White Port & Tonic — Summer in a Glass

[Alex Bridgeman]

It’s the time of year when thoughts turn to long summer days — and I enjoy a White Port & Tonic as the perfect way to round off a warm, sunny day whether it’s been a busy one or a relaxed one. Spending a day sweating in the sun and the heat while working on the garden gives the perfect excuse to sit down at the end of the day with a long, cool drink.

It’s what gets used in Portugal!

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But which White Port to use? To help answering that question, I decided to find some guinea-pigs who were not normally White Port & tonic drinkers. I planned to ask them to try six different White Ports mixed with the same tonic. Not wanting to experiment with different tonic flavours, I settled on using Schweppes Indian Tonic Water, sold in our local supermarket, with a garnish of apple mint picked freshly from our garden or freshly cut lemon zest.

[Alex Bridgeman]

I also decided to use white Port that was easy to get hold of, either from an online retailer or from one of the main supermarkets. This led me to collect together 6 different shippers, those being:

• Vallado Porto Branco
  Cockburn Porto Branco, Fine White Port
  Churchill’s Dry White Port
  Graham’s Blend No. 5 White Port, Meio Seco
  Taylor’s Chip Dry, Extra Dry White Port
  Kopke Fine White Porto

Quinta do Vallado were the inspiration behind this thoroughly unscientific survey and gave me a bottle of their White Port free of charge to include in the tasting. All the other bottles were purchased online or at a local supermarket or wine merchant.

[mosesbotbol]

Any clear winners?

[Alex Bridgeman]

Any clear winners?

They're on their way, just got some things to do in the garden...

[Alex Bridgeman]

The setting for the first tasting was a rooftop terrace just off Clapham High Street, with an amazing view of the sun setting over the Common when looking west or a stunning view of the skyscrapers in the City of London when looking east. The guinea pigs were a group of 10 friends aged in their mid-twenties to their early thirties who occasionally but rarely drink Port.

The City of London skyline

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Each of the White Ports was mixed with tonic in a ratio of 1/3rd Port to 2/3rds tonic. A little ice was added and a sample poured into a plastic “glass” (the rooftop terrace meant no glassware allowed for safety reasons). Each person tasted all six Port ‘n’ tonic mixes and was asked to record their favourite and their second favourite.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Before we get on to the scores, the big win for the day was how many were surprised at how much they enjoyed the drink. As the evening moved on and sunset approached, the chat got more relaxed and the mid-week blues gradually evaporated. By the time the rooftop terrace drinks had run out, the bright young things had discovered that their local pub — the Rose & Crown on the Polygon at Clapham Common — could supply White Port & Tonic at the bar (made with Sandeman Fine White Port).

The Scoring
So back to the 6 White Ports featured on the rooftop. The clear favourite was from Vallado. Everyone had that as their favourite or as their second favourite. Behind Vallado was a complete mix of personal favourites, some loved the very dry Taylor or Churchill. Others preferred the slightly sweeter Kopke Fine White, Blend No. 5 or Cockburn Fine White. My highlight from the evening was showing a group of 20-somethings that Port can be different, interesting and delicious – a conclusion they all agreed with.

Even 20 somethings love White Port & tonic

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[Alex Bridgeman]

The second group of guinea-pigs were more accustomed to drinking Port, 20 or so friends in their 50s and 60s who live locally to me and who have drunk Port with me on other occasions. Perhaps unsurprisingly when I asked for volunteers to help me taste White Port & tonic mixes, none of the friends turned us down.

Proud Port drinkers!

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It was another beautiful sunny afternoon and as the cloudless sky slowly turned dark, the bottles of Port emptied slowly (well, not that slowly) and the volume of talking grew louder. There was more experimentation with garnish as people explored whether one particular White Port went better with mint or lemon, or both. There was also a little experimentation of White Port with other mixers as one of the guests needed to keep away from quinine for medical reasons.

This group was much more spread in their opinion on which Port they preferred. The Vallado Branco was generally regarded as the best for drinking unblended, but others liked the dryness of Churchill and Taylor. The bottle of Graham No. 5 was widely admired (and was taken home by one of my guests to use as a bud-vase!) but others liked their White Port & tonic made with the Fine Whites from Cockburn and Kopke – Cockburn probably coming out in front simply on the basis it was available from a couple of the local supermarkets as opposed to mail order from Vintage Wine & Port.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Across both groups — the group of youngsters and the group of 20-somethings — there was a consensus that White Port & tonic was a fabulous, refreshing, long summer drink which was extremely easy to make. Most people also felt it was likely to be a spontaneous purchase when they were doing a weekly food shop so the brands available in the supermarkets are likely to be used most often.

But the best news is – there are 30 new converts to the cause of making White Port & tonic the go to drink of summer 2026!

Ignore the Croft Pink jugs!

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One of the biggest surprises for people was the wide variation in colour of the different wines. They ranged in colour from a very pale lemon yellow of the Graham Blend No.5 through to the dark amber of the Churchill Dry White.

(UK) Availability (prices before promotions and discounts)
Vallado – Great Wines Direct, £27
Cockburn Fine White – Tesco, £14; Sainsbury, £15 (£10 with the Nectar discount at the time of writing this review)
Churchill – Brunswick Fine Wines, £28
Graham Blend No. 5 – Waitrose, £27
Taylor Chip Dry – Waitrose, £19; Tesco, £21
Kopke Fine White – Vintage Wine & Port, £17