At MGM Wine & Spirits we know that there are products on our shelves that many of you haven’t yet explored.  Sometimes it is out of fear of change, lack of knowledge, or no available opportunities.  Let MGM demystify some of these products for you.  This month, we will talk about Ports and Sherries.  Below you will find descriptions of Port and Sherry as well as some examples to purchase the next time you are inside an MGM.

Port, also called Porto,  specifically, a sweet, fortified, usually red wine of considerable renown from the Douro region of northern Portugal, named for the town of Oporto where it is aged and bottled; also, any of several similar fortified wines produced elsewhere. The region of true port production is strictly delimited by Portuguese law. The soil and grapes, and the skill of Oporto vintners in blending, produce wines of remarkable character, with types running through a series of flavours. Vintage port, the finest, is not blended; but harvests deemed worthy to produce it are rare. The full richness of the port taste is found in dark vintage and vintage character ports; these types are taken from the cask after two or three years and complete their aging in the bottle. Vintage character port is a blend of best wines, sometimes called crusted port because, as with vintage port, it forms a crust within the bottle. Ruby port is a blend of younger wines. Tawny port is blended and matures in cask, changing its colour. – Encyclopedia Britannica

Sherry,  is fortified of Spanish origin that typically has a distinctive nutty flavour. It takes its name from the province of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain, sherry being an Anglicization of Jerez. The substance is also produced elsewhere—notably in Cyprus, South Africa, Australia, and the United States, but Spanish producers have attempted to reserve the name sherry exclusively for the fortified wines of Spain.

Authentic sherry comes from the sherry region, which is officially demarcated and indicated on a bottle’s label by the words “Jerez DO” (Denominacion de Origen). Labels from the sherry region also contain the words Jerez-Xérès-Sherry. This region is centred on the southwestern coast, which encompasses the towns of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María, as well as Jerez de la Frontera. A distinguished and venerable wine, sherry is a product of the region’s limestone-rich, chalky soil (albariza), its native grapes—particularly Palomino and Pedro Ximénez—and a unique vinification process. Essential is the action of flor, mildewlike yeasts encouraged by a slight exposure to air after fermentation, which imparts the characteristic nutty flavor.

Here are some of our favorites!

Although best known for its legendary Vintage Ports, Taylor’s is also one of the most respected producers of 10 Year Old Tawny Port.

This style of Port is fully matured in seasoned oak casks each holding about 630 litres of wine. Here, over many years of ageing, the wine gradually takes on its characteristic amber ‘tawny’ colour, slowly developing the complex mellow flavours and the smooth luscious palate which are the hallmarks of Tawny Port.

Taylor’s blends its magnificent 10 year old tawny from its extensive reserves of old cask aged Ports matured in the firm’s cool and tranquil cellars (known as ‘lodges’) in Oporto on Portugal’s Atlantic coast.

Taylor’s 10 Year Old Tawny is a superb example of the aged tawny style. Mellow and elegant, combining delicate wood notes with rich aromas of mature fruit, it is bottled for immediate drinking.

It is the best selling 10 Year Old Aged Tawny Port in the UK.

Serving Suggestions:

Taylor’s 10 Year Old makes a delicious dessert wine, and combines particularly well with flavours of almonds, berry fruit or dark chocolate. It can also be enjoyed as an accompaniment for rich, blue veined cheeses. It is excellent at the end of the meal, as a crowning moment of an enjoyable evening, served on its own or with a plate of walnuts or roasted almonds. They benefit from being served slightly chilled, particularly in warm weather.

In terms of varietals, Six Grapes is made primarily of the four uncontested ‘stars’ of the Port region, the violety and aromatic Touriga Franca, the rich, tannic and well structured Touriga Nacional, the raspberry tinged Tinta Roriz and the sweet chocolatey Tinta Barroca. In addition there are components of Tinta Amarela, Tinta Cão, Souzão and Tinta Francisca as well as grapes from some older mixed plantings.

At all Graham’s Quintas, each varietal is picked according to its ideal ripeness, and the fermentations of each varietal and vineyard block kept separate, for blending together only much later once the wines have been properly assessed for their individual characteristics.

Six Grapes typically sees a rather shorter period in wooden barrels than other Reserve Ruby Ports, with our blending team seeking to preserve its youthful, blackberry fruit character and the fresh aromas of cassis and liquorice. After being loaded out of the Malvedos winery in the Spring following the harvest, the wines travel to Graham’s cask lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia where they will typically spend between one or two years in seasoned wooden barrels or vats before being incorporated into the Six Grapes lot ready for bottling. Our blending team is careful to try to match as closely as possible the new blend to the previous one so that the consumer can be certain that their favourite bottle of Six Grapes always maintains its outstanding level of quality. Once in bottle, the wine is ready to drink and does not require further ageing.

O Sandeman Sherry Medium Dry ages in its own Solera of small casks. The pale wines selected just after the harvest slowly evolve into colours of medium gold amber. They become richer and subtly complex. Later a small amount of sweet Sherry is blended in to give a wonderful medium dry character with just a touch of sweetness.  Mildly aromatic, with an amber colour of copper and gold, Sandeman Sherry Medium Dry is very harmonious to the taste. An agreeable touch of sweetness from the first moment gives way to a nutty flavours and a long clean finish.

Apple and Goat Cheese Carpaccio

Ingredients1 red apple

• 1 green apple
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 100 g of goat cheese
• Honey (to taste)
• Walnuts (to taste)

Preparation

• Peel the apples and slice thinly. Mix well with lemon juice so that they do not turn brown. Crumble the cheese over the apples, pour a trickle of honey over and garnish with the walnuts.

Graham’s Fine Ruby Port is full-bodied with youthful freshness and attractive, luscious fruit. It is deeply coloured and intensely aromatic. The Fine Ruby is bottled young, after some two years aging in oak vats. This retains the assertiveness of the fruit: a recognisable hallmark of Graham’s style. This is a rich, generous Port packed with blackberry and red berry flavours.
Ruby is an everyday Port, ready to enjoy at any time, it should be served slightly cool, between 12 and 16º Celsius.

Graham’s Fine Ruby pairs wonderfully with cheese and rich chocolate desserts. It does not need to be decanted.

Ruby colour, packed with ripe red and black fruit aromas, on the palate luscious black cherry flavours, with excellent balance and an intense finish.