Port wine is a rich, sweet, and fortified wine that originates from the Douro Valley in northern Portugal, traditionally enjoyed as a dessert wine. Made primarily from indigenous Portuguese grapes like Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, and Touriga Franca, Port is fortified with grape spirit (aguardente) to halt fermentation early, preserving natural sugars and boosting alcohol content. This results in a wine that is full-bodied, with intense flavours of ripe dark fruits, raisins, chocolate, nuts, and spice.
There are several styles of Port, including Ruby (youthful and fruity), Tawny (aged in barrels with nutty, oxidised notes), Vintage (made from exceptional harvests and meant to age), and White Port (made from white grapes, often served chilled). Port is commonly enjoyed on its own or paired with cheeses, chocolate desserts, or dried fruits, and is recognized globally for its depth, richness, and age-worthiness.
The Australian Tawny Port has had a name change and will now be referred to as Australian Tawny. Port is the traditional after dinner wine with coffee but would also be well suited to a flourless chocolate cake with double cream. This wine is also perfect on its own in front of an open fire! Winemaker Notes Previously referred to as ‘Australian Tawny Port’, our Australian Tawny shows the classic caramel treacle colour of a tawny style. Delicious aromas of spicy fruit cake and raisins are immediate on the nose, while on the palate this fortified is luscious and intense with caramel and aged rancio flavours – a direct result of blending mature and younger wines. The wood maturation of this wine enhances the developed qualities of richness and intensity. This port shows sweetness balanced by the drying sensations derived from extended ageing in oak barrels, and a lengthy and lingering spicy finish.
Grant Burge were the 2010 Decanter Awards (London) International Trophy winner for the "King of Fortifieds". This fine aged tawny is made from the Barossa’s traditional tawny varieties - mostly grenache, with some mataro and shiraz - and has been blended to an average age of six years. Winemaker Notes The wine is a lovely golden tawny colour with definite red tinges.The spicy fruit flavours are a legacy of the high proportion of grenache and add a lifted freshness to the more complex aged characters in the background. The palate is smooth and rich, with the mid-palate sweetness balanced by an elegant drying finish.
Icons of Rutherglen, Morris produce a wonderful Tawny fortified wine that is smooth and velvety on the palate with a hint of cedar and drying spice on the finish.
For nearly 60 years Penfolds Club has been one of Australia's favourite choices of Tawny. Beginning life as Penfolds Five Star Club Tawny in the 1940s, this wine has grown with the nation. Penfolds Club is blended from more than 200 components to offer the complexity and consistency that is expected of the Penfolds 'house' style and has an average age of three years. Winemaker Notes Colour: Amber-brown with a dark red rim. Nose: The nose is lifted with an attractive mix of dried fruit, vanilla, caramel and a touch of nutty aged rancio complexity. Palate: The palate is rich and vibrant displaying ripe spicy fruit, toffee and walnuts framed by smoky oak with a lifted cleansing finish.
Since 1985 Penfolds has been identifying the best barrels of Club Tawny and reserving them for additional maturation. These reserved barrels are then skilfully blended to create Penfolds Club Reserve, a definitive aged Australian Tawny in keeping with the Penfolds tradition of excellence. Winemaker Notes Colour: Tawny red-brown. Nose: The nose is fragrant and well-integrated, possessing aromas of raisined fruit, caramel, subtle vanillin oak and nutty aged complexity. Palate: The palate has a luscious fruit sweetness balanced by drier barrel-matured characters and subtle spirit. The wine has rich flavours of spicy dried fruit, butterscotch and walnuts before a long, lingering finish.
