Warre’s Otima 20-year Tawny Port
Douro Valley, Portugal
Regular price: $49.99 per bottle
Case price: $40 per bottle
As I’ve noted many times before, wine production is a fairly ancient process. First developed (we think) in and around the Mediterranean basin about 8,000 years ago, it was a staple of life throughout much of its history, as it was easy to make, safer than water and satisfying to humans in its combination of sweetness and alcohol.
And there it is…the dreaded ‘S’ word! Haven’t we been taught that sweetness in wine is a big no-no? That if we like sweetness, we’re immediately relegated to the lowest levels of wine sophistication? Enjoying sweet wines means that our relatives and neighbors are allowed (nay, entitled!) to, at least,‘tsk, tsk, tsk’ at our expense, if not actively lecture us on the damage that we’re inflicting upon our families and communities. Sweet wines are the province of the young, the wine neophyte, the uncultured! (uhm, then why do we like sweet Napa cabs so much? But, I digress…)
However, in the unpublished listing of allowable wines, there exists a category that seems to be in conflict with the cognoscenti approval; Port. Could it be that Port is allowable since it’s deemed ‘age-worthy’? In other words, is Port acceptable merely because it is relatively expensive and ‘requires’ time to ‘mature’ meaning that one must make an investment in it and wait, wait, wait for just the precisely correct time to open that bottle? Is it blatant economic snobbery that allows for Port to be ‘in’ and Moscato ‘out’?
Uh, yeah, pretty much.
Listen up, pilgrim. Sweet wines can be delicious (which is why we love those Napa cabs). And historically (and currently), sweet wines have been sought after and enjoyed at least as much as those wines that are deemed ‘dry’ (although ‘dry’ is not a measure of the existence or a lack of sugar in a wine).
Anyway, my favorite wine this week is a 20 year old Tawny Port. Ok, not just this week. I like Tawny Port because it’s delicious and possesses an enviable shelf life…it maintains its integrity for weeks, if not months, because the aging process (which gives it the ‘Tawny’ title, referring to its color) allows for oxidation, which then means that more oxidation doesn’t turn it into vinegar rapidly.
One can find Tawny Ports at a variety of price and aging levels (the oldest being the most expensive). But, the basic premise is the same; the ‘finished’ wine (yes, Port is a wine) is then aged in oak casks for a period of years. Reserve Tawnys (Tawnies?) see 6 or 7 years in casks, and 10-year, 20-year (and so on) spend those lengths of time in cask. The results are a lightning of color and additional flavors of caramel and nuttiness while maintaining both the freshening acidity and high alcohol (Port is ‘fortified’, meaning brandy is added during fermentation, raising the alcohol level significantly).
The Warre’s Otima 20-year Tawny (the Otima differs from their ‘regular’ Tawny, it’s a lighter and fresher blend) exhibits all the typical attributes of aged Tawny…and more. Nutty and caramel-ly, it’s luxurious in your mouth, with plenty of weight and density, and yes, sweet, but with discernable orange peel acidity, making it a wonderful aperitif, as well as a wine that will pair well with spicy foods and of course, both as or with dessert. One can even make it into a cocktail of sorts; pour it over ice and add a splash of tonic or club soda, use it in place of vermouth in your Manhattan or Negroni. Delicious and versatile! You really can’t say that about your Napa cab! (PW)