Aged tawny port: a broad and serious exploration of important tawnies with the CEO of the leading producer. What makes them great wines? One hint: foot trodding the grapes.

Portugal: Tawny Port

If you check the bottles of port at your wine merchant, chances are that several of them will have come from the Fladgate Partnership, the parent company of a group of port producers located, as are their competitors, along the Duoro River in Portugal. The Fladgate Partnership brands—Taylor Fladgate, Fonseca, Croft and Delaforce—are among the best known and respected port names. They are the market leader in the United States, selling about 20 per cent all port consumed here.

Adrian Bridge, the chief executive officer of the family owned company, was in New York City recently, and I joined him for lunch and a tasting. We focused on just one type of port: aged tawny. While the more famous category called vintage port develops its character through bottle aging, aged tawnies are matured in wood casks and are then filtered and bottled. They should be drunk within a few years of the bottling date, while they are at their peak.

By Portuguese law, aged tawnies (with a certain exception) can be bottled and sold only as 10, 20, 30 and 40 year old wines. That does not mean that every component in the blend (all tawnies are blends) is exactly that old. It is more an average or predominant age. Small amounts of port from casks going back a hundred years or more might be mixed into a new release, based on the very exacting standards of the winemakers who specialize in blending.

The Fladgate Partnership companies have been leaders in improving the overall quality of port in recent decades through advanced technology, among other things. In spite of this foot-trodding the grapes remains a key part of the process, and according to the experts even a type of mechanical piston now in use cannot achieve quite the same results. The Fladgate Partnership companies use both methods.

In my tasting with Mr. Bridge, we quite logically began with barrel samples of the ten most recent harvests, which of course are still in the casks back in Portugal. Then we got to ten year old bottles and on to the 20, 30 and 40 years olds, and even tried a barrel sample from the 1900 vintage. The Taylor Fladgate and Fonseca labels, by the way, are among the few still producing 40 year old tawny ports.

The differences among the ports in my sampling were subtle but apparent, more interesting to the wine professional than they would be to the consumer. That doesn’t mean that as consumers we are off the hook. We still have to pay attention. I think anyone but the fussiest of connoisseurs should be happy with the rich, mellow taste of a 10 or 20 year old tawny, as opposed to the far more expensive older ones. More relevant perhaps, are the styles of various port producers. Mr. Bridge spoke often, and with great conviction, of getting the wine into the style of the house.

You would need a highly refined palate and lots of time to actually analyze and describe the attributes of each port house. I’m not quite there. But it is the kind of research and experimentation I might undertake slowly. The variety out there on the shelves should encourage us to uncover some ports that appeal to our own particular tastes. That discovery can lead to years of happy sipping. Among the Fladgate Partnership brands I’ve been trying, I find myself drawn to the Fonseca aged tawny ports, which seem to have a full, rich, voluptuous yet balanced taste. It’s a delectable way to end a meal.

Generally, an aged tawny port will be soft and rounded, with aromas of honey and vanilla, or sometimes cinnamon or butterscotch, spices and nuts, and, very importantly, suggestions of dried fruits. While not heavy, they should be intense and structured. Even when very old, they ought to convey a bit of fruity freshness. Aged tawny should be a big, layered treat to your nose and palate.

My afternoon with Mr. Bridge was intriguing. I realized how much there is to learn in the complicated world of port. I also realized how much there is to enjoy.