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Basic Tawny Port is the least expensive style of Tawny Port wines. Here's what you need to know about Basic Tawny Port wine and what you can expect.
Explore: All Styles of Tawny Port: https://terravenos.com/trellis/tawny-port/
What's the Difference Between Port and Tawny Port: https://terravenos.com/trellis/tawny-port-vs-port-whats-the-difference/ Port
FAQs: https://terravenos.com/trellis/what-are-the-basics-of-port-wine/
Cheers to this MorgadoTawny Port! Hope you join me in a tasting - Erin
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0:00
Hi everyone, welcome back to the Terravinos channel. Today's wine challenge and hypothetical pairing question is if you had to pick a wine that paired with camping, snow days, brownies, game nights, and passionate one night stands, which wine would you choose
0:20
If you said basic Tawny Port, you and I think alike. I'm Erin and let's jump into it
0:27
Tawny Port is made in Portugal's Douro Valley. It's considered an entry-level wine. It's always a blend of red grapes and it's non-vintage. Non-vintage means that they take grapes grown in different years and blend them together into the final wine
0:45
It's tawny in color, so it's not that rich, bright ruby that you'd get in a typical red table wine. It has a brownish, garnet color
0:55
The other thing you need to know about Tawny Port is that it's inexpensive. Don't expect to pay more than about $15 or $16 for a basic bottle of Tawny Port
1:08
The other thing you need to know about basic Tawny Port is that it's made to be enjoyed now. This isn't a wine that can last for a long time on your wine shelf, so pop that cork and enjoy it
1:21
What's basic Tawny Port taste like? It's going to be sweet. All port wines are sweet and basic Tawny Port isn't an exception
1:29
You're also going to have some spirity qualities to it. During the winemaking process for port, the winemaker adds aguardente, which is a distilled grape spirit, to the wine
1:40
This is going to give it some kick. Expect it to be high alcohol, anywhere between 19-22% alcohol by volume
1:48
In comparison, a regular red table wine is around 12-15%, so basic Tawny Port is much stronger than a typical table wine
1:59
In terms of flavors and aromas, expect rich caramel, apricot, butterscotch, maybe some purple flower, and then some red fruit as well
2:10
Today's case study is this Morgato Tawny Port. I found it at a Trader Joe's in California. It cost me about $10
2:19
I purchased it during the holidays, and if you're looking for affordable, fortified wines, right around the holidays is the perfect time to stock up
2:28
This Morgato is made by So Grape. So Grape is the largest wine producer in Portugal
2:36
They have vast access to holdings of grapes to be able to make affordable, entry-level wines, and higher quality wines as well
2:44
They also have holdings outside of Portugal. They make dry and fortified wines
2:49
I'll be curious to taste this Tawny Port. Take a look at the color of this basic Tawny Port wine. You can see it has a brickish, orangish, brownish colors
3:01
This is what we would call tawny, and it's where the name for the wine comes from
3:06
In higher quality Tawny Ports, this would come through aging the wine over an extended period of time
3:13
But because these are basic Tawny Ports, they make this wine, this tawny color, through the winemaking process
3:20
That starts by limiting the amount of color they extract from the grape skins during fermentation
3:26
and then also using fining agents or additives that will extract color of the wine and make it this lighter color
3:40
All right, your job is to go find a basic Tawny Port wine
3:44
I have my Morgato here, and looking at it, I can see that it is a pale tawny in color
3:52
I can see right through this, and I expect that from a basic Tawny Port
3:56
If I give it a good swirl, let's see what you can smell
4:00
Right off the bat, you can smell that it is spirity. That fortification process where they add the Aguardente, it's really smelling alcoholic, and I expect that
4:12
This is a fortified wine, so no surprises. I can also smell caramel and butterscotch and some dark fruit, a little bit like black cherry
4:28
Go ahead and take a sip of your basic Tawny Port wine and see what it tastes like
4:34
Remember that we said that all Port wines are going to be sweet
4:38
so the very first thing you'll probably notice when you drink your Tawny Port is that it's a sweet wine
4:44
It tastes viscous. It has weight to it. This particular wine also has some licorice and confected notes
4:52
along with that black cherry and the caramel as well. The tannins are medium minus
4:59
These aren't grippy tannins in this wine. They're very smooth. The other component that we have is alcohol
5:07
Port wines are always going to be high alcohol. You'll feel the alcohol burn on your tongue and then in your throat as you swallow
5:15
You'll feel that burn and then in your chest as well. This is no different. It's a high alcohol wine
5:21
We have a sweet, high alcohol wine with a little bit of bitterness
5:26
We have a sweet, high alcohol wine, which means it's going to be full body
5:31
You'll feel the weight on your tongue. You'll feel it in your mouth and you'll feel it going down your throat
5:35
This is a classic structure of Port wine and this basic Tawny is no different
5:41
The last thing you're going to want to pay attention to is the finish
5:46
What is the wine like after you've swallowed it? For basic Tawny Port wine, you're probably going to have the pleasant flavors
5:55
the sweetness and the fruit fade rather quickly. Again, this isn't an intense, high quality, long finished wine
6:03
My finish is medium minus and what becomes readily apparent is the burn from the alcohol
6:10
I'm not surprised. This is what I expect of a basic Tawny Port wine
6:15
All it really means is that I need to take another bite of chocolate and another sip of wine
6:20
Alright, thanks so much for joining me. I'll leave a few links below if you're curious and want to explore more
6:27
Until next time
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