Buy a case, plus four: trying the Port wines of the Douro region
Tour Portugal’s top vineyards to discover the difference
Before the world had Fifty Shades of Grey, we had fifty shades of Port.
The world of Port may seem daunting at first. You may have heard of Ruby Port and Tawny Port, but did you know they come in white as well? Then, there is Vintage Port and Late Bottled Vintage: what is the difference?
Essentially, all Port comes from the same wine: a blend from different varietals. The best known among them are Touriga Francesa, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Amarela and Tinto Cao. Most of these grapes have relatively thick skin, and when they are crushed, the juice is dense and concentrated.
The growing region where Port wine is produced is about 70 kilometres upstream from Porto, in the mountainous Douro valley. A governing code demarcating the specific area and cultivation was established in 1756, making it the oldest regulated appellation in the world.
The extracted must undergoes fermentation much like other table wine, but when about half of the natural sugar has been turned into alcohol, fortification takes place. The wine maker adds a wine spirit to halt yeast action, thereby strengthening it. The residual sugar is the reason for the characteristic sweetness of Port wine. As the wine ages, the spirit, the sugars and the wine will complement each other to contribute to the subtle complexity of a mature Port.
It is at this stage that the wine travels from the vineyard to the lodges, or wine caves in Porto where they will be cellared and aged before being bottled and shipped. Due to the long distance and the difficult terrain, the wine could not be transported by land. Instead, they use special flat- bottomed barges called rabelos. This practice carried on for over three centuries, until the railway along the Douro was completed in 1887, and subsequent roadwork allowed access in the mid-20th century. The last commercial journey of a rabelo took place in 1964.
The different styles of Port derive from the aging process and can be divided into two broad categories:
á Wood- aged Ports, aged in casks made with oak, cherry or mahogany woods. Examples are Reserve, Ruby and Late Bottled Vintage Ports.
á Bottle-aged Ports, which spend most of their lives maturing in bottles. Vintage Port is a prime example.
Wood-aged Ports are filtered before bottling and do not require decanting. Simply open and serve. Vintage Ports, on the other hand, only spend their first years in wood before being bottled. Over time, natural sediments form and settle in the bottle.
Vintage Ports have the capacity to continue to improve in bottle for many decades if they are properly stored. As a result, they are often bought as investments or as commemoration for a baby’s birth. Jorge Ramos, export director of the Taylor Fladgate Partnership, shares his personal buying tips. “Buy a case, plus four bottles. The wooden case holds a dozen, and can be sold or given to the child as a present at his graduation or a wedding.” Sounds reasonable, but what about the four odd bottles? “For you to taste when your child turns 10, 20, 30 and 40 years old!”