Port is made by taking very ripe grapes grown in the Douro Valley, crushing them to extract as much colour and flavour as possible, and leaving them to ferment. While there is still lots of sugar, brandy is added to kill the yeasts and stop fermentation, leaving a wine of about 20% alcohol that’s intensely sweet, fruity and bold.
The cheapest ruby ports spend a couple of years in wood before being bottled. At the top of the tree sit vintage ports, which are only made in the best years. Ideally they need around 15-20 years minimum in bottle before being ready to drink. There are also single quinta ports, which come from a particular year but mature quicker, and late bottled vintage (LBV), matured in large wooden vats for six years before bottling ready to drink.
There are also tawny ports, which aged in barrels with oxygen contact like sherry, until they lose their colour and take on a nutty quality. They can be superb, and sold ready to drink with no need to decant. Finally, you can buy white ports that make great aperitifs, especially when mixed with sherry.
Keep an eye out for offers around Christmas time – sometimes you can pick up some bargains from larger retailers. Some say port should just be drunk in December, but it can be enjoyed year-round. Tawnies, in particular, are surprisingly versatile and pair well with any season.
Read on to find which ports are best. For more, visit our review section and find over 400 buyers’ guides, including taste tests of gin, whisky, vodka, rum, brandy and more.
Best port to buy at a glance
- Best budget port: António José Da Silva Tawny Port, £14.99
- Best ruby port: Andresen Fine Ruby Port NV, £15.99
- Best port for beginners: Taylor’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port, £20
- Best complex port: Alta No. 10 Tawny Port, £23
- Best port for a light, nutty finish: Waitrose No.1 Reserve Tawny Port, £16
- Best port for cocktails: Graham’s Blend No 5 White Port, £26.95
- Best value port: Tesco Finest 10-year-old tawny port, £14.50
- Best tawny port: Sandeman 20-year-old tawny port, £42.25
Best port to buy 2025
António José Da Silva Tawny Port
Best budget port
Rating: 3.5/5
ABV: 18%
Master of fine port Álvaro van Zeller has collaborated with Laithwaites for a very special, limited-edition tawny port, produced exclusively from aged wines selected from Álvaro’s cellar’s best barrels. With each barrel bringing something completely different to the blend, this tawny port is complex and silky with profoundly rich depth, with walnut, dried fruit, caramel and fig flavours alongside some baking spice presence. Great with roasted chestnuts, Christmas cake or hard cheeses. JH
Available from:
Laithwaites (£14.99)
Andresen Fine Ruby Port NV
Best ruby port
Rating: 4/5
ABV: 19.5%
One of the last remaining family-owned and run port houses, Andresen have been producing remarkable ports since 1849. Particularly renowned for using a strictly curated grape selection, the extensive cellars house a vast collection of aged ports resting in barrel, ready to be expertly blended. This young port is eminently fruity with jammy forest fruit notes, hints of chocolate and a lengthy, juicy finish. JH
Available from:
Laithwaites (£15.99)
Taylor’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port
Best port for beginners
Rating: 4/5
ABV: 20%
While better known for its vintage ports, Taylor’s 10 Year Old Tawny port is an exemplary version of the style. Fully matured in seasoned oak casks and blended from extensive reserves of old cask-aged ports, this port is elegant and complex with rich fruit notes of ripe berry, fig and prune, plus mellow chocolate and oak notes alongside a long, jammy finish. JH
Available from:
Ocado (£30.50)
Quinta Da Pedra Alta No. 10 Ten Year Old Tawny Port
Best complex port
Rating: 4.5/5
ABV: 19%
Aged in granite lagars, Alta No. 10 comprises a blend of various aged parcels, with differing levels of sweetness and acidity, as well as a small portion of especially old barrels, aged for at least 40 years. The aim here is to produce a port where sweetness takes a back seat, with the acidity providing more of the focus. Bold dried fruit aromas are joined by toffee and caramel, continuing on the palate with expected tawny complexity and velvety texture, while the finish is refreshing and fruity. Best enjoyed slightly chilled. JH
Available from:
The Wine Society (£23)
Waitrose No.1 Reserve Tawny Port
Available from Waitrose (£16)
Best port for a light, nutty finish
ABV: 20%
This is made by the Symingtons, the family that owns Grahams port. You’ll find candied fruit on the nose while the palate is sweet and light, with an earthy finish, like biting into a Brazil nut. HJ
Available from:
Graham’s Blend No 5 white port
Best port for cocktails
Rating: 4/5
ABV: 19%
A modern take on white port made with two grape varieties, Malvasia Fina and Moscatel Gallega which are cold-fermented and sold unaged to preserve primary fruit. It’s intensely aromatic with floral, honey and citrus fruits, and makes a cracking alternative to gin when mixed with tonic. HJ
Available from:
Tesco Finest 10-year-old tawny port
Best value port
Rating: 4/5
ABV: 20%
Made by one of Porto’s great families, the Symingtons, this is another wine that offers great value. It’s a blend of wines with an average age of 10 years, giving it the ripe strawberry fruitiness of young wines but with the nuttiness of older ones. One to give people who think they don’t like port. HJ
Available from:
Sandeman 20-year-old tawny port
Available from Amazon (£42.25)
Best tawny port
Rating: 5/5
ABV: 20%
The complexity is astounding with orange peel, tobacco and masses of candied fruit. And just when you think it’s over, a wave of walnuts hits you and goes on for a good 15 minutes. I don’t think you will find so much pleasure anywhere for the money. Blimey! HJ
Read our full review of Sandeman 20-year-old tawny
Available from:
How to store port once opened?
Ruby and vintage ports should ideally be drunk within five days of opening. After that period, while still alcoholic and drinkable, they will start to lose freshness and taste raisin-y. Don’t leave your port in a decanter for months. Put the cork back in the bottle or stopper the decanter, and keep it somewhere cool and dark like a cupboard. Tawny ports are different because they are aged with oxygen contact and will only deteriorate very slowly. Once opened a tawny port will last for a month or more. It’s a style that suits chilling so why not keep the bottle in the fridge?
How to drink port?
To decant or not to decant, that is the question. The ageing process will leave sediment in vintage port. To remove this, stand the bottle up overnight and then carefully pour into a glass jug or decanter with a light or candle shining at the neck of the bottle, when you start to see a heavy sediment, stop pouring. You’ll probably lose about half a glass of port (which is handy for putting in gravy.) Most ports won’t need decanting, however. Tawny ports are very nice chilled whereas other types suit being served cool but not cold. Too hot and they will taste too alcoholic. Port is deceptively strong, 20%, so it’s worth serving it in smaller glasses. Something like a sherry copita works best.
What to eat with port?
In Britain, we tend to associate vintage port with stilton but it also goes brilliantly with hard cheeses like mature cheddar and comte. While there’s nothing better with Welsh Rarebit than a tawny port, saucisson sec and cured ham are also a good fit with this style. Meanwhile young vintage or LBV have an affinity with chocolate – try them with these Melting Chocolate Puddings. Don’t be afraid to mix your port: white port is great with tonic, and ruby and cheaper tawnies can be used in cocktails in place of vermouth. And finally you don’t have to serve port with anything, a glass of chilled tawny makes a fine aperitif.
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