Warre's King's Tawny Porto

In my mind when I hear port desert wine I think of extremely rare and expensive. King's Tawny is on the base of Warre's lineup though, and you'll see that you don't have to have deep pockets to sit in front of the fire with a glass of port just enjoying the moment. Warre's King's Tawny runs around only $13 a bottle.

For those that are use to other ports the first thing you'll notice is the lighter rusty red color, instead of the nearly opaque red of ruby ports. Matching the color the nose smells like raisins but you can sense much more is going on and is easier to clarify on the tongue. Woodsy-pepper, orange, black tea and plums all happen almost at once but the fruit notes lead into the wood and tea. It leaves you with a long aftertaste of the plums and oranges.

For those who know port wines well, get something else because King's Tawny isn't nearly as robust as others. As for the rest of you, what a port to try first! For the cost there's many levels happening and it's very easy to drink. I give it an A (excellent).

Warre’s Warrior

What an aggressive name. Due to stereotypes, I’d think a drink with a label of warrior would be a port beer, not a port wine. Checking out the Warre’s website the explanation lies in a story about one of the family members being a soldier. But enough of the history, I’m here for the taste.

And the taste is juicy. It has little nose but what’s there is dark grape, and it comes back strongly in the palate. It’s full bodied, even for a fortified wine, and there’s other deep red fruits in the taste like un-pitted cherries. With a few more sips the spicy overtones of black pepper and cinnamon come in. Warrior reminds you of all this with a long aftertaste.

I can see why Warre’s has labeled this Warrior, it’s robust and enduring like fighters. For those who avoid shiraz and cabernet wine, stay away. If you welcome heavy wines like me, it’s a B (good).

Warre's OTIMA 10

I've had other ports from Warre, but this one was obviously something a bit different. It comes in a smaller bottle and it has a modern label. Does this mean it'll be better though? I'd hope so because I think it looks cool.

I should note that this has an amazing color to it that changes from orange to rose to a chestnut color depending on your angle. Unfortunatley the nose displayed hardly anything to me, with only a touch of nuts and a reminder that this was alcoholic. After a sip things changed for the better though. The layers of flavors are quite hard to distinguish because they work together, but after some palatal exploration the first thing I found were cherries. The un-pitted dark ones with a "woody" note that matched it well. That woodiness paralleled some brandys as well and lastly the nuts smelled visited again, but I could tell they were almonds this time. The body was far lighter than most ports but still heavy if compared to any typical wine. Lastly it ended with a reminder of the cherries coating the back of your throat.

Warre has a great product here that would compliment many deserts. I give it an A (excellent) due to its fantastic taste and ease of drinking. It would've been an A+ if it had a more enjoyable nose though.