Wines of the Week: Port special

A port jamboree for paid subscribers featuring some choice wines from £14 to £100. Plus Auberon Waugh.

My latest column in the Guardian looks at winter warmers. One comment underneath made me laugh: 

"Nice to have an article on the Guardian about booze that doesn't read like the notes from the AGM of the National Temperance League." 

I was specifically instructed not to include any port as someone else had that covered. But I’ve been drinking a lot of port myself recently, a perennial state of affairs, so thought I’d share my hard-earned wisdom with readers. There are some cheapies, some unusual ones and a few more upmarket wines. I’ll keep this article updated as I taste more things. 

Sadly supermarket port is not the bargain it once was mainly due to our puritanical masters who have clearly been reading too many temperance articles in the Guardian. The duty on a bottle of 20% wine is now £4.28 duty (plus 20% VAT) on a bottle of 20%. 

Plus ça change. In the mid-80s, Auberon Waugh wrote:

“I honestly believe that the 1983 may prove to be the last first-class vintage which many people in England will be able to afford - even without the ever-present danger of a socialist government which will reduce the pound to ten cents while slapping import controls on anything worth buying.” 

Sounds like the present lot, am I right? Or the last lot. Back in the 1980s Waugh was complaining that Taylor’s 1977 cost £22. He was also unhappy about the cost of Chateau Margaux 1982 at £36. Nowadays you can buy the superb, ready-to-drink 2003 Taylors for £80. While Margaux isn’t going to cost less than £500.

Vintage port is probably cheaper in real terms than it was in Waugh’s day. Even better value are the single quinta ports like Taylor’s Vargellas, “one of the best bargains in all vintage ports” according to Waugh. You can pick up a mature bottle for £35. At these prices, can you afford to be entirely sober this winter?

Right, let's crack on with the Drinking Culture port special!