Churchill's Port Dry White

An intriguing and delicious example of this classic style, with plenty of phenolic weight and dry extract from maceration on the skins in lagares giving the mellow complexity of an ʺorangeʺ wine. Flavours are complex and evolved with chamomile and ripe yellow pears, toasted almonds, baked quince and charcuterie. Much too good to mix with tonic. Serve chilled on its own as an apéritif or with strong cheeses as an alternative to red port.

Churchill were among the first shippers to commercialise a cask aged dry white Port. Made in resolutely traditional style and it shows beautifully in the glass: old gold in colour with a savoury-nutty-white pepper character on the nose, rich and slightly honeyed with a touch of dried apricot and peppery spice returning on the finish. Moreish to drink on its own, with a twist of lemon peel to sharpen it up or as a long drink served with tonic and a sprig of mint.

The NV Dry White Port is a field blend aged for ten years in wood. Although a field blend with typical regional white grapes, I'm told it does emphasize Malvasia. It comes in with just 40 grams per liter of residual sugar. In perception, it is mostly dry, but not austere. There is just a bit of a tinge of sugar on the finish as it warms, but if you taste it next to a Devesa (also reviewed), you'll see the difference between "dry" and "sweet" in this category. Dry White Ports may be even more unfamiliar to consumers than the sweet ones, but this is very nice and well worth a look. I am not usually as fond of the very dry ones, just as a matter of personal taste, but I liked it a lot. Opening with a whiff of brandy up front, it shows fine concentration and grip on the finish. Its brooding demeanor moderates as it airs out and warms, cut by just a bit of that sugar. It is tightly wound and very focused. I'm not sure this will be as fun to drink on its own as some of the sweeter ones, but it certainly can be used that way. However, it may be an even better pairing for certain types of cheeses and other foods. Experiment a bit--for some pairings this may be the missing link. This was bottled in May 2015 with a bar top cork. Note that the bottle I saw had no bottling date. The winery advised that that the labels would indicate such as I normally do not review NV bottles without some unique identifier.