Dows 40 Year Old Tawny Port A beautiful translucent amber-golden colour and an almost transparent rim with exquisite fragrances of delicate dry fruit coupled with a hint of fine marmalade. If you want to take your time, bed down deep into an arm chair, and snuggle up away from the cold, then the Ramos Pinto RP20 20 year old tawny port is truly worth taking your time over. An oily cheese is an obvious match, but we’re also partial to sipping this slightly chilled, alongside a mince pie.

This 2010 vintage is wonderfully fruity with bold berry notes and a creamy finish with a little spice heat, and even a hint of chocolate. Kopke – which claims to be the oldest brand of port wine, founded in 1638 – produces a number of styles and age-statements, but it’s their white ports and tawny that really have us salivating. During the ageing process the wines are tasted regularly and only deemed ready for blending when they taste right, which is why there is no specific age given to the port. In the longer-aged ports on our list we’re seeking character; those deeper notes of fig, nuts, and butterscotch.

Luxurious and silky on the palate, Dow’s 30 Year Old Tawny is extremely refined with flavours of quince and citrus and a stylish, lingering dry finish with nuances of tea leaf.

Kg per vine) picked on September 29th, and another lagar of Touriga Nacional also fermented with Sousão. Edward became a highly respected figure in the London wine trade and was one of the founders of the Wine Trade Benevolent Society, the leading charity which survives to this day as the principal British wine trade organisation. His became the first and only Port company to transport its precious cargo of casks of fine Ports under its own armed protection across the treacherous Bay of Biscay, a strong dissuasion to attack during a period when less audacious companies saw their sales dwindle away. As it’s a white port, you’re going to find this a little more vibrant and rowdy than the longer-aged reds.

Throughout the 20th Century and into the 21st, the Symington family has built on the legacy of the preceding Silva and Dow families.

Dow's Christmas Port is a specially selected blend of rich, vibrant young Ports that have been carefully matured in oak. This tawny port is made from a selection of several plots from one of the oldest vineyards in the Douro region.

This needs drinking within two to three days of opening, so it’s perhaps best for a party of big family gathering.