By Antonio Mesquita
 Some
two hundred years ago the Portuguese in the Duro Valley
region were making some fairly tough wines from red and
white varietals local to their region. Probably odd grape
vines that got there in pre-Roman times from the mid-east.
The English were in the market for wine to import but
they were at war with Spain and or France, and went to
Portugal instead. The Portuguese wines didn't ship well
and they started adding brandy to them to solve the problem.
As time went on the English tastes went to sweeter wines
and the Portuguese added the brandy earlier in the process
to keep some of the sugar. Once developed, the Port wines
became a serious part of English culture and several
families invested in the aging and shipping of Ports.
Warre, Graham, and others established warehouses in the
town of Oporto at the mouth of the river as an aging,
blending, and shipping point. Eventually these families
established the major Port houses we have today. Port
commerce further developed in England and large aging
cellars were built along the River Thames in London.
Aging in barrels, pipes (a vertical container holding
around 700 bottles worth of wine), and bottles for decades
produced some of the finest Ports and blends. It is a
tradition in well off English families to "lay down
a pipe of Port" when a son was born. It was released
when the lucky little guy reached twenty one. Increasingly
Port is becoming an appreciated wine in the United States
typically selling well in the months of November through
January. It is delightful with ripe cheeses (Stilton
is the traditional English blue cheese used to complement
Port), nuts, and desserts. Port is a good bargain when
you consider the time needed to produce it and age it.
Fortunately for Port producers in both Portugal and the
U. S., interest is growing in this product as your interest
indicates.
In Portugal it is the custom to make the Port at individual
quintas up the river Duro from the town of Oporto. The
grapes are picked fully ripe and placed into large, shallow,
open concrete tanks called lagares. Traditionally the
grapes are fermented in these tanks while men and boys
walk around singing country songs treading the must with
their bare feet. Recent mechanization has replaced feet
at large producers, but the old ways are still employed
at family wineries. This process continues for about
three days. Port is made by arresting fermentation at
this point with 170 proof brandy (produced by the Portuguese
government so all producers have the same brandy) when
about half the sugar is fermented.
This process is, called fortification, kills the yeast
saving the remaining sugar to give a sweet wine. The
resulting wine is 10-12% sugar and 18-20% alcohol. At
this point the wine is barreled and shipped down river
to Oporto where the negociants buy the wine for further
aging and blending. If the vintage is exceptional, it
will be blended and bottled within a couple of years
using the single vintage year. The resulting "Vintage
Port" is bottle aged for up to 50 years. If bottled
before the sediment falls in the barrel, the resulting
vintage Port is called a crusted Port. These have a white
paint mark on the bottle to tell you where the bottom
is so the wine can be decanted (into an expensive cut
glass decanter is the tradition in England) just before
serving. Port is actually an after dinner wine rather
than a dessert wine. It is to be consumed following a
full meal along with cigars if you are up for it. Even
with the high alcohol and sugar, Port will not keep for
extended times. It is best to drink it with in a few
days of opening. Sherry keeps for weeks or months in
a decanter, but not Port.
The grapes selected for Port production are both red
and white, but the reds make the famous rich Ports commonly
seen. Usually three or more grapes are used in the blend
and if not a vintage Port, wine from several vintages
will blended to assure consistent quality. Grahams produces
a spicy, reasonably priced Port called six grapes. The
varietals are listed on the bottle...this is unusual.
Ruby Port is a non-vintage Port the probably the result
of vintages not deeply colored enough to be vintage dated.
Tawny Port can be vintage dated or not and results from
extensive barrel aging. I have tasted a 1942 Tawny that
was just superb. It had a rose color, honey finish, and
sherry overtones.
Varietals used for Port
White Grape Varieties Minimum 60%
Esgana Cão
Folgasão
Gouveio ou Verdelho
Malvasia Fina
Rabigato
Viosinho
White Grape Varieties Maximum 40%
Arinto
Boal
Cercial
Côdega
Malvasia Corada
Moscatel Galego
Donzelinho Branco
Samarrinho
Red Grape Varieties Minimum 60%
Bastardo
Mourisco Tinto
Tinta Amarela
Tinta Barroca
Tinta Francisca
Tinta Roriz
Tinto Cão
Touriga Francesa
Touriga Nacional
Red Grape Varieties Maximum 40%
Cornifesto
Donzelinho
Malvasia
Periquita
Rufete
Tinta Barca
Port style wines are made in several places in the world.
Wines made any where other than the Duro Valley are not
Port and in Europe cannot be labeled as Port even if
made from Portuguese varietals. Andy Quady is a classic
Port producer in California and exports to Europe using
the name Starboard instead of Port. In California, any
wine that is sweet and fortified during fermentation
can be called a Port. This is the source of those poor
quality generic jug wines seen in supermarkets. Many
California Ports are also made from Petit Syrah or Zinfandel.
There are an increasing number of classic Port producers
in California, Cedar Mountain among them, who use Portuguese
varietals.
Another aspect of the process not available to the Portuguese
is a choice of brandy. As mentioned above, the Portuguese
government produces all the brandy used in Port production
and producers are required by law to buy from the government
distillery. In California (and the U. S. for that matter)
we are free to use any source of brandy as long as the
brandy comes from grapes. The ratio varies with the vintage
depending on taste and style. Pot still brandy is expensive,
but has complex flavors that add depth and interest to
Port. The column still product is clean and does not
over shadow the fruit flavors contributed by the grapes.
Article © 2002-2006, Antonio
Mesquita
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