Port wine

'wine of Porto'), or simply port, is a Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal.

Other port-style fortified wines are produced outside Portugal – in Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, India, Italy, South Africa, Spain, and the United States – but under the European Union Protected Designation of Origin guidelines, only wines from Portugal are allowed to be labelled "port".

The wine received its name, "port", in the latter half of the 17th century from the seaport city of Porto at the mouth of the Douro River, where much of the product was brought to market or for export to other countries in Europe.

The reaches of the valley of the Douro River in northern Portugal have a microclimate that is optimal for cultivation of olives, almonds, and especially grapes important for making port wine.

The region around Pinhão and São João da Pesqueira is considered to be the centre of port production, and is known for its picturesque quintas – estates clinging on to almost vertical slopes dropping down to the river.

The demarcation of the Douro River Valley includes a broad swath of land of pre-Cambrian schist and granite.

Beginning around the village of Barqueiros (about 70 km (43 mi) upstream from Porto), the valley extends eastward almost to the Spanish border.

Since the Phylloxera crisis, most vines are grown on grafted rootstock, with the notable exception of the Nacional area of Quinta do Noval, which, since being planted in 1925, has produced some of the most expensive vintage ports.

Grapes grown for port are generally characterized by their small, dense fruit which produces concentrated and long-lasting flavours, suitable for long aging.

The latter, being matured in wooden barrels, whose permeability allows a small amount of exposure to oxygen, experience what is known as "oxidative" aging.

The most common type, ruby port is stored in tanks of concrete or stainless steel after fermentation, to prevent oxidative aging and preserve its bright red color and full-bodied fruitiness.

[11] Rose port is a very recent variation on the market, first released in 2008 by Poças and by Croft, part of the Taylor Fladgate Partnership.

It is technically a ruby port, but fermented in a similar manner to a rosé wine, with limited exposure to the grape skins, thus creating the rose color.

Tawny ports are wines usually made from red grapes that are aged in wooden barrels exposing them to gradual oxidation and evaporation.

Reserve tawny port (produced by Borges, Calem, Croft, Cruz, Graham, Kopke, and other houses) has been aged about seven years.

In some places, such as Canada[13] and Australia,[14] 'tawny' may also be used to describe any port-style wine that is not produced in Portugal, in accordance with an agreement with the EU.

Some connoisseurs describe Garrafeira as having a slight taste of bacon, the reason being that, during the second phase of maturation, certain oils may precipitate, causing a film to form across the surface of the glass.

[citation needed] Made from traditional white grape varieties, it is fermented for longer than usual to give it a crisp dry finish.

The earliest known reference to a style of port with this name in a merchant's list is to be found in The Wine Society's catalogue from 1964, which includes Fonseca's Quinta Milieu 1958, bottled in the UK, also in 1964.

LBV is intended to provide some of the experience of drinking a vintage port but without the need for lengthy bottle ageing.

To a limited extent, it succeeds, as the extra years of oxidative ageing in the barrel does mature the wine more quickly.

Since they are potentially aged in a cask for only a short time, they retain their dark ruby color and fresh fruit flavours.

[23] A tasting in 1990 described it as having an "intensely spicy aroma – cinnamon, pepper, and ginger – hints of exotic woods, iodine, and wax".

Much of the complex character of aged vintage port comes from the continued slow decomposition of grape solids in each bottle.

Improved wine-making technologies and better weather forecasts during the harvest have increased the number of years in which a vintage can be declared.

was also in charge of regulating which port wine would be for export or internal consumption and managing the protected geographic indication.

While on a vacation in the Douro, the two gentlemen visited the Abbot of Lamego, who treated them to a "very agreeable, sweetish and extremely smooth" wine, which had been fortified with a distilled spirit.

British importers could be credited for recognising that a smooth, already fortified wine that would appeal to English palates would survive the trip to London.

Once opened, a port generally lasts longer than unfortified wine, but it is still best consumed within a short period of time.

A recurring theme in the novels of Anthony Trollope is the partiality of respectable elderly ladies for port, which they excuse on the grounds that it is "medicinal".