This is an excerpt from Restaurant
Wine, issue 110, Nov/Dec 2005.
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Premium Tawny Ports Are On The Rise
In USA
Restaurants
In The Past Decade, On-Premise Sales
Have More Than Tripled—Are You Offering Premium
Tawnies To Your Guests?
Premium Tawnies should be priced like other wines,
not spirits! Ridiculous
markups (more than 4 times costs) are the surest means
of killing
sales.
What are Tawny Ports?
Strictly speaking, a type of fortified wine produced
only in Portugal’s Port region. (Although similarly
styled wines are produced in other regions of the world,
notably Australia, South Africa, and the USA, we refer
in this article only to those from the Port wine region.)
Tawnies are Ports that are matured in wood to the point
of mellowness,then bottled. They are usually somewhat “tawny” in
color, thus their name. Unlike Ruby Ports, which are
generally robust and fruity in flavor, Tawnies are gentler,
smoother, and slightly drier wines.
There are two types of Tawny Port, standard (or basic)
Tawny Port, and premium Tawny Port. Approximately half
of all the Port produced is Tawny Port, and of that,
standard Tawny accounts for about 90% of production,
premium Tawny about 10% (meaning that premium Tawny is
approximately 5% of total Port production).
Why are premium Tawnies increasingly popular in USA
restaurants?
— They are extremely versatile, and may be enjoyed
as aperitifs, with various soups (broths), melon with
proscuitto, with cheese courses (specifically, semi-hard,
mildly flavored cheeses), with desserts (especially nut-based
tortes or melon), with coffee, or as digestifs.
— Among the classic wines of the world, they represent
excellent value for money, and can be offered in restaurants
for $6 and up per glass, which is quite reasonable for
the quality of wine.
This is an excerpt from Restaurant
Wine, issue 110, Nov/Dec 2005.
Subscriptions start
at $99 per year in the U.S. Visit our subscription
page to place your order today. Also, browse our
complete back issue collection by
topic to buy individual back issues ($24 each / $27 outside USA) for
particular inspiration.
