Port Wine

The Origins Of The Port Wine Trade

Port wine is grown in the region of Porto, and takes its name from that city. Today most of the world's ports are produced in this region.

The city of Porto is situated at the mouth of the Douro River. The river runs through the northern region of Portugal, and wine has been produced in these hills and valleys since Roman times. It was not however until the English became involved that this style of wine became known to the outside world.

In the early 1700's England was at war with France. It was not possible to get the French wines that the English wanted. As such they began to look for other wine sources. A deal was made and the English began importing Portuguese wines. Initially the wine was not well received. By English standards the wine was very harsh. Because of this attempts were made to make the wine more palatable to the English. At some point brandy was added to the wine during the fermentation process. The result was a wine that was much sweeter and as such became very popular in England.

Enterprising English merchants saw a great opportunity and began to purchase controlling interests in Port wine production and trade. Hundreds of years later, the majority of Port wines have an English name.

Making Port Wine

Port wine production takes place during a three week autumn festival. Villagers from miles around come together to take part in the harvest of the grapes. The tradition has always been that women pick the grapes and then transport them to the presses. The men then get together and tread on the fruit. The whole process is festive. Today this is a tradition that is dying out. The majority of all ports are now machine pressed.

After a period of fermentation the wine is then transported to Porto. In the past the wine was transported on barges known as rabelos. Depending on the quality of the port, some is aged in casks and other are placed directly into bottles. If the port is exceptional, it is classified as a vintage port. Typically there are only 2-3 vintage years in any decade. Port is a wine that is best aged.

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