Port Wine

Port is not just for Christmas, as too many people in the UK seem to believe.

Whether it is served on its own, chilled,  as an aperitif, sipped by the fire with some nuts, eaten with a rich chocolate desert or with coffee after a good meal, there is always an opportunity to enjoy a glass of this delicious fortified wine. There are several styles of Port, from fruity, youthful Rubies, to old Tawnies carefully aged in oak barrels for many years, to Vintage Ports still seen by many as “the king of wines”. White Ports range from dry apéritif styles to very sweet.

History
Shipping wine in quantity from northern Portugal to Britain began in the late 17th century, when the British were almost constantly at war with France, the wine being  imported to replace claret, which was often, due to the Royal Navy’s blockade of Bordeaux, unavailable. But the wine, coming as it did mostly from the Minho in the northern coastal part of the country, was thinner and more astringent than the British market demanded, and often suffered during the long sea voyage. Over time, merchants ventured inland to the Douro Valley, ultimately coming up with the idea of fortifying it with wine spirit to preserve it.  But only by the middle of the nineteenth century had Port become the fortified wine we know today.  The “Port wine” much favoured by Samuel Pepys and his friends in the coffee houses of seventeenth century London would in fact have been what we now call Douro Valley Wine.

Port Wine Production
Port is traditionally made from grapes crushed by foot treading in a lagar, a square granite tank. Nowadays the process is usually mechanised. This mechanised equipment is designed to simulate the human foot treading technique and the machines ensure that the temperature of the ‘feet’ is kept at the desired level for optimum quality.  Modern lagares are also temperature controlled, all of which has led to vast improvements in the day-to-day quality of all Port.

After a couple of days aguardente or wine spirit is added to stop the fermentation. The resulting wine has high levels of residual sugar and will ultimately have an alcohol content of 19-20% by volume.  The sweetness in Port is therefore uniquely due to the natural sugar content of the grapes at the time they are crushed.  If a drier style is required, the fermentation is allowed to continue for a longer period.

Styles of Port
There are three main styles of Port wine, dependeing on their ageing process, which can be divided into: Ruby Port, those who are bottled young, keep their ruby colour and mature in the bottle, Tawny Port, which is aged in wood barrels for years before bottling and White Port, which is made with white varieties.

Ruby Port Styles

Ruby Port
After fermentation it is stored in tanks made of concrete or stainless steel to prevent oxidative ageing, and preserve its rich rubycolour.  The wine is fined and cold filtered before bottling and should be drunk while young.

Reserve Ruby Port
A premium Ruby Port, it is aged for about three to five years from wines of two or three different vintages.

Late Bottled Vintage (LBV)
Like Vintage Port, LBV is made from a single year’s harvest in good years. It is bottled after spending no less than four years in wood and develops a deep, purple black colour with flavours of chocolate, dried fruit and spice. Filtered LBVs are at their best when drunk early, whereas the unfiltered wines will usually improve by extra years in the bottle.

Vintage Port
Vintage Port is made only in exceptional years when the conditions are optimum and there has been an excellent harvest.  Port wine shippers declare a Vintage around three times in a decade, and these wines come at a price premium. It is kept in wood for a total of two to three years before being bottled. As the wine continues to age in the bottle, it throws a sediment, so needs decanting.  Depending on the vintage, it should mature in the bottle over 15−20 years before reaching its peak.

The decision to declare a vintage is made by each individual Port house. If a Port house decides that its wine is of quality sufficient for a Vintage, samples are sent to the IVDP for approval and only after that, the house declares the vintage. In very good years, almost all the Port houses will declare their wines.

Single Quinta Vintage Port
This is a Vintage Port from a single harvest and an individual estate (or “Quinta”). As is belongs to the Vintage Category, it’s not filtered, thus, it needs decanting.

Tawny Port
This is made from red grapes that are aged in wooden barrels, exposing them to gradual oxidation and evaporation. As a result, they gradually mellow to a golden-brown colour. The exposure to wood imparts "nutty" flavours to the wine.

Reserve Tawny
Tawny Reserve Port (without an indication of age) is a blend of wood aged port that has spent at least seven years in barrels.

Tawny Port with an indication of age
Tawny with an indication of age is a blend of several vintages, with the average years "in wood" stated on the label, the official categories being 10, 20, 30 and over 40 years., which is the average of the various vitages for each category.

Colheita
Tawny Ports from a single vintage are called Colheitas.  Instead of an indication of age (10, 20...) their actual vintage year is mentioned.  .  Must be matured in cask for at least seven years, but mostly longer

White Port Wine
White Port wine is made from white grapes and range from dry to very sweet. It is best served chilled or as a long drink, with ice, tonic water and lemon, served with salted almonds.

Food and Port pairing
Port is perfect on its own but all types – from Ruby to Tawny –   go well with cheese.  Ruby Style Ports are a delicious accompaniment to dark chocolate, red fruit desserts and mild and blue cheeses, while Tawnies work well with milk chocolate, caramel, dry fruit desserts and also hard cheeses.  Sweet White Port and aged tawnies work very well with Foie Gras.