Those Numbers on Bottles of Tawny Port…

Karen, recently someone gave me a bottle of Port, the label of which says it’s 20 years old, even though there’s no vintage date.  What exactly does this mean?

You’ve been given a tawny Port, one of the major styles of barrel-aged Port from Portugal.  Tawny Port comes stipulated as either ten, twenty, thirty, or forty years old.  The designation refers to the average age of the wines that are blended together to make the final wine.  Thus, a twenty-year-old tawny Port is made up of wines that, on average, have been aged in barrel twenty years.  Twenty-year-old tawny Ports are more complex than ten-year-old tawnies, but they aren’t as fragile as thirty and forty-year-olds.  Tawny Ports have, as the name implies, a tawny aroma and flavor along with hints of roasted hazelnuts, butter, vanilla, caramel, and touches of baked cherry.  They are usually served for dessert along with cheese or a nut cake (almond torte or the like) or a simple chocolate dessert.

— Karen

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