PORT WITH YOUNGER APPEAL

Not so long ago it was the custom for well-to-do families to ‘lay down a pipe of port’ when a son was born, to be opened on his 21st birthday.  As a pipe  contains around 700 bottles-worth of liquid, it was thought that this provided the off-spring with sufficient to see him through his birthdays, as the  port wine aged along with him.

Heaven knows what a pipe would cost now, or where such might be stored. And a 21 year old today is far more likely to be interested in cocktails and wine than in a fortified wine associated with after-dinner drinking at a gentleman’s club. So port has lost its place as a youthful present.

But this splendid drink has regained youthful kudos with the introduction of  a pink version.

Port afficionadoes will know that there is a white port, a very pleasant aperitif or sipping drink, which is surprisingly little sold in the UK, especially as it makes a very good cocktail base. But pink port has only recently become taken up here, after its release in Portugal in 2008.

At the International Wine Fair in London early this summer, there were some enthusiastic tastings of Croft Pink on the Fladgate Partnership stand (owners of Croft). Made from red grapes, with no colouring or additives, it is made under the same process as the traditional red port, and as such has been accepted by the regulating body, The Port Institute.

It is a great success. With all sorts of rosé wines and champagnes in vogue, this provides a new tipple for younger drinkers to experience, and one that can be drunk any time, not just after dinner. Croft say it is best served chilled in a wine glass, or over ice in a long glass, or as a base for a range of cocktails.

In the gentlemen’s clubs of St James’s, richly red port may still be passed to the left after dinner, with no likelihood of a pink ‘un becoming a replacement. But in the younger clubs about town, pink port in the latest ingredient on the menus enjoying popularity, and with both sexes. More info on www.croftpink.com

Croft Pink is available in most supermarkets, priced around £10.

SOCIETY SUGGESTS STOCK UP AND STAY

When the UK first joined the Common Market, as it was then called, we were to benefit from vastly reduced prices for wine. Like most promises about price reductions – and about the Common Market in general some might say  -  this proved not to be the case.

So legions of Brits have continued to pop across the Channel to stock up on more reasonably priced bottles, raiding the supermarkets of Calais and then returning on the ferry laden with spoils like so many marauding Vikings.

Offering a rather more relaxed and tranquil setting than Calais for a wine raid is the medieval town of Montreuil, just 30 minutes drive away. And here is where the Wine Society shop is based.

The Wine Society is the oldest and one of the best wine clubs. Owned by its members, it was established in London in 1874 after the Great Exhibition, and has since continued as a cooperative, arranging tastings and events throughout the year, and aiming to provide good, interesting and value-for-money wines from around the world at all price levels.

Its shop in Montreuil provides a rather more aesthetic experience than the Calais wine hypermarkets. The staff advise and provide tastings from over 200 wines stocked, with a further 300 on the Society’s list that may be pre-ordered in the UK for payment and collection in France.

They have released a crude calculation on the cost of a  day trip from Dover, taking in the Eurotunnel, petrol and lunch, giving a total of £90, which just so happens to be the total saving on 6 cases of wine – a minimum of £15 per case guaranteed by the Society, though £18 is more usual, they say.

Considering this balance, it seems only sensible to combine a wine trip with a stay at one of the attractive old hotels in this walled town, sampling a few more wines and enjoying a leisurely meal or two. And that is what many Society members do, taking advantage of special rates at local hotels negotiated by the Society. 

But for those who wish to support the home grown industry, The Wine Society takes English wines very seriously. In particular, they spotlight two award-winning sparkling wines, Ridgeview and Nyetimber from Sussex-based vineyards that are "giving the Champenois a run for their money" it says.

Membership comes at the reasonable cost of £40 for a lifetime membership. Go to www.thewinesociety.com/join.