Port

Port is not the only wine of Portugal, far from it. All the major wine types are made somewhere in Portugal. Still, Port is the signature wine type of the country. Port is so famous that it lends its name to many imitators from wine regions such as California and Australia. Like "Chablis", "Champagne", "Burgundy" and other famous European wine names, the word "Port" suffers from generic use in the U.S. Genuine Port comes from Portugal and will be labeled "Porto". Curiously, it takes its name from the city from which it is shipped, Oporto, rather than the zone in which it is produced, the Duoro. Port must come from a carefully defined region along the river Duoro. It conforms to a number of laws about production. Like most of the world’s great wines, Port is a creature of geography, culture, and commerce, and benefits from age-old customs of winemaking, aging, and blending.

For centuries Port consumption has been associated with England. There was a time that the entire industry of making and shipping port had to do with supplying wine to England (to replace politically out of favor French wines). For many decades Port was fortified and shipped in cask to be bottled in England to the specifications (good or bad) of British merchants.

Nowadays Port is bottled in the region. Increased interest worldwide, with the U.S. as a fast growing premium market, has solidified the emphasis on quality. Premium designations are commonly displacing the broader categories of shippers’ blends. Today, port is the dominant fortified wine in the U.S. More and more consumers are enjoying the occasional glass of Port and there is a fast growing market in premium blends and special vintage bottlings.

Vintage Port is the wine that creates the greatest stir. Bottled only from fine vintages, this Port needs a decade or two to mature in bottle. Since care during the aging process is a great concern, it is best to buy vintage port soon after release. This is the Port that produces substantial sediment in the bottle, requiring great care on opening and decanting. Vintage Port is generally collector’s wine, requiring greater investment (more money), greater patience, and greater care in service.

The two main everyday categories that an American consumer will encounter are Ruby and Tawny. The term Ruby is applied to any Port bottled young with the characteristic brilliant color that the name implies. Often the word Ruby will appear prominently on the label, but some producers have taken to applying brand names, partly to instill brand loyalty and partly to shed the image of being lesser wine. Ruby port is generally aged for a couple of years in neutral vessels (strong oak character is not sought), filtered, blended and bottled. Fresh fruit flavor with a robust, alcoholic finish is the hallmark of Ruby port, bracing stuff to accompany strong cheese on a cold night.

Almost every other port can be called tawny. Here again the name implies the color of the wine. These wines are aged in cask for a number of years and are judged to be ready to drink when they are bottled. These light, musty wines are often served chilled as an aperitif. On the other hand, aged tawny can be some of the finest, most mellow of wines, worthy of special attention. Designations of 10, 20, 30, and over 40 years are approximate indicators of age. The wines are blended from stocks of several years and must stand up to scrutiny from a tasting panel. These offer the magnificent elegance of age without the bother of storing bottles for years and decanting the wine off its sediment. The 10 and 20 year ports from most shippers offer great value and the optimum of ready-to-drink, aged quality. Since these wines are at desired maturity before bottling, there is no particular advantage to further aging. In fact the rich, tasty 10 and 20 year versions tend to lose quality with bottle age. Observe the bottling date of these products (labels are required to include the bottling date). Buy the most recently bottled available.

02/05

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