Ancient wood-aged port? Check. Late nineteenth century pedigree? Check. Hand-crafted presentation box? Check. Bespoke crystal decanter? Check. Scottish stopper? Check.
Last week, with spooky synchronicity, the two big rival port houses, The Fladgate Partnership and Symington Family Estates, launched remarkably similar de luxe wood ports within a day of each other. TFP's is a Taylor's 1865 Single Harvest Port while the Symingtons call theirs Ne Oublie, after the Graham family motto meaning 'do not forget', the wine being carefully described as 'dating back to the arrival of their great-grandfather Andrew James Symington in Portugal in 1882'.
It was Taylor's who...