I feel rather sorry for the peoplewho make port. No one, with the possible exception of Roy Hersh of www.fortheloveofport.com, cares more about this lusciously potent drink and yet Oporto, where they are all based, hardly has the ideal climate to consume it in.

It is also a rather fine time to be a port fanatic as, much to the exasperation of the port trade, prices of even the finest vintage ports have failed to keep pace with those of other fine wines - although vintage port, the best of the best and made in strictly limited quantities, is never cheap.

You would have to pay about £100 for a bottle of Dow 1963, at its majestic peak now, rather less for a bottle of Taylor 1977, one of the most famous wines from this often overrated vintage and widely available in the US. Those looking for the real bargain in fully mature vintage port should head straight for Gould Campbell 1977, an insider's secret over-performer, which Peter Wylie of Cullompton in Devon is selling for just over £40 a bottle. Its stablemate, the rather harsher Smith Woodhouse 1977, is well over £50.

Release prices of vintage ports have been rising, in tune with fine wine release prices everywhere, so that one of the best 2003 vintage ports such as Fonseca, Graham, Quinta do Noval Nacional, Quinta do Portal and Smith Woodhouse would cost at least £30 a bottle even for Smith Woodhouse, let alone the prices asked for the first three much more famous names in this list. (Quinta do Portal 2003 is an under- appreciated and under-distributed star that is difficult to find in either the UK or US.)

Vintage port is not a natural product for the mass retailers so bravo Marks and Spencer for offering its own-label version of it, Marks and Spencer Vintage Port 1970, at the decidedly silly price of £54.99 (not £55?). This is the well-received 1970 vintage port from Morgan, then a sister lodge to Croft in the same way that Smith Woodhouse and Gould Campbell are sister operations to Dow, Graham and Warre. This 1970 has a wonderfully mature, haunting nose and a lovely gentle texture - definitely at its peak and perfect for post-prandial sipping this winter.

Much easier to find are single-quinta ports, those from a single harvest just like vintage port but from just one farm, or quinta, in the Douro valley, typically one of the best regarded. We are fortunate at the moment that we can still choose from an array of single quinta 1996s, for 1996 was an excellent vintage that just missed out on being declared a vintage for the big blends with famous names attached because 1994 and 1997 were chosen instead.

Quinta de Vargellas 1996 from Taylor's home farm is one of the finest and most powerful, beaten only by Quinta do Vesuvio 1996 (£35 from Berry Bros) but nowhere near ready. Although the Vargellas is already glorious in a slightly stern way, there is no hurry whatsoever to drink it either.