McLaren Vale via Portugal. Just don’t call it port or everyone will be pissed. This Dodgy Bros Vintage Fortified 2018 is built in a fashion that is mod-Port too. An era where vintage Port is closer to table wine than tawny and most Portuguese winemakers make more table wine than Port anyway.

A blend of Touriga, Tinta Cão & Tinta Negra Mole – so classicness in a bottle, complete with fruit foot-trodden by Wes’ kids (though no lagares in Australia). This bursts with energy. Beautifully vibrant red and blackberry fruit, the spirit just adding more sweetness, more brightness. It’s actually a silken red, perfumed, pretty, lightly spicy. The one thing it lacks is tannins – they’re silken, but not enough of a presence for me to call this a long term style. Lots of fruit and appeal though.

A very approachable and lively mod fortified.

Best drinking: now to twenty years on. 17.7/20, 92/100. 17%, $70. Dodgy Bros. website. Would I buy it? Worth a few mid-winter glasses.