Introduction to Port

Port is a red or white wine fortified with grape brandy, produced in the Douro region of northern Portugal.

It is made from a variety of grapes blended together, and the brandy is added before the end of the fermentation process, which interrupts the conversion of sugar into alcohol. The alcohol content, however, remains high - usually between 19% and 22% - due to the addition of the brandy.

Port can be very sweet, sweet, semi-dry or extra dry, with the exact degree of sweetness determined by the timing of the addition of the brandy.

Although made on the farms (quintas) of the Douro region, the port is traditionally matured in the lodges, or cellars, of the shippers based downriver in Vila Nova de Gaia, opposite the city of Oporto from which the wine takes its name. The ageing process may take several decades.

Most port is red and is traditionally drunk after a meal. It can be accompanied by a blue cheese such as Stilton, nuts or dried fruit. White port is taken as an aperitif, lightly chilled.

Port Styles

There are essentially two kinds of port - those matured in wooden (usually oak) casks and ready for drinking once bottled - and those matured mainly in the bottle (after two to six years in the cask). But these styles can be further subdivided as follows:

Vintage Port
Most ports are blends of wines of various vintages and will not continue to improve once bottled. But after an exceptional harvest, shippers will declare a vintage - meaning that they think the wine is of sufficient quality to age well in the bottle. Vintage ports must be bottled between the second and third year after the harvest. They then spend many years (at least 8-10) ageing in the bottle. Vintage ports are very full-bodied and deep purple in colour. They should always be decanted when serving.

Single Quinta Port
While vintage ports are blended from a variety of estates, single Quinta ports come from a single vineyard. After ageing for two years in wood, they are bottled and left to mature for 5-50 years in the same way as vintage ports. Single Quintas can be very good value and are often close to vintage quality. They should also be decanted when serving.

Late Bottled Vintage Port
Like vintage ports, late bottled vintages are made from grapes grown in a single year. But unlike vintages, they are matured in wood for four to six years before bottling, resulting in wines that are ready to drink at a younger age. "Traditional" LBVs may have some sediment.

Tawny Port
A blend of several harvests, tawny port is aged in the cask for a long time - usually 10-20 years - until it fades to a tawny colour. Ready to drink when bottled, tawny ports have a nutty, crystallised fruit flavour. Official subcategories include Tawny, Tawny Reserve and Tawny with an Indication of Age (10, 20, 30 and 40 years old).

Colheita
Colheitas are wines of a single year, matured in the same way as a tawny for at least seven years and usually longer.

White Port
Made from white grapes and drunk as an aperitif, white port varies in style according to the length of the ageing process. Matured in the cask, it also comes in varying degrees of sweetness, depending on the way in which it is produced.

Ruby Port
Ruby port is a basic blend of young wines from several harvests. It spends at least two years in large vats before bottling and has a rich, ruby red colour and full, fruity taste.

Crusted Port
A type of ruby that spends three years in a cask but does most of its ageing in the bottle. It throws a sediment or crust as it matures.

Vintage Character Port
Wine of different years, blended to resemble a vintage. Kept in the wood for about four years and ready to drink soon after it is bottled.

Further information:

Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto - official body

Wine Anorak website

Wine Doctor website