Instructions

1. Decide if you want to buy a vintage Tawny or a non-vintage Tawny port. Naturally, a non-vintage bottle of Tawny is less expensive than a vintage bottle.

2. Learn about non-vintage Tawny port. Non-vintage Tawny port is aged for 2 to 7 years in wood before it is bottled.

3. Understand vintage Tawny port. Sometimes referred to as aged Tawny port, this port is aged for 10, 20, 30 and 40 years. You also can find these ports that are aged for more than 40 years.

4. Understand the flavors of non-vintage Tawny port. Non-vintage Tawny ports possess forward ripe, dark fruit flavors such as plums and blackberries and have a relatively high level of tannins.

5. Discover the flavors of vintage Tawny port. Vintage Tawny ports have a drier mouth feel than the non-vintages and contain more delicate ripe, dark fruit flavors such as dark cherries and currant with a slight hint of butterscotch and caramel. The tannins in vintage Tawny are considerably more mellow than that of a non-vintage.