Portugal
The origins of the Port trade began in the 17th century, when wars with
France deprived the British and Dutch of French wines. Both ventured up
the rugged Douro River Valley for wines, but it wasn't until the mid-18th
century, when brandy was added to the traditional wines of the region
to stabilize them for their journey across the seas, that modern Port
began to take form.
Port today is a sweet fortified wine that is high in alcohol due to the
addition of a neutral spirit during fermentation. After fermenting for
two or three days, the grape must (the half-finished wine) receives a
dose of neutral spirit distilled from grapes. The fortification stops
fermentation by killing the active yeasts while leaving some of the unfermented
sugars. The level of sweetness varies according to the shipper's house
style, but the alcohol level is generally about 20 percent.
Port is made all over the world, including America, Australia and South
Africa. However, true Port is made in northern Portugal from grapes grown
in the upper Douro Valley, about 100 miles east of the town of Oporto.
Traditionally the grapes are harvested in the Douro and made into Port
there, but the maturation is done in warehouses in the town of Vila Nova
de Gaia, just across the Douro River from Porto. Firms such as Taylor
Fladgate, Fonseca and Graham all have facilities in Gaia.
Port cannot be compared to any other wine in the world. It originates
from remote vineyards that have little in common with the well-manicured
vines of Bordeaux, and is made under conditions that most high-tech winemakers
in California or Australia would consider a mockery of enology.
The Douro is one of the most difficult wine-producing regions in the
world. The climate is tough and uncertain. Summers are blistering hot,
while winters can be frigid. The topography is rugged and desolate. The
soil crumbles to a fine powder that can choke those working in the vineyards.
Growing vines in certain areas is like trying to establish vineyards in
parts of the Grand Canyon. But somehow vines flourish along the steeply
terraced banks of the Douro River and its tributaries.
Regardless of where it is produced, Port (or Porto, as the true Portuguese
product is labeled in the United States) basically is made in two styles:
wood-aged and bottle-aged. Wood-aged Ports include such styles as white,
ruby, tawny, vintage-character and late-bottled vintage (LBV), as well
as old tawnies and colheita (vintage-dated) tawnies. These wines are aged
in cask, sometimes for many decades; they are filtered before bottling
and ready to drink when released.
White Port is made from a range of white grape varieties grown in the
Douro Valley. It is made in the same way as a red Port, and consumed primarily
as an aperitif or a mixer. White Port is popular in Europe but rare in
the United States.
Ruby Ports are red, young, fruity wines, while a standard tawny is lighter
in color and softer in flavor. Both are usually bottled when about three
years old. The main difference between the two is that ruby Ports are
made from darker, richer wines while tawnies are made from lighter ones.
A vintage Port is similar to a standard ruby but made from even richer,
more powerful wines. Late-bottled vintage, by comparison, is a premium
ruby made from a single vintage, aged in wood for four to six years to
approximate the intensity of vintage Port. Some LBVs are filtered before
bottling and do not benefit from further aging; better LBVs are unfiltered
and will continue to mature in the bottle like a true vintage Port.
Old tawnies and colheitas are a step up in quality. These are the limited-quantity
wood Ports upon which many shippers pride themselves. Old tawnies, labeled
as 10, 20, 30 or 40 years old, are a blend of various fine-quality Ports
matured in wooden cask. The year denotes the average age of the blend.
Colheita Port is essentially a tawny Port produced from a single vintage
and aged in wood for a minimum of seven years.
Bottle-aged Ports, on the other hand, are aged briefly in wooden casks
and then bottled, unfiltered, for the remainder of their maturation. This
includes single-quinta Ports, made from the unblended grapes of a single
estate in a single vintage, and the king of Ports -- vintage Port. These
Ports are produced from the wine of a single vintage and bottled after
two or two and a half years in wood. They may be a blend of wine from
various vineyards or produced from a single estate (a quinta). The best
vintage Ports are deeply colored, massive wines with plenty of fruit and
tannin to give them longevity. They usually need at least 10 to 15 years
of bottle age to mellow before drinking, although Americans have grown
accustomed to drinking them right on release.
Vintage Ports are released only in the best years, when shippers announce
their intent to bottle and market a particular vintage. Very few shippers
declare a vintage on their own. They will discuss the quality of their
wines with other houses and try and get an indication if others will follow.
Recent great vintages include 1997, 1994, 1992, 1991, 1985 and 1983. Superlative
years prior to that include 1977, 1970, 1966, 1963, 1955, 1948, 1947,
1935, 1934 and 1927. A handful of names represent the best, regardless
of the year: Fonseca, Taylor Fladgate, Graham, Dow, Warre, Quinta do Noval,
Niepoort, Croft, Cockburn and Sandeman.
A top-class vintage Port can improve for many decades. In fact, bottles
from the 1860s and 1870s are still lovely to drink today. All vintage
Port should be decanted before serving since the wines throw a deposit
in the bottle.
Learn more about these Wine Regions:
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