This wine tastes like the cherries found at the bottom of a good Manhattan

Port is one of the most unusual wines on earth, and one uniquely well-suited to the long nights and cold weather of this season. As a fully sweet and fortified red wine, everything about port is riddled with contradictions. But the best approach is not to try to make sense of it — it’s to simply pour yourself a small glass to enjoy with friends and family, whether with cheeses, with desserts, or as a liqueur-like dessert unto itself.

What’s so confounding about port wines? They have always had a reputation as an expensive indulgence of the elite, despite being one of the most affordable fine wines in existence, thanks to their small portion size. Each 750-milliliter bottle contains 10 servings instead of the usual five. Port is also typecast as an after-dinner drink, since it tastes so divine with everything from blue cheeses to crème brûlée to chocolate. Yet it makes a delicious apéritif as well, on the rocks or with a splash of seltzer or tonic.

Port also has a long and strong association with British culture, down to the family names of the major port wineries, like this one from W. & J. Graham’s. However, it is a Portuguese wine through and through. The grapes for port wines may be grown in the rugged and rural mountains of Portugal’s upper Douro Valley, near the Spanish border, but the critical stages of port winemaking always take place in the coastal city of Oporto, over an hour’s drive away.

This example is what’s known as a “reserve” port, in the red ruby style. The Six Grapes brand is among the most world’s most popular and recognizable ports, one that is designed to taste more fresh and youthful than most. Its flavors evoke ripe cherries, plums, and pomegranate, with a concentration and lusciousness of texture that eclipses dry red wines. Its sweetness and booziness is on a par with that of the dark amarena cherry found at the bottom of a good Manhattan, with all the warm fuzzy feelings they bring.

Portugal, 20% ABV

PLCB Item # 8173, on sale for $25.99 through Jan. 4 (regularly $26.99)

Also available at: Canal’s in Berlin, N.J. ($21.99; canalsofberlin.com), Wine Warehouse in Clementon, Voorhees, and Sicklerville, N.J. ($22.99; winewarehousenj.com), and Canal’s Liquors in Pennsauken, N.J. ($24.99; canalsliquors.com)