For The Love Of Port

How do you store open (re-corked) aged tawny? Refrigerator? Cabinet? Wine cellar (but that's horizontal)?

I've been storing it in the refrigerator, but it gets too cold there and requires waiting for it to warm before drinking.

Hi David,

How long are you intending to store it for? Also, what age is it?

I typically store aged tawnies upright in the liquor cabinet and feel there is little ill effect from this. Because it is fined and filtered, I don't believe there is any point to storing it horizontally, but one of the guys who has a lot more experience can probably chime in to confirm/deny that.

From personal experience, I have stored a 20 yr old Tawny in an upright position for over a year and tasted nothing different about it. While this definitely is not optimal, I'm sure you'll want to consume all that yummy Tawny well before a year! (mine actually got pushed to the back behind a bottle of icewine and forgotten about until it was discovered... completely unacceptable!!!:oops: )

Todd

I like to seperate the bottle immediately into a half bottle. I keep a couple of Lustau half bottles as they are pretty nice for this purpose. I fill the half bottle till the port just touches the inserted cork (If vintage, I strain it into the half bottle). Then, I put electrical tape around the cap and bottle to ensure it does not pop out. The port - either tawny or vintage last for quite some time.