History

Port Winemaking stems from the strong relationship that England and Portugal developed over many centuries.

From the falling out with the French in trade in 1667 the Port wine industry blossomed, but even before this there were Englishmen involved in the wine trade of Portugal.

Many wines were shipped from the coastal producing regions and these wines seemed to be less popular due to the higher rainfall and cooler less sunny weather in the Vinho verdes region . So gradually the winemaking and grape growing began to develop much further inland where the hot days cool nights and drier climate provided ripe strong red wines that were favoured by the English palate.

The Douro became this amazing patchwork of vineyards where the local winemakers and growers would provide the power and richness from the multitude of local grape varieties. 

The journey across to England would be treacherous and not conducive to keeping the wine in good condition. The addition of a little brandy was used to stop the wines from spoiling. Initially this would strengthen the wine in body and weight but was by no means the same as the fortification of the ports today.

The extreme nature of the vineyards and the slopes mean that the port was transported via boats (Rabelos) to Gaia opposite Porto where the Port houses would mature them in different sized wooden casks. 

The terraces as seen today in the upper Douro had been extensively built post phylloxera where the Gallegos from the north came down and helped construct the walls by hand for food and board such was the desperation of the time.

The Countries name stems from the combination of Porto and Gaia that back in Roman times was known as Cale to become Portugal.

In the 18th century the Marques of Pombal stepped in when fraudulent port was being made that was lowering the quality of the wines. By doing so they created the first remnants of the later appellation systems that are now commonplace in the European vineyards.

The Fortification process that is now common today where brandy spirit is added to fermenting grape marc or juice to stop the fermentation and leave some residual grape sugars. Was not entirely adopted until after the exceptional vintage of 1820. It was demonstrated that the power and richness that fortification delivered, lead to an increased uptake in the main English market.

Vintage ports would carry favour with the English in the early 20th century and traditionally the wines that did not make it to England were then stored and matured these became popular with the local Portuguese the Tawny ports (Tawny due to their colour after ageing).

Other Countries in Europe began to gravitate towards some of the fortified styles being made in the Douro.

Today their are many styles of Port being made

White port:

Ruby Port: 

Early released lower intensity simple aged in larger vats for early release. Entry level style wines that are usually lacking in character but are approachable in price.

Reserve ports:

They have a bit more character and richness than the Ruby ports but still lack the complexity that great tawny and vintage ports deliver.

LBV (Late bottled Vintage Ports):

 Tend to have more extract and power than the two previous styles and a bit more interest due to the 4-6 years in barrel.

Tawny ports: 

These can be simpler commercial styles usually from the big houses, even with considerable age. Or complex amazing gems that have true interest and balance that smaller houses seem to be more successful at providing. The knowledge required to make top tawny ports has been evolving for many years and the expertise required is no doubt not truly appreciated by the wine world. Not all tawny ports are created equally.

Vintage ports:

 Although I am a fan of top tawny ports its the consistency and quality of Vintage port that I truly admire. Having a more vinous quality and with less tertiary flavours than a tawny due to the shorter barrel ageing (2 or so years) before time aged in bottle. The Vintage ports when done well provide a sublime rich and delightful tasting experience. The wines are usually a little drier than what a fortified style would be in Australia and the varietal mix is so varied that every Port producer has their own unique fingerprint. The structure and power of dark fruits in a vintage port and the longevity, they seem to blossom after 20 years in bottle where the fruit is still evident but the firmness and the alcohol have become secondary players. Too early and the alcohol burn is still evident too late and some of the primary fruit characters have dissipated, which some people may prefer. The timing for this will vary to some degree from each producer as the mix of varieties, method of extraction and quality and type of spirit.Some vintage ports can age gracefully for a long time.

Producers seem to fall into two camps the old school baked style where grape shrivel may impart prune like elements to the style.

But most switched on producers are getting fruit that is super sugar ripe without excessive grape shrivel most notably from the northern facing slopes where they get less heat. These provide more fruit vibrancy and will age more gracefully and become more interesting than the soupy baked styles.

How is it Made?

The traditions of Port making continue to this day with a patchwork of varieties planted throughout the upper Douro the region is only now planting vineyards with single varieties. 

The soils of the region are marked by schist which have been flipped vertically to create channels for the roots to grab a foothold on these steep slopes.

All the older vineyards are a melting pot of grapes from Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca to Tinta Cao, Tinta barrocca , Sezão, Tinta Roriz and many other varieties that some locals are not able to identify. Alicante boushet that in some regions looks dead set ordinary, is quite exceptional on the lower yielding sites in the Douro for both Fortified and Table wine.

This diversity is both a strength and a weakness as the winemakers get to know the vineyards and through experience provide a unique identity from that vineyard. The vineyard plots aspect, vine age , planting technique and the mix of varieties mean that no two vineyards are alike. Giving the port makers an amazing array of blending options if they so wish.

When the grapes are picked they are sorted for more expensive lots and /or crushed into Lagres. These are different shaped open red fermentation tanks that are generally made out of stone, concrete and in some modern examples even stainless steel. The crushed grapes are spread over a large surface area compared to other red fermentations and so the depth of the fermentation is usually only knee deep.

The local students or workers are then hired to tread they grapes in the initial maceration. This last for four hours or so so that all the grapes are crushed and you end up having a mirror like quality to the surface of the grape must. Then the maceration prior to fermentation can last up to 4-7 days or even longer after which the fermentation begins. Some producers will transfer the must to regular tanks fro fermentation due to space limitations will others will traditionally tread the grapes during the fermentation still in the lagres. 

Bigger houses have mimicked the treading process via elaborate machines but generally speaking are still not as good as the real thing. A technique that I believe is unique to Portugal?

After a short time fermenting having extracted the maximum amount of colour and flavour for the style desired the must is fortified with a brandy of around 77%. The quality of the brandy has a considerable effect on the style of the port. And unfortunately most of the brandy used for this process is sourced from outside of Portugal so a high percentage of the components of the ports is in theory not from Portugal. A bit of a slight on their industry for if they could fix this issue it would do a lot for struggling growers and lift the quality of the Port styles and vineyards even more. With the less favourable plots being dedicated to brandy production.

After fortification the grape must may spend more time on skins to extract more or pulled off early to get a more approachable style.

Then pressed the vintage ports and finer styles directed for tawny ports will go into smaller older barrels of 225 to 600l . The earlier release ports (ruby, white etc) will go into much larger vessels.

The wines were then traditionally taken to Gaia opposite Porto to be stored in the more humid environment conducive for quality barrel ageing and blended in these port houses. Many of which are still in place today.

The blending of the tawny ports in itself is quite a skill to maintain the house style and still give a quality wine. Even the parcels for the Vintage port need an element of skill in the blending due to the vast array of parcels for some of the houses.

The region has many amazing fortified wines but also a lot of producers cashing in on the style.

What's exciting in this region is just how good the white and red table wines can be which I will elaborate with further posts.. An area I think they should expand on and spend less time on the dwindling fortified market. Just keep the good stuff. 

Mind you that's easy to say from the cheap seats. This is a region with a strong history and tradition and change is slow but the changes are happening and the quality of some of the wines is exceptional without question.