Port wine

Port wine (Porto) is another world-famous sweet delicacy. There's an interesting story behind the birth of Port Wine.   Back in the 17th century when France was at war with Britain and Netherlands they started to import wine from Portugal's Douro River Valley. Problem was that the journey across the seas was too long and the wine would spoil throu the journey so to stabilize and preserve the wine for the journey the Portuguese began adding brandy to it.

Stopping the process of fermentation made the wine sweeter with nice residual sugars leaving in the wine. So port wine is a wine made in the Duoro region of Portugal that has brandy added to it, which stops the fermentation sooner so the wine is sweet. It is a sweet red wine that comes in a dry, semi-dry and white variety. Most Port is served after dinner as a dessert wine.

The city where Port Wine is put on ships calls Porto, it is situated at the head of the Duoro River. Thus the name Port Wine.

Port Wine styles:

Ruby Port Wines - The youngest of the port wines. Usually spends a minimum of two years in a large vat which minimizes the oxidation before bottled. Ready to drink immediately.

Tawny Porto - Less sweet and lighter than ruby or vintage ports. This wine is blended from wines of different years, usually no more than three years old. The lighter tawnies have been blended with white port.

Tawny with Indication of Age - Wine of amber color. Its aroma and flavors are the craft of a master blender, the person who creates the uniqueness of each of these wines. Aged Tawny may be labeled as 10, 20, or 30 years old, referring to the average age of its blend of old and young wines.

Port Wine Vintage - This kind of Port is characterized by intense red color, full body, and intense and complex flavor. In years of outstanding harvest quality, the producer must declare their best wine as "vintage", and submit a sample bottle to be approved by the Porto Wine Institute. The rule is to leave the wine in the cask for 2 to 3 years, and then age it in bottles for very long time, where the best years continue to improve indefinitely.

Late Bottled Vintage - This is less rich and concentrated than Vintage Porto with a little sediment in the bottle. Its quality must be approved by the institute too. Then it is left in the cask for 5 - 6 years, filtered, and bottled as a ready to drink wine.

White Port Wine -  these wines are lighter tasting than the other ports. They are made from a blend of white grapes and have a small amount of juice from the red grapes added to them. The wine spends 2 - 3 years in casks and then it's ready to drink when it is bottled. Two varietes of White Port Wine exist - sweet and dry.


There are five main grapes used for port wine: Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cao, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesa and Touriga Nacional.

Here are some of the best Port Wine producers:

Fonseca - http://www.fonseca.pt/
Found at 1822. Strong tradition of winemaking skill and knowledge. Fonseca is one of the leading Port winehouses and one of the leading wine producers in the world.

Churchill - http://www.churchills-port.com/
Churchill's is an independent, family owned Company specializing in premium Port Wines and premium New Douro Table Wines.

Dow - http://www.dows-port.com/
Family Owned Producer Of The Finest Quality Port For Over Two Centuries.

Croft - http://www.croftport.com/
The earliest evidence of the firm’s activity as a Port shipper dates from 1588. John Croft was one of the leading figures of the Port business in the eighteenth century.

Cockburns - http://www.cockburns.com/
In 1815, the year that Wellington defeated Bonaparte at Waterloo, the business was established by Robert Cockburn, who had visited Portugal when serving in Wellington's army.

Quinta do Noval - http://www.quintadonoval.com/

Quinta do Noval is widely regarded as one of the greatest names in the Port Wine business. It is our aim to continue to produce outstanding Port wine and to maintain and enhance the quality of Port bottled under the Noval name. Hand crafted wines of the very best quality. 
 

Sandeman - http://www.sandeman.eu/
For more than 200 years Sandeman has handed down expertise from generation to generation to maintain the excellence of their wines, appreciated around the world for their quality and taste, mystery and seduction.