In this episode of #drinkport, I catch up with Matt Wagner, the host of a popular Instagram live series called #TawnyTuesday where he reviews a bottle of tawny Port each week. 

We chat about his background, being ‘newbies’ to Port, and brainstorm ways to get Americans more excited about trying this unique fortified wine. 

Read on for highlights from our conversation, edited for clarity:

Q: If you could invite anyone — living or dead — to a dinner party, who would you choose?

A: So the funny thing is, I'm related to Abraham Lincoln. I’m a third cousin of his — my dad's mom's maiden name was Lincoln.

So when I've been asked this question before, my answer is always Abraham Lincoln. It's a quick and easy answer. We think we live with a lot of stress — like my job is stressful and my kids are stressful. Well, you had a whole country that was falling apart.

But seeing as this is a wine podcast, I feel like my answer should be something related to wine.

I was lucky enough to have dinner with Roy Hersh when we went to Portugal two years ago. And I would like to go to dinner with Roy again.

Roy didn't know me from Adam. I would respond to some of his Instagram posts, and he was always gracious enough to respond to me. I used to call him Mr. Hersh, and he'd laugh and tell me to call him Roy. He's such a wealth of information, and I don't think there are many Americans who are that knowledgeable about Portuguese wine. And I love Portuguese wine for many reasons, not just the Port. But the knowledge that he has and the stories that he shares… and he's so down to earth.

So, for a dinner guest, if it was a wine figure, it would be Roy. If it was anybody else, I'll say Abraham Lincoln.

Q: You’re a structural engineer by day and a Port enthusiast by night. How did you become interested in Port wine?

A: It goes all the way back to my senior year at Virginia Tech. I was always a very serious student (I could have graduated a semester early because I had taken all my credits).

During my final semester, I took an engineering class and a golf class — because who doesn't want to play free golf? I also took a wine tasting class.

As you may know, Virginia has some of the oldest vineyards in America. It's not Napa, but it has a big cultural scene, which has only grown since I've been at college.

The class I took was called “Wines and Vines,” and it wasn't quite wine tasting but I learned a tremendous amount and I really enjoyed it.

I was 21 at the time I graduated and my parents gifted me a subscription to Wine Spectator. Publications like those typically focus on key wine regions like Napa Valley, Italy, and Bordeaux. And I always wanted to try some of these glorious wines but many of them came at a high price point — $200, $400 bottles.

Every once in a awhile, I’d come across a great Port review, and I could afford to spend $40, $50 on a bottle. But I knew nothing about it. So that's how I first got into Port wine.

Q: Tell us about Tawny Tuesday — how has it been perceived?

A: I created an Instagram account and just wanted to see what else was out there. I don't want to be famous, but I wanted to use the platform to see if I could get more people interested in wine.

My audience loves it. I have a pretty regular following and most of them are in Portugal. It's the difficulty I have — how do you bring it to the American market?

The people who tune in are either already Port fans or they live in Portugal, so they're at least drinking Port on an occasional basis. So I would like to reach the American population that doesn't drink it very often, you know what I mean?

Q: How do you think Port wine could become more popular in the United States?

A: There needs to be more media. That's the simple answer.

The way anything gets popular in America these days anyway is on YouTube or on TikTok. And so I think there needs to be almost like an over-the-top kind of media blitz.

Like I said, I’ve been following Wine Spectator for 25 years now and it's still the same four or five regions that are covered. Every once in a while, there's an occasional hot region for a year or two, but it always defaults back to Italy, France, and California.