Barros White Port
£15.45
The wine
Lively citrine in colour, this White Port shows an engaging, delicate and perfumed nose dominated by fresh, floral aromas. Rich and aromatic with a balanced sweetness on the palate and a long, harmonious finish. Excellent with tonic and a slice of orange.
White Port is made from the Douro's white grapes, fortified in the same way as the reds. It has long been the local aperitif, most often served with tonic, ice and a slice of orange over a long afternoon, and that remains the best use for it. Malvasia Fina, Rabigato, Verdelho and Viosinho make the blend.
The producer
Barros
View all Barros winesBarros was founded in 1913 by Manoel de Almeida and José Barros, and celebrated its centenary a little over a decade ago. It sits among the most prestigious of the Port houses, and its reputation rests on one style in particular.
Colheita is Port from a single declared year, aged in cask rather than bottle for a minimum of seven years and frequently for far longer. It is the most demanding of the tawny styles, because a single vintage must carry the wine alone through decades of slow oxidation without the safety net of blending. Barros keep theirs in wood well beyond the legal minimum, and the house holds one of the deepest reserves of old Colheita in the Douro.
The lodges are at Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from Porto, where Port has been aged since the eighteenth century because the cool damp air off the Atlantic suits long cask maturation far better than the fierce heat of the Douro valley itself. Ruby, White, LBV, Vintage and both tawny ages complete the range.
