Pouring port in Porto

by Bill, guest blogger

When I used to think of port wine, the image of a dusty bottle sitting on the back of a shelf came to mind. But after visiting a few port wine lodges in Porto, it’s now on my must-buy list. I hadn’t realized it was available in such a variety of flavours and colours, and it can even be used in cocktails. If you’ve tried port before and didn’t like it, try it again! There are so many varieties, you’re sure to find one you love.

During our pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago, we took a few days off in Porto and visited some port lodges to learn about and taste port.  Port starts as wine made in the Douro River valley and is then blended with brandy. The resulting port wine is shipped down river to Porto, a city on the Atlantic coast. The port wine lodges there store it in barrels for aging. Why here? Daily temperature swings are moderated in Porto by the ocean, resulting in a more stable aging process.

Like wine, most port is aged in French oak barrels for many years. Adding brandy stops the fermentation, which leaves more sugar, hence the sweetness of port. Some ports are aged 20 or 40 years before bottling. In contrast, vintage ports are barrel-aged for a just a few years and then finish aging in the bottle. There are also further variations on the aging technique, but the bottom line is that there are lot of taste variations possible. 

Like wine, you can have white, rosé, and red ports. A tawny is a red that has been aged in a smaller barrel so it becomes lighter and brownish coloured due to more contact with the oak and air. According to our tour guide at Croft port wine lodge, the sweet spot for aging a tawny is after 10 years. In other words, a 20-year-old will be noticeably better than a 10-year-old but it is hard to tell the difference between a 20- and 30-year-old. All these types of ports are blends, to get the best taste. A 20-year-old will have several wines in it, all at least 20 years old, while a vintage is like a single varietal wine. These are a single batch that is tasted as it barrel-ages and when it’s good to go, it is bottled. Some say these are the best ports. They are bottled without filtering. This means they will continue to age in the bottle and that they need to be filtered before drinking. 

So if you’re in Porto, head across the river and check out the tastings available at the dozens of port wine lodges. The tours are fun and I’m sure your opinion of port wine will change. Ours did. If you are not in Porto, head to your local liquor store and try something new. Look for a white port, take it home, chill it and enjoy it on a warm afternoon. The trendiest cocktail in Portugal now? White port with tonic water. Try some of these recipes from Sandeman – another port wine lodge whose wares we sampled.