavours with notes of pepper and spice and a welcome acidity. Though ready to drink now, it will probably reach its best in 15 years’ time. So, prepare to party in 2039.

A dip into history here, with a ‘mallet’ bottle akin to those in use in England in the 1750s, when bottles were expensive, used again and again and bore the owner’s crest to prevent anyone doing a runner with one. In these slightly more sedate times, this bottle houses a special limited-edition port blend put together from Taylor’s extensive aged tawny stocks. As you’d expect from a quality tawny, there’s a bountiful amount of dried fruit and walnut flavours, along with notes of caramel and plum, and hints of coffee and spice. It’s so good, is deserves to be more than just a welcome diversion for history fans.

The term colheita, meaning ‘harvest’ or ‘vintage’, refers to a tawny port made with grapes from a single vintage. By law, it must be then matured in oak for at least seven years. These are simply the best aged tawny ports you can buy. This example from Barros – a port house formed in 1913 – is oh-so smooth, and rich in flavours of dried and jammy fruit, with notes of spice and gingerbread, and a finish that’s as long as Brighton pier. Enjoy it with a vintage cheese, especially a blue one.

Here’s a port that, because it’s made in California, a couple of thousand miles away from the designated port region in Portugal, has to call itself a starboard – get it? It’s actually made in a similar way to port, and uses the same grape varieties. So, as you’d expect it has the same taste, with smooth and silky dried fruit notes and hints of cocoa. Those looking for something new might be tempted to turn to the other side.

Compared with other ports, this white variety could be seen as a brash newcomer – Taylor’s introduced it around the mid-1930s. Extra dry, this tipple is begging to become the perfect aperitif or, mixed with tonic water, the ideal alternative to a G&T. By itself, it’s crisp and refreshing with highlighted orchard notes and a welcome minerality. As part of a cocktail – two parts tonic to one part port, with a sprig of mint – it’s a pleasing reminder of long summer days.

Ruby ports are the youngest ports, so, whereas you don’t get that lush, unctuous taste of a port that has been maturing for decades, you do get flavours that are young, fresh and bursting with fruit. This example, produced for Corney & Barrow by Douro husband-and-wife team Jorge Serôdio Borges and Sandra Tavares da Silva, has almost peppery notes of bramble and dark fruit, along with smooth tannins and a long finish. It’s faultless after-dinner fare.

A tawny port taken from a single harvest in the Douro Valley, where Quinta do Noval has been in the winemaking business since the early 18th century. Now part of the international viticultural group AXA Millésimes, it’s producing great colheita ports, such as this 2009 example, which was matured in oak barrels until its bottling in 2022. It may be a costly buy but you get a velvet-like mouthfeel with immense and complex notes of dried fruit and toasted nuts, along with suggestions of vanilla and tobacco. Again, it’s one to enjoy now with cheese or chocolate or else cellar it for a few more years to savour an even more rewarding taste.

We’re not sure if the Kaiser Chiefs had this drink in mind when their single “Ruby” topped the charts in 2007 but, like the song, here’s a port that delivers on all fronts, with in-depth and vigorous dark fruit flavours tempered by notes of red cherries and spice. Travellers should also note British Airways is serving this six grapes port in its Club lounges and in the air to its Club World passengers. If you need an excuse to book a flight, this could be it.

A vintage to remember from port house Graham’s principal and superbly located estate, Quinta dos Malvedos in the Douro Valley, where plentiful sunshine and restrained rainfall have made it the linchpin of the company’s vintage ports since 1899. In 2019, a mild and dry winter and spring and a welcome rainfall in August (just before picking) led to a concentrated and intense wine with cocoa and dark fruit flavours that promise to mature even more in the years to come.

You don’t usually have to take out a mortgage to buy a bottle of port, but it might be different in this case. What you are buying, however, is half a century of maturity in a limited-edition release. The end result of 50 years of enhanced and developing  flavours is a port that’s so complex, concentrated and structured it leaves all the others in the shade. Huge notes of stone fruit, caramel and prunes are moderated by suggestions of pepper and citrus. This is the one to go for if you really want to push the boat out.