Alcohol sales peak around Christmas but sales of pudding and fortified wines positively rocket, and none more than port. Forty per cent of all port consumed throughout the year in the UK is drunk at Christmas.

Alcohol sales peak around Christmas but sales of pudding and fortified wines positively rocket, and none more than port. Forty per cent of all port consumed throughout the year in the UK is drunk at Christmas. No longer regarded as an old-fashioned tipple, the range of different ports on offer at Aldi, the cut-price supermarket, has expanded by 250 percent, and such has been its recent resurgence in popularity that sales increased last year by 85 percent.

One of port’s great strengths is that it comes in so many different styles, from the nuttiness of an aged tawny to a fruity, late-bottled vintage to a monumental vintage port. White port is increasingly popular, too, served chilled as an aperitif or as the base for cocktails. Without doubt, a majestic vintage port is at the apex of the port mountain. Made from tiny parcels of grapes, picked at precisely the right ripeness and traditionally foot trodden (though increasingly crushed by robots), these wines are carefully monitored and, if found worthy, the port is “declared” by the producer. There are no limits to the number of declarations but three or four declarations in a decade would be average. The present decade has seen an unprecedented run of fine vintages: 2015, 2016 and 2017, with the 2018 and 2019 already showing great promise.

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