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Aged port makes an uncommon last-minute wine gift

Each bottle also contains twice as many servings, meaning more memorable moments to uncork.

Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Old Tawny Porto
Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Old Tawny PortoRead moreCourtesy of Taylor Fladgate

Did you forget someone on your list? Fine port wines are great for last-minute gifting because they are easy to wrap and warmly received. Wine has the extraordinary ability to elevate life’s precious moments. When the wine in question is a sweet fortified wine, though, each bottle contains twice as many servings, meaning more memorable moments to uncork and share with others.

Port is an uncommon wine, one that would be better understood as a liqueur made from fine wine grapes and brandy than as a traditional wine. It is a specialty of northern Portugal’s Douro Valley, upriver from the city of Oporto that gives the wine its name. There are many styles of port Those labeled as “Tawny Porto” and which also state their age are among the most distinctive and the most prized. Tawny Porto begins its life as a strong, syrupy red, loaded with fiery flavors of brandied cherries and Mexican hot cocoa. However, these flavors shift during long-term barrel maturation of a decade or more, a process which adds flavors of roasted nuts and salted caramel. This patient aging tones down both the vivid color and fresh fruit flavor of the original wine, resulting in a warm copper-colored dessert wine of liqueur-like intensity and sweetness. Tawny Porto is the ultimate wine for the holiday season — a heartwarming sweet tipple that is just as appropriate for afternoon sipping as it is for after dinner. Its flavors evoke traditional desserts like pecan pie, gingersnaps, and rum-soaked fruitcake.


Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Old Tawny Porto Portugal

$28.99; 20% alcohol

PLCB Item #4865

Sale price through Jan 2 — regularly $29.99

Also available at:

Joe Canal’s in Lawrenceville, NJ — $24.99, lawrenceville.jcanals.com, Canal’s Liquors in Pennsauken — $26.99, www.canalsliquors.com, Canal’s Bottlestop in Marlton — $27.09, www.canalswine.com.