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Port wine is the signature drink of the town of Porto. Nevertheless, there are a number of several types of port wine. Every is made with completely different methods and barely completely different grapes, or aged in numerous methods to make them distinctly distinctive. The completely different vintages and specialist wine makers provide attention-grabbing takes on every sort of port wine.
You’re positive to come back throughout a couple of several types of port wine throughout your Porto meals tour. So, I put collectively this port Wine primer that will help you discover those that greatest fit your tastes and the event.
What Makes Port Wine Completely different
Port wine isn’t only a sort of wine from the Douro Valley that surrounds Porto. It’s additionally a fortified wine, which suggests a small quantity of grape spirits like brandy or Portuguese aguardente is added at key level within the fermentation course of.
Not solely does this enhance the alcohol by quantity proportion, however it additionally arrests the fermentation by successfully killing the energetic yeast. This leaves extra of the character, taste, and pure sugars of the grape within the wine.
The fortified physique of this Portuguese wine makes it an amazing “digestif” after-dinner drink or dessert wine. Nevertheless, some forms of port wine are completely suited as an aperitif earlier than a meal, or as the bottom for a spritzer, tonic, or related wine cocktail.
Most port wine is constituted of Portuguese grape varieties, reminiscent of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, and Tinta Roriz, that are prevalent within the Douro River Valley. Then, the getting old course of will decide the fashion of port; ruby, tawny, or classic. The method of fermenting, fortifying, and labeling port wine is overseen by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP). This ensures all laws are exactly adopted.
Ruby Port
Ruby Port has the shortest fermentation time of any sort of port wine. It’s normally made utilizing Touriga Nacional or Touriga Franca. Then aged in giant vats, for under two to a few years, which reduces the publicity to oxygen. This helps the ruby port to take care of extra of the character of the grape and the terroir of the land it was grown in.
It’s recognized for its fruity, vibrant character because it has numerous the pure grape sugars dissolved in resolution. Once I style an amazing ruby port, my palate is dazzled with a burst of cherry and berry together with an aroma of plums with a deep crimson fruit colour.
Top-of-the-line locations to attempt ruby port wine is at Taylor’s Port Lodge Vila Nova de Gaia. They’ve a long-standing popularity for among the greatest ruby ports in Porto. I discover their ruby ports to be energetic and sophisticated with fruity flavors. I additionally love their excellent views of the Douro River.
Taylor’s Port Lodge (€€) – Rua do Choupelo 250, 4400-088 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal – Open day-after-day from 10:00 AM to six:15 PM.
Tawny Port
A number of issues set tawny port wine other than different forms of port. Beginning with it being aged in picket casks, which permits for a small quantity of evaporation and oxidation over time. This tends to provide tawny pPort a advanced, mellow taste with notes of nuttiness, hints of caramel, and the slight tang of dried fruit traits. Mature tawny port wine additionally tends to have a barely golden-brown colour.
Some tawny port wine makers will mix completely different vintages to supply a constantly balanced product. You’ll see this mirrored within the labels which point out the common age of the wine, reminiscent of 10, 15, 20 yr outdated and even 40 yr outdated tawny port. Quite than giving a selected yr as you discover with different forms of port and conventional wines.
I not too long ago had an aged tawny port at Cockburn’s Port Lodge, which I believe is among the greatest port homes in Vila Nova de Gaia. It had a nuttiness that was paying homage to walnuts with hints of caramel, and a barely spicy end with notes of dried figs, and raisins.
Cockburn’s Port Lodge (€€€) – Rua de Serpa Pinto 346, 4400-307 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal – Open day-after-day from 9:00 AM to six:30 PM.
White Port
White port wine differs from different forms of conventional port wine because it’s constituted of white grapes reminiscent of Malvasia Fina, Viosinho, Gouveio, Rabigato, or Códega. This produces a fortified wine with a lighter, more energizing tasting notes in comparison with ruby and tawny port wine. It additionally makes white port a suitable aperitif to be loved earlier than and even throughout a meal.
It’s usually aged in oak barrels which provides to the character of the white port. Nevertheless, the fortification technique of including grape spirits can change relying on the classic and the winemaker.
If the fortification course of occurs early, it tends to yield a shiny, candy wine with tangy acidity. It’s typically extra appropriate for pairing with desserts or mixing with seltzer to create a white port spritzer cocktail.
If the fortification occurs later within the fermentation course of it tends to yield a dryer white port. That is typically higher fitted to pairing with seafood, cheese programs, or olives. Dry white port wine may be blended with tonic water and garnished with lemon or mint to create a refreshing cocktail.
Some time again I attended one of many frequent wine tasting occasions at Mercado Beira-Rio, the place I had a tremendous Lágrima white port. It had a ahead taste of honey, ripe peaches, and caramel with delicate backend notes of vanilla and almond.
Mercado Beira-Rio (€€) – Av. de Ramos Pinto 148, 4400-261 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal – Open day-after-day from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
Classic Port
Classic port wine is prized for each its high quality and its rarity. It’s constituted of solely the greatest crimson wine grapes within the Douro Valley. The perfect wineries round Porto will solely make classic port from an distinctive grape harvest. It’s commonplace for a high-end vineyard to solely make two or three batches of classic port in a decade.
It’s then aged in oak casks for two to three years and bottled to permit the port to undergo a interval of bottle getting old. This drastically reduces oxidation, whereas additionally serving to it develop in complexity.
Bottle getting old additionally helps among the pure sediment to settle out of the answer. Thus giving the wine a silky mouthfeel. Nevertheless, you want to decant the bottle to make sure not one of the sediment makes it from the underside of the bottle to the glass.
The perfect bottle of classic port I’ve ever loved was a 2011 at Churchill’s Port Lodge. It’s broadly thought-about to be the most effective years for port wine within the 21st century. From the primary sip, my palate basked within the advanced flavors of darkish fruits, chocolate, and spices with the highly effective presence of tannins.
Churchill’s Port Lodge (€€€€) – Rua da Fonte Nova 5, 4400-156 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal – Open day-after-day from 10:00 AM to six:00 PM.
Late Bottled Classic Port
Late bottled classic port (LBV) wine is constituted of high-quality grapes much like classic port wine. Nevertheless, it’s meant to be consumed a lot prior to its top-shelf counterpart, which makes it extra widespread and accessible to the common individual.
LBV port is normally aged in casks for 4 to 6 years after which bottled with out the intention of bottle getting old it. This implies a lot of the fermentation happens within the cask, with out the sediment you usually discover on the backside of a costlier aged bottle of Classic Port.
I’ve had a number of nice late-bottle classic ports all through Porto and the encircling space. Nevertheless, one among my current favorites was a 2015 LBV port from Quinta do Noval’s wine bar. It had a fruitiness that wowed me with its complexity and a easy end that left me wanting extra.
Quinta do Noval (€€€€) – Av. de Diogo Leite 256, 4400-111 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal – Open day-after-day from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Six Grapes Port
Six Grapes Port is a particular sort of reserve ruby port created by Graham’s Port Home. It takes its title from the six grape varieties blended to make it. The best way they mix high-quality Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cão, and Tinta Amarela is much like the mixing strategy of tawny port wine.
Nevertheless, it’s aged extra like ruby port with solely a short while in barrels. This offers it a full-bodied, fruit-forward taste profile that has a personality barely paying homage to classic port. It’s particularly energetic if you pair it with a darkish chocolate dessert or cheese course.
The final time I used to be at Graham’s Port Home I discovered the Six Grapes Port had a deep crimson colour with vibrant flavors of ripe plums, cherries, and a smoky, virtually chocolate end. It was a excellent pairing with the cheese course I used to be having fun with and accented the Queijo da Serra cheese on the board.
Graham’s Port Lodge (€€€) – Rua do Agro 141, 4400-003 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal – Open day-after-day from 9:30 AM to six:00 PM.
Conclusion
Porto and close by Vila Nova de Gaia actually are the right locations to discover all of the several types of port wine. From a high-end expertise like a bottle of classic port at Churchill’s Port Lodge to an after-dinner LBV at Quinta do Noval or a white port spritzer, there’s loads to like. One might argue that no Porto meals tour is full with out a minimum of sampling one, or two genuine port wines.
