Dunbar Charity Wine Event - Port and The Douro Valley

The spectacular Douro Valley in northern Portugal is one of the world's top wine regions. The sun-baked slopes on the banks of the River Douro allow red grapes to ripen to amazing levels, forming the base for Port - probably the most famous fortified wine in the world. Moreover, the top vintage Ports age and develop beautifally with age, longer than any other wines.

But the Douro is also increasingly producing top class dry wines - both white and red - that go superbly with food.

The Douro is the one place in the world where grapes are still regularly food trodden (at least by some producers) to extract as much flavour as possible for the most intense Ports. The fermentation is then started, but stopped part way by the addition of brandy, and in most cases the wine is then aged for a considerable time in wood. The resulting Port is superb for drinking at the end of a meal - with coffee or with chocolate desserts - but it's also a wonderful wine to drink on its own or with mince pies on a chilly winter afternoon!

In this tasting we will explore three unfortified wines from the Douro or nearby and then go on to try five different Ports showing the different styles, including a white Port, a tawny Port and two vintage Ports including one over 30 years old!

The evening will end with a light supper of bread and cheese - including Stilton which is often seen as the perfect marriage with Port!

There is no fixed charge for this event, but the event is arranged in support of the Scottish Refugee Council and we suggest a donation of around £25/person (though please give more if you are able to do so).

Please note that a separate booking is needed for each person attending - so if you are booking two people please go through the booking process for each person. If you are booking for a guest please book with the name of the person attending - but you can give your own email if you want the confirmation and subsequent messages to come to yourself.

Host or Publisher Gareth Morgan DipWSET