Port

Vinho do Porto, or Port wine, is a product with a long tradition, and a rich history. Other dessert wines taste similar to Port, but only wines from the Douro River region in northern Portugal can be labeled ‘Port.’ Because of their historically prickly relationship with the French, the English came to rely heavily on Portuguese wines. English families came to Portugal to oversee the wine production, and eventually added brandy to the mix (to preserve the wine for export). Thus Port wine was born.

The grapes are harvested from terraced slopes farther inland on the Douro. During the fermentation process, aguardente vínica (brandy) is added to the crushed grapes (which are now squashed mechanically) to stop the fermentation at precisely the right sugar levels. This creates a heavier and sweeter drink, more so than traditional kinds of wine. The uniqueness of this smooth tasting aperitif put Porto on the global winemaking map. Port is a dessert wine that should be consumed with cheese, dried fruit or nuts.

Port can be made from a variety of grapes, but only a handful of species are typically harvested in the Douro’s growing regions (Baixo Corgo, Cima Corgo and Douro Superio). Age, quality of grape and the storage method lead to different types of Port. Below are some of the most common varieties:

Ruby Port is a very common Port wine, made from red grapes and aged for several years. It’s sweet and berry-like in flavor.

Tawny is generally aged longer than Ruby. It’s reddish brown in color and kept in oak barrels. Wines of different age are often mixed together to form the end product. This wine is nuttier in flavor than Ruby.

Late Bottle Vintage is made from a single grape harvest, selected and aged for about six years, sometime less. It’s not meant to be aged in bottles like Vintage Port, so drink up once you get a bottle of LBV home.

Crusted Port is a blend of different vintages. It should be decanted after it’s uncorked, as it is an unfiltered wine. The name comes from the crusty sediment inside the bottle. Crusted Port is aged for at least a year in barrels and then three more years in bottles. It can be consumed once it’s ready for market, without any further aging.

Vintage Port is the crème de la crème of Port wines. It’s only made from an exceptional harvest from a single year. The wine is aged in oak barrels for several years, then must be aged in bottles for many years to come (15-100 years). This is one wine you’ll have to keep in your cellar for a long, long time.

White Port comes from white grapes, like Arinto or Malvasia. White Port can be rather sweet, or it can be rather dry, depending on the blend. It’s fortified with brandy, like other types of Port.

Just across the Ponte de Dom Luís I (Dom Luís I Bridge) from Porto, you’ll find the town of Vila Nova de Gaia, where you can taste Port wine in the Caves do Vinho do Porto (Port wine cellars). Many of the lodges are open to the public. They offer tours down the aisles of their aging facilities, where stacks upon stacks of Port are kept in barrels of varying sizes. With a visit here, you’ll be able to discover the history and tradition of wine making along the Douro Rive, while sampling many different kinds of Port wine.

Some of the cellars offer free tours, while others charge a small fee. Cálem is the first label you’ll encounter after crossing the bridge, followed by Sandeman (with its cloaked figure over the marquee), one of Portugal’s top exporters. There are more than 50 labels operating in Vila Nova de Gaia, like Croft, Dows, Graham’s and Taylor’s. Notice all of the British names? English families started many of the labels, although Portuguese, or decedents of the English settlers, run most of them now.