Ok, ok, already! My fan(s) are relentless… I have been so overwhelmed with requests for my thoughts on Port and Porto that I have had to turn off all of my Social Media! Oh wait, I don’t use social media. But, I’m pretty sure I telepathically received the messages.
First a warning, this blog is a bit long and may be boring for those who aren’t interested in Port. I just couldn’t help myself as I started writing, as I’ve been drinking Port since a colleague introduced it to me at one of my first business dinners, post-college. It was a Graham’s 30 year Tawney Port and I have been hooked since. So for me, this part of our trip was something I’d really been looking forward to.
After that first Port I started to looking more closely at restaurant menus, and without an expense account I realized just how pricey it could be (especially for the good stuff). And so in my younger days Port became an infrequent enjoyment and with time a good glass of Scotch became my habit. That has all changed now that we have visited Porto, Gaia, and the Douro Valley, and what more worthy way to spend the kids's inheritance than on Port! (What do they need it for? am I right?).
Before I go into the details of our port experience, let me share a few fun facts about Port…
What is Port? It’s a fortified wine. What does that mean? Simply put, alcohol is added to wine which makes it stronger and in most cases sweeter than wine.
Why did they do such a thing to wine? The Portuguese needed wine that could withstand long sea voyages without spoiling. Remember, the Portuguese sailed the world in wooden boats founding colonies. They wouldn’t have been able to survive the trip without wine… it was safer to drink than water after all!
Where does Port come from? Well, the grapes are grown in the Douro Valley in Portugal and the Port is made there and then sent down the Douro River to a city named Gaia to be stored and aged in underground cellars. Port is highly controlled (has been for hundreds of years) and can only be called “Port” if it comes from this region and is made to specifications that the regulatory institute controls. Kinda like Champagne can only come from the Champagne region of France..
Why is it called port? Well, in the 16th century France stopped selling wine to England, the English started buying wine from Portugal and a great relationship was born. The wine was shipped from the sea port town next to Gaia (where the Port is stored), a town called Porto, thus Port-o wine. Incidentally, this is why Porto is so famous.
My impressions of Port have been formed over the years by the very small selection available on a restaurant menu in the US or in the wine section of a market, usually of 4 or 5 Ports. Most of the time I could find a Grahams Tawney and I was a set . Other brands easily found might be Taylor’s or Dow’s and both were decent choices.
Little did I know there are soooo many Port brands and vineyards (called Quintas or estates)! And not only that, there are White Ports, Ruby Ports, and Tawney Ports. AND, it keeps going… there are Reserve Ports, LBV Ports, Vintage Ports, and Classic Vintage Ports!
OMG, I’ve died and gone to Port heaven! My first reaction… “call a realtor, we need to move here ‘cause it’s going to take the rest of my life to explore this place!”
Undaunted and armed with a great list of Quintas to visit (thanks to the Guadiamos’, Gordon’s, Heiman’s, and Mr. Internet) we set out to try as many as we could. After all… I had 10 days here, right Ilene? If I recall her blasphemous response was something to the effect of “I want to see Portugal not just the wineries!”
We started our explorations by booking tours & tastings at a few of the cellars in Gaia. A couple tasting rooms take walk-ins, like Taylors, but as I learned, reservations are critical and can easily book up a week or more in advance. I did have some success calling directly when bookings online seemed full and they’d squeeze us in. Also, almost all of the tastings included a cellar tour and after the 6th or 7th tour we were sorta over them… just bring on the Port already!
But, I did learn a couple critical things about port…
US wineries typically label their best wines as “Reserve”. With Port this is not the case, rather “Vintage” is the top of the line label. For Port, “Reserve” means the wine maker had to reserve it in the barrels for a couple more years so that it improved before bottling.
Tawney and Vintage Ports are totally different styles. Tawney ages in the barrel (exposed to oxygen) and is a blend of vintages from many years that gives it an average age (e.g. 10yr, 20yr, etc). Vintage Port is bottled unfiltered in a single exceptional year and it further ages in the bottle without exposure to oxygen.
Once a Tawney is bottled, it won’t ever change and when opened can stay open for months. A Vintage on the other hand, once exposed to air should be consumed in 2-3 days much like a typical wine.
Back to my original love, Tawney port…. these can generally be found in 10, 20, 30, 40, and even 50 year old variations. And, of course, the older it is the more expensive it is. That doesn’t always mean the taste profile “improves”, it just means it’s more rare and that’s what you are paying for. For example, at Taylor’s tasting room a glass of 10yr Tawney was $8, 30yr Tawney $18, and a 50yr Tawney $30. And in the US you could easily double those prices at a restaurant. Note: A glass of port is about half the size of a glass of wine (approx 2-3oz), but they use a smaller glass so it looks full.
My observations from a couple Tawney age comparison tastings…
A 10 year is a bit more alcohol forward and even though it’s sweet, might be enough to give you the shivers.
The 20 and 30 year, personal “sweet spot” for me (pun intended) are smoother with more caramel and honey flavors coming forward and the 30 shows a bit more oak-iness.
The 40 and 50 year have really strong oak barrel influences and while they have a more coffee or chocolate taste they also start to expose a more smokey flavor. Which was a bit unexpected and reminiscent of how some Scotch’s tend toward a smokey side.
For me… I’m sticking with the 30 year Tawney as my go to. It has everything I’m looking for… well balanced, good flavor, and still comes with a bit of a kick.
That said about my first love, I am definitely going to be on the look out for Vintage Ports upon our return to the US! The Vintage Ports we tried really impressed us. These Ports are more akin to a red wine and more balanced. They are still a bit too sweet to serve with a main course (tho many a guide suggested we try a steak pairing), but would be more palatable to a broader audience as a digestive or with a dessert course. (Note: Ilene was not a fan of the Tawney’s, but fell hard for Vintage Ports and the Dry White Ports).
We some saw crazy old ports stored away in the private cellars we toured with the oldest probably being the 1882 Grahams. But, who knows what is stashed away under all the dust! The fun part about a Vintage port is how it will change through the years. One guide said it’s typical to buy some port at the birth of a child and then open a bottle at special lifecycle occasion through their life and appreciate how life and wine mature with time. My facvorite cellar visit was probably at Neipoort... purposefully a dusty, authentic feel.
As for us, we tried a Sandeman’s 2001, Taylor’s 2005, Seara d’Ordens 2015, Grahams 2007, Dow’s 1994, Warren’s 1980, Niepoort 1987, and likely a couple others I’m missing. (I dragged Ilene to more wineries than she would have liked.) Our favorites were the Niepoort ‘87 and the Seara d’Ordens ‘15 and Niepoort is the only bottle we bought to join us in our travels… but only because we are limited by space and luggage weight. Soooo sad!
For those who have managed to read this far, you must truly be die-hard fans! So, I’ll wrap it up with a couple non-port (sort of) discoveries…
A more recent development in Porto/Portugal was the introduction of the Porto Tonico, which is a dry white Port with tonic over ice and bit of citrus mixed in. It is the Port industry’s answer to the Aperol Spritz and honestly tastes much better!
Dry White Port was something of a pleasant surprise and is great as an aperitif before the meal. And, of course, there is always a white Sangria or a lovely fresh mint Mojito.
Portugal has an amazingly diverse set of wine regions producing wine other than Port. We found some interesting reds from the Alentejano region and an amazing natural white from the Verde region.
We also ran across a cherry brandy called Ginja that is made in the region around Sintra, north of Lisbon. It is traditionally served in a small chocolate cup so how can you wrong with that?!?
And of course, I’ve input all of my field data into the model and updated the rankings to include Portugal.
I’ve never even had port but I read to the end cuz I wanted to hear from this special guest writer!