d'Arenberg Nostalgia Rare Tawny Port (half-bottle)

d'Arenberg's Nostalgia Fine Old Tawny is blended from up to 15 separate fortified wines aged in oak, bottled in small batches, three or four times each year in an effort to maintain the hallmarks of d'Arenberg's Nostalgia; freshness, complexity, intensity and lusciousness.

Once bottled, d'Arenberg's Nostalgia, like all other tawny style fortified wines, does not improve in bottle, but can be kept safely after opening.

Nostalgia's colour is a light to mid tawny mahogany and yellow brown, with khaki and olive green tinges at the edges indicating advance base material age.

On the nose, d'Arenberg's Nostalgia exhibits complex, spicy lifted nutty 'ranco' aromas. Caramel, toffee, coffee and butterscotch smells augment dried fruit, especially prune and fig characters, which are also evident on the palate. In the mouth complex oak, fruit and brandy flavours marry to produce a luscious, raisined, spicy nutty and lingering finish.

The palate, although generous with English toffee, butterscotch and Christmas cake-like flavours, is well balanced by the drying sensations that come from long aging in oak.

In recent times, roughly every other vintage Chester Osborn fortifies small amounts of Grenache and occasionally Shiraz to put more young Nostalgia material in old brandy buttes, barriques and hogsheads at d'Arenberg to ensure a small but hopefully constant supply of Nostalgia Fine Old Tawny when introduced to the final blend in future. Until then, the older Nostalgia is best drunk with local almonds, currants, dried fruit, cheeses and coffee.