Madera winery port being served at US Embassy in London

MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Port wines dating back to the 1940's fill the wine library at Ficklin Vineyards in Madera County. Recently, the oldest port winery in America received an invitation to send their wine to the U.S. embassy in London.

"Across the pond, it went. it feels very good to be accepted into an area that is very traditional with port. So us a little California winery that specializes in that," said Peter Ficklin of Ficklin vineyards.

The invitation was from the Embassy's cultural division.

Peter Ficklin says the Old Vine Tinta and Aged 10 Years Tawny Port was sent to the Embassy. They had to jump through some hoops to get the wine shipped..

The winery started with Ficklin's father and started in 1946. The family buys Portuguese grape varieties from California and makes the wine in Madera County.

"Each variety brings a different set of flavors to the table so we have the opportunity to blend and bring those flavors together in the finished product," Ficklin said.

Ficklin says the award-winning wine's reach is expanding.

"We recently met some importers, distributors as it were from Britain and Ireland in Napa a week ago. There's a good potential we will be importing Ficklin ports to Britain," he said.

Details will still have to be worked out, but Ficklin is hopeful.

The winery makes 50 different types of port.

You can try world-class port wines. Ficklin Vineyards is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. It's wine made in the Valley, but also served across the pond.