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Port wine is the signature drink of the town of Porto. Nonetheless, there are a number of several types of port wine. Every is made with totally different methods and barely totally different grapes, or aged in numerous methods to make them distinctly distinctive. The totally different vintages and specialist wine makers supply attention-grabbing takes on every kind 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 Totally different

Port wine isn’t only a kind of wine from the Douro Valley that surrounds Porto. It’s additionally a fortified wine, which implies 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 increase the alcohol by quantity proportion, but it surely additionally arrests the fermentation by successfully killing the lively 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 a terrific “digestif” after-dinner drink or dessert wine. Nonetheless, some kinds of port wine are completely suited as an aperitif earlier than a meal, or as the bottom for a spritzer, tonic, or comparable wine cocktail. 

Most port wine is constituted of Portuguese grape varieties, similar to Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, and Tinta Roriz, that are prevalent within the Douro River Valley. Then, the growing 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 kind 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 loads of the pure grape sugars dissolved in answer. After I style a terrific ruby port, my palate is dazzled with a burst of cherry and berry together with an aroma of plums with a deep purple fruit colour.

The most effective locations to strive ruby port wine is at Taylor’s Port Lodge Vila Nova de Gaia. They’ve a long-standing repute for among the greatest ruby ports in Porto. I discover their ruby ports to be full of life 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 each day from 10:00 AM to six:15 PM.

Tawny Port

A number of issues set tawny port wine aside from different kinds of port. Beginning with it being aged in wood casks, which permits for a small quantity of evaporation and oxidation over time.  This tends to provide tawny pPort a complicated, 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 totally different vintages to provide a constantly balanced product. You’ll see this mirrored within the labels which point out the common age of the wine, similar to 10, 15, 20 yr outdated and even 40 yr outdated tawny port. Relatively than giving a particular yr as you discover with different kinds of port and conventional wines.

I just lately had an aged tawny port at Cockburn’s Port Lodge, which I believe is without doubt one of 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 each day from 9:00 AM to six:30 PM.

White Port

White port wine differs from different kinds of conventional port wine because it’s constituted of white grapes similar to Malvasia Fina, Viosinho, Gouveio, Rabigato, or Códega. This produces a fortified wine with a lighter, brisker 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 sometimes aged in oak barrels which provides to the character of the white port. Nonetheless, the fortification strategy 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 vivid, candy wine with tangy acidity. It’s usually 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 usually higher fitted to pairing with seafood, cheese programs, or olives. Dry white port wine might 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 each 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 purple wine grapes within the Douro Valley. The very best wineries round Porto will solely make classic port from an distinctive grape harvest. It’s common 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 growing old. This drastically reduces oxidation, whereas additionally serving to it develop in complexity.

Bottle growing old additionally helps among the pure sediment to settle out of the answer. Thus giving the wine a silky mouthfeel. Nonetheless, you could decant the bottle to make sure not one of the sediment makes it from the underside of the bottle to the glass.

The very best bottle of classic port I’ve ever loved was a 2011 at Churchill’s Port Lodge. It’s extensively thought of to be among the best years for port wine within the 21st century. From the primary sip, my palate basked within the complicated 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 each 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 just like classic port wine. Nonetheless, it’s meant to be consumed a lot prior to its top-shelf counterpart, which makes it extra frequent and accessible to the common particular person.

LBV port is normally aged in casks for 4 to 6 years after which bottled with out the intention of bottle growing old it. This implies many of the fermentation happens within the cask, with out the sediment you sometimes discover on the backside of a dearer aged bottle of Classic Port.

I’ve had a number of nice late-bottle classic ports all through Porto and the encircling space. Nonetheless, one among my latest 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 clean end that left me wanting extra.

Quinta do Noval (€€€€) – Av. de Diogo Leite 256, 4400-111 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal – Open each day from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

Six Grapes Port

Six Grapes Port is a particular kind of reserve ruby port created by Graham’s Port Home. It takes its identify from the six grape varieties blended to make it. The way in which they mix high-quality Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cão, and Tinta Amarela is just like the mixing strategy of tawny port wine.

Nonetheless, 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 full of life 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 purple 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 each day from 9:30 AM to six:00 PM.

Conclusion

Porto and close by Vila Nova de Gaia really are the proper 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 lots to like. One might argue that no Porto meals tour is full with out at the very least sampling one, or two genuine port wines.