On a recent trip to Northern Europe we wanted a wine that could stay fresh for up to a week and would help warm us up. The obvious choice was Port, a fortified wine from the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal. During the fermentation high alcohol spirit is added stopping the fermentation, leaving some residual sugar and resulting in a sweeter wine. This spirit also raises the alcohol level to around 20%, as opposed to wine at around 13%, which helps preserve and protect the wine, ideal for our travels.
There is a range of different types so on our way to the Faroe Islands we picked up a bottle of Sandeman Ruby Port. Ruby Ports are some of the simpler cheaper ports that see a minimum of three years aging with most released young without much oak contact. This Ruby Port was all primary fruit with red plum, red currant, blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry and red cherry. It was a concentrated warming fortified wine but lacked complexity and was a little unbalanced with surprisingly high tannin. But it was ideal for the long cold and wet nights of a Faroe Islands winter night.