Cockburn’s Ports are great wines for relaxing with friends and family. Smooth and flavoursome, they are the ideal wine for enjoying during a pleasant evening with friends.  They are also the perfect companion for a variety of foods including cheese, chocolate and desserts generally. They are equally pleasurable, served on their own, as aperitifs, or traditionally at the end of a meal.

Cockburn’s Aged Tawnies offer a unique experience, especially when served chilled, and in particular during the warmer spring and summer months, indoors or outdoors. The delicious, warming fruit flavours of Cockburn’s Special Reserve Port makes it the ideal wine, at whichever the season, whatever the weather.

Reserve Ruby Ports are aged in oak vats to soften the vibrant fruit and tannins. Once they are bottled they are ready to drink and will gain no further benefit from ageing in bottle.

Wines with a stopper-cork, such as Special Reserve, Late Bottled Vintage, and Tawny Ports, should be stored upright, whereas the wines with a driven cork, such as Vintage Ports and Quinta dos Canais Vintage Ports, should be stored with the bottle lying down. This is because the latter are meant for long ageing in bottle and the wine should be in contact with the cork in order to keep it moist so that it keeps the bottle airtight. Store the bottle horizontally in a dark place with a constant cool temperature, ideally 13-16ºC (55-61ºF).

Once opened, wines with a stopper-cork will stay fresh for up to 6 or 8 weeks. Those with a driven cork (where a corkscrew is required) ideally should be drunk within 3 to 6 days. You can, however, easily prolong the life of your bottle of Port by simply removing the air from the bottle and sealing it using a ‘Vac-u-vin’ kit. By doing so you should be able to extend its life by at least a week.

Most Ports benefit by being served cooled or chilled: Cockburn’s Fine Ruby, Special Reserve, Late Bottled Vintage and Vintage Ports between 16-18ºC (61-64ºF); Tawny and Aged Tawnies between 12-14ºC (54-57ºF); and Cockburn’s Fine White from 8-10ºC (46-50ºF). Naturally, these suggestions are particularly useful as a guide for serving Port in warmer weather, although generally Ports will be at their best if served cool, whatever the ambient temperature.

Port is a big-hearted wine that should be enjoyed in the same spirit and should always be served in a reasonable sized wine glass to enjoy it at its best. Too often Port is served in tiny wine glasses, where it is impossible to appreciate its real qualities. Port should ideally be poured into large glasses to allow the wine to release its full spectrum of flavours and aromas; from ripe damsons and blackcurrants, characteristic of Ruby style Ports, to the more subtle raisin and almond flavours associated with Aged Tawnies.

If you don’t have dedicated Port wine glassware, you can use white wine glasses. Avoid cordial or liqueur glasses as they are too small to fully appreciate the Port’s aromas and flavours.

Only bottle-matured wines such as Cockburn’s Vintage Ports and Quinta dos Canais Vintage Ports need to be decanted, as they are bottled unfiltered and develop completely natural sediment over time in the bottle.

How to decant? Ideally, stand the bottle upright for an hour or two before you intend to serve the wine. If you are short of time, half an hour usually proves sufficient. Holding the bottle firmly, pull the cork steadily. Then pour the wine slowly into a freshly rinsed decanter or some other clean glass vessel. Once you have started pouring do not stop until you see the very first traces of sediment begin to appear, then cease pouring. To help you see the sediment, you can place a source of light behind the wine being poured (a candle, lamp or other source of light). You may prefer to use a funnel, with or without a muslin filter. A filter is normally only necessary if the cork has disintegrated or if the sediment has been disturbed. If possible rinse the filter with water or with a small amount of red wine, this will prevent any unwanted flavours.

Cockburn’s Ports are the perfect companion for a number of foods including cheese, chocolate and several desserts. They are also delicious on their own as the perfect finishing touch to the end of a meal.

Aged Tawny Ports can be an excellent alternative to Vintage Port. Their versatility renders them equally satisfying enjoyed as an aperitif or as an after dinner wine. Cockburn’s Tawny Ports should be served chilled. Enjoy alone or with assorted dried fruits. These wines are an excellent match to sweet pastries and apple pie with cinnamon, fruitcake, vanilla ice cream or a crème brûlée.

Cockburn’s Fine White is a great aperitif, particularly outdoors in warm weather, in an informal, relaxed surrounding. Chilled or mixed in a cocktail.

Our suggestions

Port & Tonic:
Mix 2 parts of tonic with 1 part of Cockburn’s Fine White, add a slice of lemon and ice at will.

Wood aged scotch by Samson at The Lamb Club:
Mix Cockburn’s Fine White with fresh grapefruit juice and add a drop of liquid honey.

Portofino by Duane Park Restaurant (NYC):
Crush 2 fresh strawberries and some fresh mint. Add Cockburn’s Fine White and top it off with a dash of soda.