Calem Fine Tawny Port (19.50%)

Antonio Alves Calem founded a winery of his own name in the city of Porto in 1859. Calem quickly grew fastly in focusing wine exports to Brazil, a new market in the world. Today, Calem is a big player, whose products can also be found extensively in supermarkets in the Baltic countries.

Production begins with the crushing of the grapes. The juice is fermented in a steel tank to the desired level, after which fermentation is stopped by adding wine distillate. After this, the wine has been matured in small oak barrels for a few years. Calem Fine Tawny is a blend of wines aged for at least 3 years. 75 cl bottle bought from the offer for 10 €.

The color is pale red, clearly lighter than in Calem’s Ruby port. The aroma is light, with a little fig and other dried fruits. The taste is smooth and light, it has only lightly fruity and slightly spicy. Very well balanced, the alcohol used to fortify is not felt at all. Less sweet than the other tawny’s I’ve tasted, the aftertaste becomes a familiar tongue-drying acidity. The taste is quite short and rather bland, it has very little to give in addition to light fruity and spicy nuances.

I really liked Calem’s Ruby port, so I also expected quite much from Tawny, but it turned out to be a fairly even thick output. The taste is smooth and the wine is very easy to sip, due to the low sugar content it is also suitable as an aperitif and also pairing well with different meals. Calem Fine Tawny is a familiar and safe port wine sold in supermarkets, not surprising but also does not disappoint with its stable quality.

79/100

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