A Short Course on Port Wines

Port is one of my favourite wines. People who know me know that I don’t like eating dessert. Yet, I do have a sweet tooth and soft spot for sweet wines, especially Port. Although Port has been identified as “Old Boy” kind of wine, I have been seeing a resurgence of Port being welcomed and enjoyed by the younger generation. With its complexity both in the nose and on the palate, and its pleasant sweetness, Port is easily pleasing a lot of younger drinkers. It is also versatile enough to be enjoyed not only as a dessert wine but can be enjoyed as either a chilled aperitif or pairing for food. It is also my favourite wine for cooking and be reduced for sauces.

History

Legend has it that two British merchants touring the hills in Portugal in the 17^th century came across a local monk adding grape spirit to fermenting grape juice to stop the fermentation process to create a sweet wine. They found the wine not only pleasing to drink due to the sweetness, but also stabilized and suitable for transportation for the long journey back to Britain. As Port grew in popularity in Britain for the next two centuries, then came the Napoleonic War, during which French wines were embargoed to Britain, Port further gained market. This also explains why many of the Port houses in Portugal have English names – an early example of supply chain vertical integration.

GRAPES

Technically, Port can only be made in Portugal due to EU rules (similar to bubblies not made in Champagne cannot be called Champagne) and the use of Portuguese indigenous grapes, although I have seen Australian and South African wineries openly flout the rule and call their sweet wines Port. The most common red grapes used are Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinto Roriz (Tempranillo), and some others totalling 52. There are also white Portuguese indigenous white grapes: Robigato, Viozinho, etc. for making white Port.

PORT MAKING

When one thinks of making Port, one usually would think of the traditional foot stomping of the grapes. However, many of the larger Port houses have switched to using robotic feet for stomping instead of human.

The grape spirit used to terminate the fermentation and to create the sweet wine is technically not brandy as the ABV used is usually up to 77% and the spirit has also not been aged in wood as brandy has. The resulting Port usually ended about 19 to 22% ABV. The spirit is added to the fermenting wine at around two days to terminate the fermentation, a relatively short time.

STYLES

Traditionally red Port is referred to as Ruby Port and consists of the styles of Tawny, LBV, Vintage, and Colheita. But the term Ruby Port is also used to refer to Port, which is young, aged less than three years, is fruity and is meant to be enjoyed early and not for aging. All Ruby Ports have nuisance of raspberry, blackberry, cinnamon, and chocolate.

Tawny is available in our market as 10-, 20-, 30- and 40-years old. They are blends. The age refers to the average age of the blend and not to a single vintage. Tawnies are not meant to be aged. Because the wines making up the blend have been aged in barrels, they have gone through some oxidation, which impart a nuttiness and hints of caramel to the blend.

In very good years, the Port houses would declare Vintage Ports. In this case the grapes used are all from the same year, no blending from previous years’ grapes. The wine is aged two years in oak barrels and then bottled. The wine will continue to age and mature in the bottle for many years to come and capable of up to 50 years or more. Some 100-year-old single vintage Port have been fetching hundreds of dollars.

LBVs, which stands for Late Bottled Vintage, are single vintage Port which has been aged in barrels for four to six years before bottling. It is meant to be enjoyed early, shortly after release.

Colheita is also single vintage. It is aged in wood for 10 years before release. It is also meant to be enjoyed shortly after release.

PAIRING

The popular and traditional pairing for Port is cheese, especially with blue cheese, especially Stilton. It also pairs well with chocolate and caramel desserts of all kinds. Salted and smoked nuts can also pair successfully with Port and very enjoyable.

White and rose Port, slightly chilled, make very good aperitif.

Here are few of my favourite things. Try putting Tawny on ice cream. Yum, yum. I also like to use left over Port to braise beef short ribs or make stews. Oh, this is deadly: I like to reduce Port slightly, then add a pad of blue cheese with the reduced Port on top of BBQed steak before serving!