I’ve never been a great fan of white Port. The really dry stuff I find less interesting than a nice Fino or Manzanilla Sherry and I always found the sweeter stuff too sweet and generally uninteresting. This was until recently when I was introduced to this white reserve Port from Rozès, one of Portugal’s best Port wine producers in my opinion.
The 10-year-old Tawny produced by them (in the gold-coloured bottle) is as good or better than the 20-year-old tawny from many producers and their LBV outstanding, and this white Port is also impressive, offering excellent value for money at €19.95.
This is a wine with the dried fruit and nutty aromas we would associate with a nice Tawny but fresher and a little lighter. It works extremely well with cheese and also as a pudding wine, perfect to pair with cheesecake or a traditional Portuguese “tarte de requeijão”. It is a little too sweet to work on its own as an aperitif but, with a nice dry tonic water such as Fever-Tree Naturally Light, over ice with a slice of orange peel, it makes a cracking Port & Tonic.
