There are many differece between Vintage Port and its Tawny cousin. Grape variety plays a major role; Australian Tawnies are most often made with Grenache, whereas Vintage Ports tend to use the darker, more tannic Shiraz, Cabernet, Durif or traditional varieties such as Touriga. Both are made by crushing the grapes, allowing them to ferment and then stopping the fermentation with spirit before all the sugar has been used up. Even at this early stage there are differences as Tawnies are stopped earlier, leaving more unfermented sugar. However it is after the fermentation and processing that the two styles really diverge. Tawny Ports are aged in barrel for many years and here at All Saints they are managed through a Solera system before bottling. By the time they are bottled the colour has changed from pale red to a rich tawny brown colour. Because of the time in barrel the wine is soft and developed, often with a strong, leathery 'rancio' character. Once bottled the wine is ready to drink and an opened bottle can last for months without going stale. Tawnies are great after dinner drinks for contented contemplation. Vintage Ports are far more like a red table wine in that they are bottled within a year or two of vintage and then do additional ageing in bottle, often for a decade or more. When ready to drink they will still be distinctly red in colour, with freshness and tannin still playing a major role in their structure. They need to be decanted before serving and the bottle needs to be finished off within a day or so (rarely a problem!). Vintage Ports are generally served during a meal and are simply perfect with strong British cheeses such as aged Cheddar and Stilton.