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With colder weather on the doorstep, a unique and versatile type of wine comes to the forefront, a fortified wine from Portugal we all know as Port. (A fortified wine is one to which a spirit, usually grape brandy has been added.) This libation is the perfect after-dinner, fireside companion, enjoyed either with various desserts--especially chocolates and cheeses (especially bleu veined cheeses which do not match with most wines)--or by itself along with a great cigar.
This historical and traditional beverage has been witness to an innumerable amount of world changing decisions by many significant historical figures over the course of the evolution to modern times. Port is truly an ancient treasure.
There is a fable regarding the birth of Port even though, in reality, the invention of the wine was more like a series of discoveries rather than a single creative act. As the story goes, two young English wine merchants were traveling through Portugal in the late 1670s searching for wines that would be attractive to the British market. For centuries, the English had consumed mostly French wines but, from the mid-fifteenth century onward, the escalating rivalry between the two nations had led to excessive import duties, not to mention war.
The two young merchants supposedly found themselves at a monastery outside of the town of Lamego near the Duoro River in Central Portugal. The Abbot there served them a wine that was smoother, sweeter, and more interesting than anything they had ever tasted. When the Englishmen pressed the Abbot to tell them more, he confided that he had added brandy to the wine as it fermented. The two Englishmen allegedly purchased the Abbot's entire lot and shipped it home.
However, the usual practice at that time was to add only a small amount of spirits (around 3 percent by volume), just enough to preserve wine for shipment. Today, it is around 20 percent, enough to arrest fermentation, retain the wine's unique sweetness, and raise the alcohol content. If the Abbot of Lamego made his wine this way, it was an isolated case, as adding that much brandy was not standard practice until after 1850. It is possible that since the monastery owned some of the best vineyards, the merchants were perhaps treated to a full and fruity wine known as Priest’s Port, which was richer and sweeter than others of the time.
More than 30 different red grapes are grown in the Oporto wine region but only five of them are truly significant in the production of Port. These are Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cao, and Touriga Francesca. All Port falls into two major categories: those that are predominately aged in wood and those that are predominately aged in the bottle. Wood-aged Ports are ready to drink right after they are bottled and shipped and do not require decanting. Bottle-aged Port, on the other hand, sometimes spends several years in the bottle before being released. These Ports usually require decanting to remove their sediment. Wood-aged Ports include Ruby, aged Tawny, Vintage Character Port, Late Bottled Vintage Port, and Colheita Port (left). Bottle-aged Ports include Vintage Port, Single Quinta Vintage Port, Traditional Late Bottled Port, and Crusted Port, which is almost non-existent these days.
Don’t walk under a ladder. Don’t break a mirror. Don’t open an umbrella indoors. We have all heard dozens of commonplace superstitions but what about "don’t pass the Port to the right?" By custom, Port is always supposed to be passed from the right to the left, clockwise around the table. Research suggests that the practice is based on the old Celtic superstition that all circular motions should be “deiseal,” or righthanded, imitating the course of the sun and thereby embracing the earth's natural order. While we're not one to quibble with superstitions, what is important is that this wonder of Portugal be sampled, savored, shared.
But just in case, we pass the bottle clockwise.
Sears is sommelier at Sears Wine and Spirits Catalogue and can be reached via email at searscatalogue@gmx.com.
