Port
Sweet fortified wine from the Douro. Fermentation is stopped part-way by adding grape spirit (aguardente), which keeps natural grape sugar and lifts alcohol to roughly 19–22%. Grapes are still trodden by foot in granite lagares at some quintas. Traditionally the young wine was shipped downriver and aged in lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia, opposite Porto.
Styles of Port
| Style | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Ruby | Young, bright and fruity; aged a short time in large vats and ready to drink. |
| Reserve | A step up from Ruby: more concentrated, a few years older. |
| Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) | Wine from one year, aged 4–6 years in wood before bottling. Vintage character, drinkable on release. |
| Vintage | Made only in declared top years, bottled after about two years and built to age for decades. Throws a sediment; decant it. |
| Single Quinta Vintage | Vintage Port from one estate, often made in good but undeclared years. |
| Tawny | Aged in small casks where slow oxidation turns it amber, nutty and smooth. |
| 10, 20, 30, 40 Years Old | Tawny blends whose label age reflects the average style of the blend; more dried fruit, nuts and spice with age. |
| Colheita | Tawny from a single harvest, aged at least seven years in wood. The bottling date is on the label. |
| White | From white grapes; dry to sweet. Young ones are mixed with tonic; old ones age like Tawny. |
| Rosé | A modern style, lightly coloured and fruity, made to serve chilled or in cocktails. |
Bottles to try
Niepoort Ruby Dum Port
FortifiedFonseca Bin 27 Reserve Port
FortifiedTaylor’s Late Bottled Vintage Port
FortifiedGraham’s Late Bottled Vintage Port
FortifiedGraham’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port
FortifiedDow’s Quinta do Bomfim Vintage Port
FortifiedSandeman 20 Year Old Tawny Port
FortifiedTaylor’s Vintage Port 2017
FortifiedCritics’ picks
Scores out of 100 belong to one bottle and vintage, not the whole style. We only list scores and rankings we could confirm in a public source; follow each link to check. Last checked 12 Nov 2026. Prices are US release prices per 75 cl as printed by the critic; value compares the score with the price trend.
| Bottle | Critic | Score | Price · value | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dow’s Vintage Port 2011 | Wine Spectator | 99pts Wine of the Year: No. 1, Top 100 of 2014 |
$82 Great value (+7.4 pts) |
2014 |
| Fonseca Vintage Port 2011 | Wine Spectator | 98pts | $116 Great value (+5.6 pts) |
2014 |
| Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage Port 2011 | Wine Spectator | 98pts | $650 Good value (+1.3 pts) |
2014 |
| Quinta do Vale Meão Vintage Port 2011 | Wine Spectator | 98pts | $50 Great value (+7.6 pts) |
2014 |
| Croft Vintage Port 2011 | Wine Spectator | 97pts | $93 Great value (+5.1 pts) |
2014 |
| Sandeman Vintage Port 2011 | Wine Spectator | 97pts | $80 Great value (+5.5 pts) |
2014 |
| Taylor Fladgate Quinta de Vargellas Vinha Velha Vintage Port 2011 | Wine Spectator | 96pts | $268 Good value (+1.5 pts) |
2014 |
| Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port 2011 | Wine Spectator | 95pts | $70 Great value (+3.8 pts) |
2014 |
| Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port NV | Wine Spectator | No. 57, Top 100 of 2025 |
— | 17 Nov 2025 |
Grapes
Producers
Taylor’s
Est. 1692One of the oldest Port houses, part of The Fladgate Partnership. Its Quinta de Vargellas in the Douro Superior anchors famous Vintage Ports. Credited with launching the first modern Late Bottled Vintage.
Fonseca
A Fladgate Partnership house known for rich, opulent Vintage Ports and the popular Bin 27 Reserve.
Croft
Est. 1588Among the very oldest Port companies. Launched the first Rosé Port, Croft Pink.
Graham’s
Est. 1820A Symington family house famous for rich Vintage Ports and fine aged Tawnies. Quinta dos Malvedos is its home vineyard.
Dow’s
A Symington family house known for a drier, firmer style of Vintage Port, with fruit from Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira.
Warre’s
Est. 1670The first British Port company, now owned by the Symington family. Known for elegant, fragrant Vintage Ports.
Sandeman
Est. 1790Famous for “The Don”, the caped silhouette that is one of wine’s oldest logos. Now part of Sogrape.
Quinta do Noval
Est. 1715A single estate above the Pinhão valley. Its Nacional Vintage Port comes from a small plot of ungrafted vines and is one of the rarest wines in the world.
Niepoort
Est. 1842A family Port house of Dutch origin. Under Dirk Niepoort it became a pioneer of elegant dry Douro wines (Redoma, Batuta, Charme) and later expanded into Bairrada and Dão.
Ramos Pinto
Est. 1880Known for its Quinta da Ervamoira in the Côa valley and for influential 1980s research into the Douro’s best grape varieties. Also famous for its early-20th-century poster art.
Kopke
Est. 1638Regarded as the oldest Port house. Especially known for Colheita Ports, including rare White Colheitas.
Casa Ferreirinha
Est. 1751The house of A.A. Ferreira, linked to Dona Antónia Ferreira, the 19th-century businesswoman who shaped the Douro. Makes Barca Velha, first released in 1952, Portugal’s most legendary dry red. Part of Sogrape.
Real Companhia Velha
Est. 1756Created by royal charter under the Marquis of Pombal, the same year the Douro was demarcated. Owns several quintas including Quinta das Carvalhas in Pinhão.
Quinta do Crasto
A family estate above the river known for old-vine field blends such as Vinha Maria Teresa and Vinha da Ponte, and for a famous infinity pool view of the valley.
Quinta do Vale Meão
The last great estate built by Dona Antónia Ferreira, and for decades the source of Barca Velha. Its own red is one of the Douro’s benchmarks.
Quinta do Vallado
A historic family estate near Régua, once owned by Dona Antónia Ferreira, now known for modern dry reds and whites and a wine hotel.
Symington Family Estates
The family company behind Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s and Cockburn’s Port. It also makes Douro wines, including the good-value Altano and, with the Prats family of Bordeaux, Chryseia.
Sogrape
Est. 1942Portugal’s largest family-owned wine company, founded to make Mateus Rosé. Today it owns Casa Ferreirinha, Sandeman, Quinta dos Carvalhais in the Dão and estates in Vinho Verde and the Alentejo.