Not all tawny ports are colheita ports but all colheita ports are tawny, and all tawnies are named after their orange-brown colour that looks so beautiful in the glass, the result of long ageing in wood. The range of colours is actually quite varied and I found myself resorting to the names my mother uses when talking about her watercolour paints, such as burnt umber or burnt sienna. (My favourite has always been Payne’s Gray but I couldn't find a way of shoe-horning it into a description of port.)
At the bft – big fortified tasting – in London...