Iceland is cold and surprisingly icy which means it is perfect for a fortified wine to keep you warm. So on a recent trip to Iceland we picked up a bottle of Grahams 10 year old Tawny port that would not only help warm us up but also stay fresh as the spirit added to fortify it helps protect it from oxidation. From the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal high alcohol spirit is added to stop the fermentation, leaving some residual sugar and resulting in a sweeter wine.
They use a Solera system which is a series of stacked barrels where younger wine is put in the top and then transferred to lower barrels as it ages. This means that the wine in the bottom layer of barrels is the oldest wine but is constantly replaced with younger wines as it is removed for bottling. Thus the wine that is taken out for bottling is the average age of the wine as it is a blend of wine in the Solera and not from a single barrel like non fortified wine.
The Grahams 10 year old tawny has a medium tawny colour indicating the exposure it gets to air in the Solera system. It has a soft spirit (added during the fortification process) and is surprisingly complex with a range of red fruits (red currant, red cherry), black fruits (blackberry and blackcurrant) and blue fruits (blueberry) indicating it is a blend of red grape varieties. Although we have historically drunken Port as an after dinner drink we actually found it quite good as an aperitive before a meal. Just be careful as it is 20% alcohol and can pack a punch in large volumes.